Home and Away - History

History

After the Seven Network cancelled their soap opera Neighbours on 12 July 1985 due to low ratings, they watched as rival network Ten picked it up and turned it into a success. A couple of years later, Seven's head of drama, Alan Bateman, became desperate to get back into the soap market and began to work out how to launch another soap that was not a copy of Neighbours. While on a trip to Kangaroo Point in New South Wales with his family, Bateman began talking some locals who were "up in arms" over the construction of a foster home for children from the city. Seeing the degree of conflict the "influx of parentless children on a tight-knit community" was having, Bateman came away with the idea for a new serial. He explained "Nobody in the community wanted them to move in and I began to wonder how streetwise city kids would adapt to the new lifestyle. Suddenly I thought, there is my slice of life in a community." Bateman began outlining the storyline and set the serial in the fictional town of Summer Bay. 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.

When the show began in 1988, it focused on Tom Fletcher and his wife, Pippa. They had four foster children, Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lyn Davenport, and an adopted daughter, Sally Fletcher. They soon fostered Bobby Simpson, a local tearaway, much to the annoyance of Donald Fisher. They bought the caravan park and quickly built strong friendships with the locals, Ailsa Stewart, Alf Stewart, and Neville and Floss McPhee.

Home and Away celebrated its 21st year in production with a celebration in Sydney on 23 July 2009. The mayor of Sydney's Pittwater Council presented cast members with the key to Palm Beach, the filming location for the show.

In preparation for the show's 25th anniversary, Seven's new digital channel 7Two began airing episodes from the very beginning. Channel 5 announced similar plans to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary by showing classic episodes of the show from 1988 to the present, including the pilot on digital channel 5*.