Table of Content
June saw a rise in viewers when the month peaked at 650,000 for episode which aired on 22 June, while in July, the show continues to receive steady ratings, and again saw a further rise in ratings with 657,000 viewers tuning in on 7 July. The 2021 Olympic return episode, which aired on 9 August 2021, attracted the highest rating in over two years, with 710,000 viewers, with an even higher increase of 733,000 viewers tuning in on 10 August. On 31 March 2022, two episodes achieved new series lows of 382,000 and 364,000 viewers respectively. From 2013 until 2017, Home and Away used a series of five-second opening titles, which changed every week.
As of 2014, the show is available to view in Northern Ireland on 5STAR daily at 3.30pm and 6.30pm as well as the regular Channel Five airings. The show is however blocked in Northern Ireland via the SKY platform on both RTE1 and RTE2, yet it remains available on Irish platform Saorview for both Irish and Northern Irish viewers. The geo block has been lifted on the Sky platform in Northern Ireland and all airings are available to view.
Episode #1.5689
Palm Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches district has been used as the location for Summer Bay since Home and Away began in 1988. It has since become popular with tourists, and tours to the show's exterior sets at Palm Beach run throughout the year. The exterior scenes are filmed mainly at Palm Beach and at Fisherman's Beach in Collaroy. Interior scenes for the show were filmed at the Seven Network's Sydney studios in Epping until 2010.
Meagher along with Lynne McGranger , Ada Nicodemou (Leah Patterson-Baker) and Emily Symons are the longest-serving cast members currently in Home and Away. In 2010, Georgie Parker joined the cast of Home and Away as Alf's daughter Roo Stewart, originally played by Justine Clarke in 1988–89. Home and Away has been sold to over eighty countries around the world, making it one of Australia's most successful media exports. In the UK, it and Neighbours, another Australian soap opera, are the most popular of the genre that are filmed internationally, with them both airing on Channel 5.
Episode #1.5879
Many of the cast have spent several years on Home and Away, including original cast member Judy Nunn who left the series in 2000 after 12 years playing the co-owner of Summer Bay's diner. Other original cast members Norman Coburn played high school principal Donald Fisher until 2003, and Kate Ritchie departed in 2008 after 20 years playing Sally Fletcher. Both Coburn and Ritchie along with Ray Meagher entered the 2002 Guinness World Records as the longest-serving actors in an Australian drama series. Meagher now holds that record alone and he is the only remaining original cast member in the show.
The caravan park set moved back to the estate after the house was rebuilt, and both exterior sets made their on-screen returns in 2015. The Summer Bay House is the only house to still be seen on screen since the pilot episode. S official Australian Facebook page reached one million likes, becoming the first Australian television show to reach this milestone. The Facebook page was established in November 2009 and is followed by fans mostly in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. In 2013, Home and Away celebrated its 25th anniversary and former cast member Kate Ritchie returned for a special storyline to coincide with the celebrations. For the first time in the show's history, Home and Away aired a two-hander episode, featuring only the characters Ricky Sharpe and Darryl "Brax" Braxton , on 14 February 2016.
Popularity and viewership
A 30-second updated version by The Robertson Brothers was used from 2004 to 2006. In January 2007, a new version was introduced and performed by Israel Cannan, who played the character Wazza in the show. After Cannan's version received many complaints from fans, the Seven Network decided to re-record the theme song in April 2007 with vocals provided by Luke Dolahenty.
They were replaced by a large photo collage showing various locations around Summer Bay. The decision to remove the cast and shorten the titles was due to time restrictions. Since then, many viewers in Australia and the United Kingdom have wanted the full-length title sequence with the cast to return. At the end of the first episode, Tom and Pippa take in their sixth foster child Bobby Simpson . Discover the stars who skyrocketed on IMDb’s STARmeter chart this year, and explore more of the Best of 2022; including top trailers, posters, and photos.
IMDb Best of 2022
While Seven Network executives were unconvinced by the idea, audience research was positive. The soap opera was initially called Refuge, but the name was changed to the "friendlier" title of Home and Away once production began. While Home and Away features a mix of young cast members and older, more experienced actors, the show has always had a definite youth focus, with the younger characters dominating much of the storylines.
Furthermore, on 23 March, the show was removed from Seven's schedule to make way for extended coverage on the pandemic. On 12 May 2020, it was announced that the show would recommence production following the nine-week suspension. On 19 July 2021, Home and Away was forced to postpone scheduled filming due to new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Sydney. Aside from New South Wales, Home and Away has also filmed scenes in other states of Australia. In May 2012, the show filmed scenes at Flinders Ranges and Nilpena Station in South Australia for a storyline in which Casey Braxton was kidnapped and taken to the outback by Kyle Braxton .
In March 2009, it was alleged that Seven had agreed to censor a then-upcoming lesbian kiss scene between Charlie Buckton and Joey Collins , after receiving many complaints from conservative groups and mothers who did not want their children exposed to same-sex relationships in a family show. Seven's head of creative drama, Bevan Lee, later confirmed that the censorship allegations were in fact false and that the scene would still go to air as planned. The Fletchers bought the Summer Bay Caravan Park and moved into the Summer Bay House. They were joined in the third episode by Alf Stewart's rebellious daughter Roo Stewart and within the first month by his sister Celia Stewart , who portrayed a similar busybody role to what Gwen Plumb played in the pilot.
A shorter, 15-second version sung by Dolahenty and Tarryn Stokes debuted in 2009. Locations within the town include the beach, a high school, diner, bait shop, garage and a surf club, which includes a gym, small kiosk and an upstairs restaurant. Characters in the show live at surrounding neighbouring areas such as the Summer Bay House, Summer Bay Caravan Park, Beach House, The Farmhouse, Pier Flat, and Saxon Avenue. Other fictional towns mentioned and sometimes seen in Home and Away are Mangrove River and Yabbie Creek. During the show's first season in 1988, a rape storyline for the character Carly Morris outraged the public and a protest erupted, as viewers deemed it an inappropriate subject to be covering in an early evening time slot.
The ratings for the triple bill episodes continued to fall from 524,000 to 414,000 viewers, and on 28 March 2019, the triple bill pulled in a series low of 383,000 viewers and ranked 14th for the night. April 2019 saw a slight rise in the viewing figures; the first episode of the month drew in 740,000 viewers and ranked 9th for that night. The triple bill episodes continued to receive low ratings until the Thursday, 9 May episodes, which improved with 617,000 viewers.
Following the closure of these studios in early 2010, the interiors are now filmed at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern. The Jackeroo Ranch estate in Kenthurst had been used for the exterior sets of the Summer Bay House and Caravan Park since 1988. After both sets were destroyed by a bushfire in December 2002, the caravan park set was moved and filmed at other locations such as the Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary between 2007–09 and the Lane Cove River Tourist Park between 2010 and 2014. A replica of the Summer Bay House was rebuilt in its original location at the Kenthurst estate several years later, with the exception of a grey roof instead of a red one.
In Ireland, Home and Away debuted on Monday, 3 October as part of RTÉ's re-launch of RTÉ2 as Network 2 - their secondary channel. Episodes screened at 6.30pm and in September 1997, a daytime episode was added at 1.25pm on RTÉ One with the 6.30pm episode becoming the replay of the daytime broadcast. Viewers in the Republic of Ireland are also able to catch up with episodes on the RTÉ Player. It was the most watched program of 2014 on the RTÉ Player with over four million viewers.
