Pilot (17 Jan. 1988)

Director:

Riccardo Pellizzeri

Writer:

Bevan Lee

Stars:

Roger Oakley, Vanessa Downing, Adam Willits

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Oakley	...	Tom Fletcher
Vanessa Downing	...	Pippa Fletcher
Adam Willits	...	Steven Matheson
Alex Papps	...	Frank Morgan
Sharyn Hodgson	...	Carly Morris
Helena Bozich	...	Lynn Davenport
Kate Ritchie	...	Sally Keating
Nicolle Dickson	...	Bobby Simpson
Frank Lloyd	...	Neville McPhee
Sheila Kennelly	...	Floss McPhee
Judy Nunn	...	Ailsa Hogan
Ray Meagher	...	Alf Stewart
Norman Coburn	...	Donald Fisher
John O'Brien	...	Tarquin Pearce
Gwen Plumb	...	Doris Peters

Storyline

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1988 (Australia)

Company Credits

Production Co:

7 Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Martin Dibble: [Lance and Martin see Carly walking with Sally and Lynn outside the store] Hey, Lance, check it out! Woah!
Lance Smart: Yeah, right, check it out!
Carly Morris: I hope that's not the best Summer Bay can offer.
Lynn Davenport: He's going to talk to us.
Carly Morris: Not for long, he's not!
Martin Dibble: How are you going? I'm Martin. He's Lance.
Carly Morris: And I'm not interested.
[Girls walk off]
Lance Smart: Too bad, mate.
Martin Dibble: Shut up!
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Home and Away: Romances (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Home and Away"
(theme song)
Performed by Karen Boddington & Mark Williams (1988-1995)/Doug Williams & Erana Clark (1995-1999)/The Robertson Brothers (2000-2006)/Israel Cannan (2007)/Luke Dolahenty (2007-)/Tarryn Stokes (2009-)

User Reviews

"This is our home.And it's Bobby's too."

As the pilot for an ongoing series, this is surprisingly self-contained, almost working as a movie of the week.Practically the only thing unresolved is the subplot about Floss' prediction, which feels largely shoehorned in.

Which isn't to say it isn't good.There's some nice get-to-know-you dialogue from the main characters, although Tom has a couple of blatant infodumps with regards the kids' backgrounds.Frank, Steven and Carly all have a chance to establish their personalities, although Frank and Steven spend a bit too much of their time on an antagonism which didn't carry through to the series.Lynn gets fewer chances to shine but has already demonstrated a talent for winding Carly up.Sally is the cute kid and has some nice moments.

The main focus is on Bobby and her journey from rebellious town outcast to happy member of the Fletchers is the sort of storyline that would later be played out over several weeks.Here it feels a bit rushed although it's easy to see how Pippa's kind-heartedness would affect her. Future Summer Bay legends Alf, Ailsa and Donald flit in and out of the episode.Donald works better in the first third, where he's abrasive but not unsympathetic, than in the last half where he's portrayed as an out and out villain, although seeing him covered in mud is a decent pay off.There are some oddities with regards later episodes:There's no mention of Don being a teacher and Alf seems to be a fireman at this point.

The pilot has trouble justifying its running time, with the last third of Pearce threatening to take the kids away, a pointless ruse from Ailsa and Neville and Bobby solving everything with a petulant speech feeling like a rather false way of generating drama.But there's a lot to admire here and it's the beginning of a long road.