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Which is the biggest/most well known character to be recast??


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Old 07-02-2016, 21:34
alienpanda
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who would you say has been the biggest/most well known character to be recast across all soaps??
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Old 07-02-2016, 21:55
Aaron_Silver
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I would think of the British soaps

CS Nick Tilsley
ED Robert Sugden
EE Mark Fowler
EE Peggy Mitchell
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Old 07-02-2016, 21:59
vald
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Martin and Mark Fowler.

Janine was the best recast ever....Charlie Brooks is a gem.
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Old 07-02-2016, 21:59
sw2963
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Miss Ellie - Barbara Bel Geddes and then Donna Reed
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Old 07-02-2016, 22:01
Aaron_Silver
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Martin and Mark Fowler.

Janine was the best recast ever....Charlie Brooks is a gem.
BIB Damn I forgot, you're right she is the best ever certainly in British terms fantastic
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Old 07-02-2016, 22:06
BadRomance
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I think Pippa on Home and Away. She was the first major recast in a main soap that I remember and this was a time when the show was getting over 10 million viewers and there was no time gap between actresses.

Hayley on Home and Away as well was a shocker as Bec Cartwright had been in yeh role for 7 years and had just won an award for Most Popular Actress in Australia
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Old 07-02-2016, 22:06
Pete Callan
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Jack Sugden probably. It worked out well I think...As it was such a small cast and the character was so pivotal to the series' launch, recasting Jack must have been an enormous step back then even given his absence for a few years.

Then you have Sam Mitchell and Martin Fowler, both of whom were fully established characters played by their original actors. Robert Sugden too, was a pretty big recast.

Over in the bay, Pippa was the show's anchor when Debra Lawrence took over, and Hayley Lawson had been in the show for years when they decided to recast following Bec Hewitt's swift exit.

As for biggest characters to receive a recast, Jack is up there with Peggy Mitchell and Irene Roberts, though both of those were only short-term before their most famous portrayers took over.
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Old 07-02-2016, 22:07
Luner13
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I am not a big fan but no can deny that Kate Ford made Tracyluv her own.
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Old 07-02-2016, 22:08
BadRomance
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Jack Sugden probably. It worked out well I think...As it was such a small cast and the character was so pivotal to the series' launch, recasting Jack must have been an enormous step back then even given his absence for a few years.

Then you have Sam Mitchell and Martin Fowler, both of whom were fully established characters played by their original actors. Robert Sugden too, was a pretty big recast.

Over in the bay, Pippa was the show's anchor when Debra Lawrence took over, and Hayley Lawson had been in the show for years when they decided to recast following Bec Hewitt's swift exit.

As for biggest characters to receive a recast, Jack is up there with Peggy Mitchell and Irene Roberts, though both of those were only short-term before their most famous portrayers took over.
Wow! We wrote our posts at same time and both mentioned Pippa and Hayley!
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Old 07-02-2016, 23:34
alienpanda
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Pippa looks a lot different these days!

http://youtu.be/NTLMLAVvwjM
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Old 08-02-2016, 00:21
famecoco
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Dolly Skilbeck from Emmerdale being recast was the earliest one I can remember. Think it was quite a big deal at the time.
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Old 08-02-2016, 00:29
Menime123
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Most of the EE ones mentioned were for very minor characters at the point they were recast though. We love their characters because of the recast, not because of who they were played by before that. So on that I'd say Martin Fowler is probably the biggest, with Bobby Beale close behind - so much so he had a different head when he did away with his sister!

Robert and Jack Sugdeon are much better examples though.
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Old 08-02-2016, 00:33
Good_boys
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As for biggest characters to receive a recast, Jack is up there with Peggy Mitchell and Irene Roberts, though both of those were only short-term before their most famous portrayers took over.
Anyone know the reason for Irene being recast? The original actress had two short stints before Lynne McGranger took over for the characters' third stint.
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Old 08-02-2016, 01:51
alienpanda
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Anyone know the reason for Irene being recast? The original actress had two short stints before Lynne McGranger took over for the characters' third stint.
Not sure - but that was one of the best recasts ever - it was so seamless you could hardly tell them apart
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Old 08-02-2016, 03:40
GracieL
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Rebecca Nash who was a major and much loved character in Home and Away during the 90s was recast when Belinda Emmett got diagnosed with cancer so Megan Connelly took over the role, the most saddest thing is both actresses have since passed away
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Old 08-02-2016, 04:12
kitkat1971
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I'd agree that Miss Ellie was probably the biggest. And also the biggest fail.

People probably forget how huge Dallas was and how stable the core cast of about 8 had been for 7 years. The only major change had been losing Jock and introducing Clayton which was unavoidable due to Jim Davis' death and whilst Clayton was a Jock replacement in terms of character function, he was a very different character. Miss Ellie being recast was HUGE.

Prior to that Steven Carrington in Dynasty but it was a plot (plastic surgery) over several episodes. Fallon was probably more of an issue.

Oz Soaps, i agree Pippa was a big one. Before that, in Sons and daughter, Patricia Hamilton to Alison Carr (though again plastic surgery and renaming her helped) and Susan Palmer.

British soap wise, I think I'd agree that Jack Sugden has been the biggest and also the earliest. He was the main character of Emmerdale for the first couple of years and the two actors were quite different. And it was done at a time when recasts were virtually unheard of.

I also thing Mark Fowler was big. He was an original character and even though he left after only a couple of months as a regular, he did turn up intermittently for a couple of years and the circumstances of the actors death were so tragic it was difficult. Then they cast an actor so associated with another role rather than going for an unknown.

I don't really count Peggy Mitchell as the original one was only ever a guest character. Peggy as a main character was formed by Windsor.

I think Lucy Beale was one of the bigger ones in EE. Even though it was a teenage recast, Melissa Suffield made such a big impact that changing her was a jolt, although I really liked Hettie.

Re Home and Away, I feel the same about Irene Robert's and Rebecca Fisher. I actually loved Jane Hall and Danielle Carter as Rebecca but they were Noth only guest stints, Belinda Emmett was the regular character Rebecca and even though she looked very different, i could believe she was the girl we'd seen before.
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Old 08-02-2016, 04:29
kitkat1971
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Jack Sugden probably. It worked out well I think...As it was such a small cast and the character was so pivotal to the series' launch, recasting Jack must have been an enormous step back then even given his absence for a few years.

Then you have Sam Mitchell and Martin Fowler, both of whom were fully established characters played by their original actors. Robert Sugden too, was a pretty big recast.

Over in the bay, Pippa was the show's anchor when Debra Lawrence took over, and Hayley Lawson had been in the show for years when they decided to recast following Bec Hewitt's swift exit.

As for biggest characters to receive a recast, Jack is up there with Peggy Mitchell and Irene Roberts, though both of those were only short-term before their most famous portrayers took over.
Have to correct this - Martin Fowler wasn't original actor.

This is what gets me when people complain about James Bye. I remember the lad that played Martin back when Arthur was still alive, yes, they changed him when he was about 11 or 12 but he still wasn't the original so to me, Alexandrou is just one of several (admittedly the one that took him into adulthood) but i think Bye is like him and is doing a great job.

Same with all the characters that started as children. Charlie Brooks really has made Janine her own, that would be a huge recast now but given she took the role over at 16 after a couple of years absence for the character, I'd say she has been the only adult Janine.
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Old 08-02-2016, 05:19
JamieHT
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Rebecca Nash who was a major and much loved character in Home and Away during the 90s was recast when Belinda Emmett got diagnosed with cancer so Megan Connelly took over the role, the most saddest thing is both actresses have since passed away
That was only temporary though and Belinda Emmett came back. Ailsa, Selina and Mitch were also all temporarily replaced before the main actors came back.
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:40
Wizard_of_Ozil
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Sam Mitchell when Kim Medcalf took over. Though it was jarring to me when Daniella Westbrook took the role back as Kim was the first Sam I knew.
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:44
Aaron_Silver
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Sam Mitchell when Kim Medcalf took over. Though it was jarring to me when Daniella Westbrook took the role back as Kim was the first Sam I knew.
I am old enough to have watched EE from the beginning and I agree with you, Kim Medcalf was a good recast and that should never have been undone, and the jarring thing is it was done under the apparently "brilliant" Santer.

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Old 08-02-2016, 06:50
Wizard_of_Ozil
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I am old enough to have watched EE from the beginning and I agree with you, Kim Medcalf was a good recast and that should never have been undone, and the jarring thing is it was done under the apparently "brilliant" Santer.

The funny thing is Daniella had been playing the role for a really long time yet I remember how incredibly divisive the reaction was when it was revealed a few years ago she'd be making a return and not Kim.
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:54
Aaron_Silver
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The funny thing is Daniella had been playing the role for a really long time yet I remember how incredibly divisive the reaction was when it was revealed a few years ago she'd be making a return and not Kim.
Personally I never took to Westbrook, she can't act, she is nothing but a demanding, divisive little madam and the sooner EE learns from its past mistakes of giving her just one more chance, the better
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Old 08-02-2016, 07:30
GracieL
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That was only temporary though and Belinda Emmett came back. Ailsa, Selina and Mitch were also all temporarily replaced before the main actors came back.
Yeah I know it was only temporary but surely it would be easier to write them out for a bit (family illness or injury overseas etc) instead of the audience having to get use to a new actor. I always found it utterly bizarre that H&A recasted for a short amount of time.
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Old 08-02-2016, 08:07
jamesc_715
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Peggy Mitchell, Martin Fowler, Sam Mitchell and Libby Kennedy.
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Old 08-02-2016, 08:22
lulu g
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I'd say Peggy Mitchell.
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