We take a look back at the year that was as Australian audiences bid farewell to Home and Away for the rest of the year.
This week, fans of Australia’s most popular show were given a present. Despite the fact that the network has avoided having big final weeks in recent years, viewers were treated to eight programmes in the final week of the year. These episodes culminated in a season finale that has many fans wondering what the future holds for their favourite characters…
What many people may not realise is that this season of Home and Away has the most episodes in its 34-year existence. The series delivered like never before, with a massive 240 episodes.
Not just in terms of plot and production, but also in terms of ratings. This year’s viewership skyrocketed, with more than 1 million Australian people watching the series live and on demand (broadcaster video on demand).
As Home and Away enters its 35th season, the series continues to score goals in every stadium it visits, and there’s little question that pattern will continue into the new year.
Onscreen
With a record amount of episodes, it’s no wonder that this year’s season included a slew of “magic moments,” episodes that stick out when thinking back on the previous year.
7476 – The season premiere (Aus 1st February, UK 22nd February)
7478 – Heath’s return (Aus 3rd February, UK 24th February)
7480 – Christian proposes to Tori (Aus 8th February, UK 26th February)
7483 – Colby’s farewell and Chloe’s arrival (Aus 11th February, UK 3rd March)
7485 – Mia’s arrival (Aus 11th February, UK 5th March)
7505 – Mackenzie learns she’s pregnant (Aus 9th March, UK 2nd April)
7511 – Ari’s hit and run (Aus 16th March, UK 13th April)
7526 – Mackenzie’s miscarriage (Aus 5th April, UK 4th May)
7532 – Willow’s farewell (Aus 14th April, UK 12th May)
7537 – Christian’s near death experience (Aus 20th April, UK 19th May)
7584 – Cash’s arrival (Aus 14th June, UK 23rd July)
7585 – Susie’s body is found and Mia learns she’s pregnant (Aus 15th June, UK 26th July)
7590 – The La Cucaracha van explosion (Aus 21st June, UK 2nd August)
7595 – Rachel’s death (Aus 24th June, UK 9th August)
7619 – The 2021 Olympic Cliffhanger, Dean’s car crash (Aus 22nd July, UK 10th September)
7621 – Logan’s arrival (Aus 10th August, UK 14th September)
7622 – Christian proposes to Tori… again! (Aus 11th August, UK 15th September)
7631 – Felicity’s arrival (Aus 19th August, UK 28th September)
7648 – Theo’s arrival (Aus 9th September, UK 21st October)
7662 – Christian and Tori’s wedding and farewell (Aus 11th August, UK 15th September)
7670 – The gas attack (Aus 6th October, UK Season Finale 22nd November)
7714 – Ari proposes to Mia (Aus 25th November)
7715 – Chloe kills Matthew (Aus 25th November)
7715 – Theo buries Ryder alive (Aus Season Finale 25th November)
Events
Colby (Tim Franklin) was hospitalised after his fellow convicts discovered he was a cop, and the year 2021 got off to a fast start. Soon after, he left the hospital, saying his goodbyes to Dean (Patrick O’Connor) and Bella (Courtney Miller). He eventually confessed to killing a fellow inmate as a method of demonstrating that he wasn’t to be trifled with.
Willow (Sarah Roberts) returned to Summer Bay for a few weeks after left town following Colby’s trial, hoping for a fresh start with old love Alex in Queensland (Zoe Ventoura).
Following Colby’s arrest, Bella was left devastated, but she was further hurt when Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) fell victim to the vacuous modelling world. They broke up when she became close to a photographer and he slept with his boss.
When Ari’s (Rob Kipa-Williams) ex, Mia (Anna Samson), returned in Summer Bay, his life was flipped upside down. He had to pick between Mia and his girlfriend Mackenzie (Emily Weir), and he selected Mia in the end.
It was revealed that Mackenzie was pregnant after Ari was injured in a hit-and-run. Ari and Mia were quick to try for a child of their own after she lost the baby. The couple was overjoyed when Mia became pregnant, but their joy was short-lived.
Mia and Nikau, along with Dean, were tragically killed in a vehicle accident during the Olympic Season Finale. Mia survived with minor injuries but unfortunately lost her baby, Nikau spent weeks in a coma, and Dean required months to recover.
Nikau and Bella reconnected after the crash, as did Dean and Ziggy, putting a stop to Ziggy’s romance with Tane (Ethan Browne).
The search for a home for Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin (James Stewart) brought Susie McAllister (Bridie Carter) to town. John (Shane Withington) was seduced by the vixen, and the two swiftly moved in together. She even encouraged John to run for Surf Club president against Alf, which he did, and he won.
Susie was exposed to be a conwoman when Irene (Lynne McGranger) grew suspicious and began investigating, and she departed town after taking Justin and Leah’s $90,000 home deposit. Justin was also fighting to overcome his painkiller addiction, which threatened to split the pair apart.
Susie’s corpse was discovered months later in the seas near Summer Bay. Susie perished at the hands of Stephen (Bren Foster), another Susie victim whom Leah had befriended online, despite the fact that John, Justin, and Leah were all suspects. The money was eventually refunded to them. As a kind of restitution, John bought the land on which the garage stood, but this resulted in a lot of friction between him and Justin as business and friendship collided.
As the year progressed, Leah’s nephew Theo (Matt Evans) relocated to Summer Bay to avoid his father, Dimitri.
Tori (Penny McNamee) was in love with her coworker Christian (Ditch Davey), who proposed to her right away. After being nearly assassinated by Lewis (Luke Arnold), a former colleague and the spouse of a deceased patient, he finds a new lease on life by rescuing a lady involved in a parachuting mishap.
He broke off his engagement to care for Rachel (Mary Kennedy), but after she died, he realised he couldn’t live without Tori, and the two reconnected. They went for a new life in London with baby Grace after sealing the marriage.
Martha (Belinda Giblin) began to drift into a psychosis as the Stewarts struggled with Kieran’s (Rick Donald) presence in their lives. She was admitted to the hospital when she began to experience visions of Kieran, but when he came for real not long after, it drove her over the line, and she was sent to a mental facility for treatment.
After being freed from jail, Kieran contacted Roo (Georgie Parker), who attempted to shield Martha from him. Despite Alf’s (Ray Meagher) reservations, Martha and Roo reluctantly accepted Kieran into their life. When having Kieran and Alf under the same roof became too much for him, he moved into Martha’s property in Merimbula and began renovating it while working in a bakery.
Tane (Ethan Browne) found himself in bed with newcomer Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis), who turned out to be the sister of new local officer Cash, after an ill-fated affair with Ziggy (Sophie Dillman) (Nicholas Cartwright). When he started receiving flowers after breaking up with his new girlfriend, he assumed Felicity was following him.
Meanwhile, Martha opted to present a body of work at a benefit for mental health care. The celebration went off without a hitch, but Tane’s true stalker launched a chemical assault, causing numerous lives to be permanently changed.
Tane suffered in the aftermath and was abducted by his stalker, who turned out to be Felicity’s friend Anne (Megan Smart), who sought vengeance because he wasn’t interested in her. It wasn’t long until he and Felicity were discovered, and the two were finally allowed to go on.
Meanwhile, the organophosphate poisoning transformed Marilyn’s (Emily Simons) whole demeanour, while Martha’s kidney began to fail. Thankfully, Roo found out she was a match donor and contributed one of her kidneys to her mother not long after.
The successful commercial endeavour of Ryder (Lukas Radovich) and Chloe (Sam Barrett) in the La Cucaracha, a Mexican food truck, led in a professional rivalry between them and previous employer Mackenzie. Unfortunately, the food truck caught fire owing to a defective gas line, so the couple had to prepare their dinner at the Diner after hours.
When their debts became too much to bear, Ryder and Theo turned to internet pranks for a quick buck. Will their new endeavour, however, claim Ryder’s life as the year draws to a close?
The young gang’s turmoil didn’t end there, since Chloe’s father Matthew (James Sweeny) had recently arrived in town. Chloe’s real father was inadvertently killed not long after Mia disclosed the truth about Chloe’s conception—she was created after Matthew sexually attacked Mia during a party—in a brawl.
What will happen as Chloe tries to cope with the shock of the disclosure and now the manslaughter?
