Amanda's Disappearance and Death

[Si-Co]

Amanda's disappearance - or rather the resolution to it, when it was revealed she had been forced into prostitution and died of a drug overdose - was one of the storylines I didn't feel had been handled very well.

Her kidnapping storyline was great, and the effect it was seen to have on her mother Caroline - but after only a few weeks poor Amanda was rarely mentioned again, despite there being no confirmation of her death. It was also something of a spoiler for the viewers when her credit and photoshot were swiftly removed from the credits, only a couple of episodes after her disappearance. Despite some false leads immediately after her disappearance, viewers obviously knew she wasn't returning any time soon due to the swift updating of the titles.

Her disappearance was barely mentioned by anyone outside her immediate family - characters like Fiona and Irene, who had been quite close to Amanda, hardly battered an eyelid. Apart from her parents and sister, only Barbara and Andy seemed to show any real concern, and Wayne, her ex-husband, seemed more concerned about plotting against Roland Armstrong to give Amanda much of a thought.

I also found the resolution to the storyline somewhat unsatisfying. The 1986 season started with a bang when the storyline was picked up again after Samantha's chance meeting with Bill, her kidnapper. The attempts to find her, with Fiona and David becoming involved, were good drama, but the climax - that she'd died days before Caroline tracked her down, seemed too 'convenient'. I find it hard to believe she had found no way of contacting her family to let them know she was alive either.

In reality, I believe the producers were waiting to hear if Alyce Platt wanted to return, and when they found out she wasn't, they seemingly wrapped the storyline up quickly. The circumstances surrounding her demise seemed something of an insult to the character, and to the actress.

[verso]

It seems to be a trait of all Australian soaps to "rush" through storylines...........

Churn them out and get on with it!

As a young boy I did rather like Amanda and again when she popped up in Neighbours a few years later

[lillyivimia]

I didn't like the storyline very much, either. There was definitely a feeling of putting off the resolution as long as possible. It did lead to one of the only moments in a soap where I honestly felt a chill tunning up my spine: Amanda's bedraggled 'ghost' appearing to Caroline in a dream. Very eeriely done.

The storyline also set up the personal peril of Samantha later in the series when she begins seeing Bill (mentioned above). Knowing what we did as the audience, it involved us very deeply in the storyline and allowed us to feel genuine concern for poor Sam. Was she going to go the same way as her ill-fated sister? Yikes!!!

[James]

Yes - not the best ending to a storyline. It's surprising they didn't recast the role.

[Si-Co]

I'm also surprised that Caroline didn't hire a private investigator to help find her daughter. After the initial help of a couple of psychics - one fake, one genuine - everyone seemed happy to leave the enquiries to the police, who weren't getting anywhere.

[dr98]

I also think that Cornelia Frances and Kim Lewis received poor exits for such established characters.

It is widely known nowadays that Cornelia didn't have her contract renewed, but I think Barbara cared enough for Gordon to have stuck by him. I believe Kim chose to leave, so sending Jill to visit Terry was a way of leaving the door open for her to return.

I think the same applied to Tom Richards, who slipped away quietly in mid 1986. He intended to star in a movie that never actually ended up being made, but at least David made it back for the final episode and some proper closure.

[Si-Co]

I agree about Barbara and Jill. Barbara would never have just up and left like that!

Both exits were very low-key. Jill said she was going away for 'a couple of weeks' and no-one seemed to miss her or mention her once she'd gone, except Fiona giving 'us' updates that she was staying a little longer, then settling down up there, etc. I do wonder if Kim Lewis was intending to return at some point, but it never happened for whatever reason.

Remember the Cheri Nolan storyline in 1985? She left after admitting to Jill and Amanda she had 'killed' Todd and Robin, and they had understood and said they wouldn't take the matter any further. After Cheri had left, the police turn up looking for her after reading her confession to Karen. Fiona says something like 'I doubt we've heard the last of this', implying the storyline was to be picked up again, but it never was.

[iank]

I found Amanda's exit really disturbing as a kid. Actually, I still do!
The only thing I found strange about it on rewatching was Stephen's reaction to the whole thing. Caroline is believably falling to bits, but Stephen kind of acts like it's something rather unpleasent happening to other people, not his own family/daughter! I know he's a stiff upper-lip, stoic sort of fellow, but really!

Axing Barbara was NUTS. One of the best characters and actresses in the show. Completely left Gordon rudderless for the next two years too. I hate what they did to the Hamilton family - at the end of 85 you had Gordon, Barbara, Wayne, James and Mary. Within a few weeks of 86 they were reduced down to just Gordon and Wayne! WTH?! I was very disappointed to see both James and Mary go. James was a very strong character and I liked Mary too - and why go to all the bother of creating a new daughter for Gordon and Pat just to get rid of her again? Barmy!