Home and Away: The Weddings

Introduction

This DVD brings you the highlights of 22 weddings from the TV community that is Summer Bay, from Ailsa and Alf`s do in 1988 all the way to Amanda and Graham`s happy day in 2005.

In between, we are treated to ceremonies involving Ruth & Frank, Bobby & Frank, Pippa & Michael, Bobby & Greg, Marylin Chambers (wasn`t she a porn star?) and Don, Gypsy & Skippy, Rod Hull & Emu.ok, I lied about the last two, I think.

Video

The video quality is very good throughout, although being a recent TV show I would expect this.

Audio

Sound too, is decent. Not much to shout about effects-wise, but you can understand what everyone says, which is generally the same thing during the wedding ceremonies themselves of course.

Features

The extra is a full episode of Leah and Vinnie`s `big, fat, Greek wedding`, and is something I`m sure those who sit through all 22 others will want to lie back and relax to.

The menus are incredibly irritating, only because every time a new page is selected, the damn theme tune (the same tune I know from years ago - ok, I watched it a bit myself, but only when Neighbours wasn`t on) begins again, but in an even more sickeningly sweet and jarring version. I can only imagine that this is the version which is played ober the titles nowadays, but I`m not hunting out the next time it`s on just to find out.

Conclusion

Soaps of the last 20 years haven`t necessarily aged well in subject matter, but there`s one topic which never gets boring for scriptwriters, and, apart from a good old-fashioned murder, is one of the best things for ratings - a large dose of the nuptuals! As Summer Bay is no Eastenders, and life is generally a little more on the sunny side, they seem to have more than most.

Judging by many of Ms Ritchie`s (who has grown up from a little girl to a rather larger girl in this very same soap) comments, this DVD is really only aimed for the female end of the market, and certainly for those who have watched avidly from day one and who will weep copious tears at seeing their old friends again, also perhaps for all those years they may feel they have been put to better use.

Actually, that was a cruel comment, as I know there are people who genuinely enjoy this sort of thing, and who feel as if they know the characters as if they were real people (slightly scary, but there you go).

The DVD will therefore be of a great comfort to many, if they can bear to get through the appalling script delivered equally appallingly by Kate Ritchie. Some of the weddings are quite moving in their own quaint way, although a couple made me laugh out loud, and made me think that someone was desperate for ideas. Take poor Haley, who imagined her dead father appearing and insisted he led her down the `aisle` of the marquee). It wasn`t explained whether Noah ever had second thoughts after this.

But, at least the Home and Away production team didn`t go own the misted-up lens route of weddings such as Scott and Charlene`s in `the other programme`. There was a strange insistence of using some special effect which gave the sides of the picture a glassy look for a lot of the ceremonies, but thankfully this idea didn`t last.

I quite enjoyed watching this, purely because I could ogle Melissa George again, although just as Bobby`s first marriage is explained away, I probably couldn`t `go the full distance` again.