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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 319877" data-attributes="member: 673">Echo Point - 1995 <img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71HN-KyzM0L._SX268_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In 1995, Home and Away was in the ratings doldrums, so Ten made the bold move to try and kill off the main rival to it's flagship soap Neighbours, by scheduling a brand new serial directly against the struggling Summer Bay sudser. Produced by Southern Star Productions, the company behind hit drama Police Rescue, the first proposal was Back Home, a period drama set in a country town in the 60's. That idea was scrapped in favour of Bells Point, which was described as a combination of "the cool, funky, inner-city style of E Street with the relaxed bayside lifestyle of Home & Away". Bells Point was "a trendy settlement nestled just across the bay from a thriving metropolis" and would be promoted with the tagline "a cool place to be". Before shooting began, it was reworked one final time. Now called Echo Point, the show was described as "intrigue and romance set against a backdrop of shady trees, fishermen, funky music and sunsets". Production on what one press release called "Neighbours with edge" duly began around Middle Harbour in Sydney.<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71lT-f3S+kL._SX268_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />The show focused on four families - the Lomans, the Brennans, the Amadios and the O'Connors. Trish Loman (Victoria Nicolls) ran the marina café while salesman husband Neville (Sean Scully) was a serial cheat. Their kids were intelligent Frannie (Rebecca Murphy), schoolboy Dean (Diarmid Heidenreich) and spirited Lisa (Hayley Phillips). Trish's brother Hopper Hadley (David Woodley) was the local heartthrob who was about to settle down with single mother Coral O'Connor (Roxane Wilson). Her 15 year old daughter Belinda (future Hollywod star Rose Byrne) regarded her mother's boss, baker Maurie Bernard (John Clayton) as her adopted dad after her own father had died when she was young, although there were hints that not all was what it seemed regarding his "death" of Belinda's father. Gordon Amadio (Alan Lovell) was the local timberyard owner whose teenage daughter Edwina (Jessica Napier) wasn't too keen on his girlfriend, nurse Holly (Kimberly Davenport). Edwina would soon be distracted by the return of her troubled ex-boyfriend Zac (Martin Henderson) while Holly's own hands were full when her unhinged niece Shelley (Louise Crawford) and sensitive nephew Marty (Jack Ellis) turned up in Echo Point following the death of their mother.<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61XfUdbUW4L._SX268_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Another return would provide the catalyst of Echo Point's opening mystery. After years away, Daniel Blake (Phillip Gordon) return to town to reclaim his inheritance following the death of his parents years earlier. Rumours had swirled at the time that he'd killed them but he was never charged. Now, upon returning to his childhood home, Daniel was having flashbacks of a violent struggle and gunshots. Had he actually killed his parents? And if not him, then whodunnit? The cast and crew were positive ahead of the show's launch but when the Home and Away team knew what was being scheduled against them, they began overhauling the show to have it in fighting form by the time Echo Point was due to premiere. With the show's due to go head to head on June 5th, Seven pulled out all the stops to strangle Echo Point at birth. In addition to a watch and win contest where viewers could win a trip to the Atlanta Olympics, this was also the week that fan favourite Bobby (Nicolle Dickson) made her infamous return from the grave via Ailsa's fridge. To add further to the whirlwind of publicity, a second 90's star, Marilyn (Emily Symons) also made her comeback to the Bay, albeit in human form and on a more full time basis than Bobby's ghost. The stunts worked and despite having Neighbours as it's lead in, the opening episode of Echo Point only pulled in 501,000 viewers in Sydney compared to H&A's 1,019,000. This was less viewers than the Roseanne repeats that it replaced. By the second night, viewers were down to 339,000, making it the worst soap debut since Family and Friends.<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61eeZBdadgL._SX268_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Ten remained upbeat, stating "the figures are what we expected. We have great faith in the show. It's not the first day or first week that counts. You have to look six months on". The critics however were already going in for the kill, comparing the show to Arcade and referring to it as Suicide Point or What's the Point? Much to the chagrin of some of the regular cast (according to TV Week), Ten tried to boost ratings by bringing in familiar faces from other shows as guest stars including E Street's Melissa Tkautz and Paradise Beach's Ingo Rademacher. Socialite Kate Fischer was brought on for a much publicised guest spot but when ratings actually dropped during her appearances, Ten moved the show back to 6pm, out of the firing line of H&A, to no avail. Soap royalty Rowena Wallace showed up as Coral's mother Elizabeth, but with ratings continuing to fall, Ten called time on the show and shifted it to 11.30pm to play out the rest of the 130 episodes that had been commissioned. As the show ended, the opening mystery was resolved as Zac's mother returned to town to confess to accidentally killing Daniel's parents while it was a happier ending for Coral and Hopper as they got married. Despite the show being largely forgotten (although it was apparently huge in Germany), it is available to stream on Amazon Prime in the UK, possibly because it features Hollywood stars Rose Byrne and Martin Henderson in early TV roles but more likely because it was bought cheap as part of a catalogue.</blockquote>

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