When Home and Away debuted in 1988, it was by a completely different moniker.
The Australian soap opera has been captivating viewers all around the world for the last 36 years. It was made by Alan Bateman, who got the idea for the program while visiting Kangaroo Point, New South Wales, and overheard the residents grumbling about the new foster home being built and against the thought of city foster kids relocating there.
The show was originally intended to be called Refuge, but as production got underway, the name was altered to the “friendlier” title of Home and Away. Rather than being a pilot, Bateman characterized the first airing of it as a 90-minute telefeature that was later rebroadcast and released on VHS under the title Home and Away: The Movie.
Every episode that has aired since then has lasted for 22 minutes. After Neighbours, Home and Away is now the second-longest drama series on Australian television. It centers on the lives and romantic relationships of those who live in Summer Bay, a made-up beach town in New South Wales.
The Fletcher family, which included Tom (Roger Oakley) and Pippa (Vanessa Downing), and their five foster children, Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson), Lynn Davenport (Helena Bozich), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits), and Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie), was the main focus of the television series at first. The family moved from the city into the Summer Bay House, where they took on the new responsibility of running the caravan park, and eventually took in Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson), the sixth foster child.
It included multiple adult-themed tales, including teen pregnancy, rape, drug and alcohol addiction, drug overdose, and attempted suicide, just in the first season.
