Storylines of Home and Away

Families and the Storylines of Home and Away

Every soap opera relies on its core families and Home and Away is no exception. While the primary focus on the show began with the Ross family, other families have joined them in Summer Bay for love, loss and life.

The Ross Family

When the show debuted, the primary storylines focused on Pippa Ross and her foster children. Pippa’s storylines would dominate the soap opera until her departure in 1998. Pippa’s foster children included:

• Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie)
• Carly Lucini (Sharyn Hodgson)
• Steven Matheson (Adam Willits)
• Shannon Reed (Isla Fisher)
• Bobby Simpson (Noelle Dickson)
• Sophie Simpson (Rebeka Elmaloglou)
• Justine Welles (Bree Desborough)

The Stewart Family

Alf Stewart played by Home and Away veteran Ray Meagher is the patriarch of the Stewart family. He lived in the bay with his daughter Roo and his sisters Celia and Morag. In an early storyline, he married Ailsa Hogan in the soap’s first year and they were featured as a stable part of the character landscape until Ailsa died in 2000.

The Sutherland Family

The 21st century saw the arrival of the very dramatic Sutherland family. Switched-at-birth babies, sexual assaults, fake miscarriages, long-lost children and a mine-shaft collapse were among some of their more engaging storylines. Although the Sutherland family dwindled, the show refocused and repurposed with Sally Fletcher taking center stage.

Modern Storylines of Home and Away

Like her own foster mother Pippa, Sally used Summer Bay House to foster children and provide them with a home. Sally was kidnapped in 2005 by Eve Jacobsen while Summer Bay wrestled with a serial stalker. Jacobsen would return in 2006 to visit more havoc on the town and its residents until she eventually died.

Sally’s husband Flynn died in 2006 from skin cancer. She found new love with Brad, but was stabbed in 2006’s season finale. Sally’s stabbing was directly related to her work with foster child Rocco. His gang connections want him to get rid of Sally.

Fans of Home and Away bid farewell to Sally who left the show with her daughter Pippa after 20 years. Home and Away remains popular and takes periodic breaks for hiatus. Each hiatus is usually pre-ceded by a cliffhanger that is resolved when the show returns. Although Home and Away airs around the world, different countries are at different points in the storylines, England for example, is 3 years behind.