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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 405958" data-attributes="member: 673">The Heights - 2019 to 2020 [ATTACH=full]53919[/ATTACH]After something of a fallow period for new English language soaps across the world, ABC surprised viewers in 2019 by launching The Heights. The show was quite different from the Australian soaps that had come before it. For one, in the sixty year history of Australian television, it was the first soap to be set in Western Australia. Additionally, the show aimed to represent the diversity of Australia, something that previous soaps lacked in. Co-creator Warren Clarke said “We wanted a show that was more akin to walking down the street of an Australian city and having that spectrum of humanity effectively represented. Also something that had a high volume of episodes, so a model where you had the breadth to explore wide-ranging ideas around life in Australia.” Casting director Annie Murtagh-Monks was given a brief to find actors of “First Nations, Caucasian, Middle Eastern and Asian cultural backgrounds, while some are straight, others are LGBTQI+, able-bodied, or have a disability”. Co-creator Que Min Luu added "We were working on The Heights at a time when a lot of division was in the world — Brexit, Trump. We were really interested in looking at a world that existed between these binary arguments. We focused on this inner-city housing unit, because that's where we thought you would get the best of that melting pot of the 'real Australia', as we call it." Diversity behind the scenes was important too, with a crew of writers and production staff who’d had “lived experience” and were predominantly from Western Australia.Set in Arcadia Heights, a government housing block in Perth, the show followed the lives of its various residents, as the area fended off the threat of gentrification amidst the usual soapy dramas. It opened with an abandoned baby being found in the gardens of the block and the surprise return of Ryan (Mitchell Bourke), estranged “hipster” son of pub landlady Hazel (Fiona Press). Ryan’s return from London wasn’t the only shock that Hazel had to deal with, as it was soon discovered that the abandoned baby (nicknamed Patch) was the son of Hazel’s daughter Shannon (Briallen Clarke), a wayward hippy that struggled with addiction. The Jafaris, a family of Iranian refugees, were facing difficulty as they tried to find their way in their new home country, not least eldest boy Ash (Phoenix Raei) who was struggling with his sexuality, a situation complicated by his gay best friend Sully (Koa Nuen) being quietly in love with him. Sully’s mother Iris (Carina Hoang) ran the local store. New to the area were Dr Claudia Russo (Roz Hammond) and her daughter Sabine (Bridie McKim). Claudia started dated retired cop Pav (Marcus Graham) while Sabine became friends with his son Mich (Calen Tassone) and Ash’s brother Cam (Yazeed Daher). The first season followed the Murphy’s struggles to be a united family as they tried to parent Patch, while the mystery over who his father was ran until the season one finale. Tradie Mark (Dan Paris) tried to keep himself afloat while hiding a gambling addiction. Mich explored his Aboriginal heritage as his mother Leonie (Shari Sebbens) sought the truth about her Indigenous mother. There was the usual will they/won’t they relationships rumbling along between Claudia & Pav, Ash & Sully and Ryan & Ana (Cara McCarthy). The scheduling of the first series was a curious affair. With 30 x 30 minute episodes ordered, the show was prime to be stripped five nights a week or possibly twice/thrice a week on different days. Instead, ABC aired the show in double bills, once a week from 8pm on Fridays starting February 2019. Regardless of scheduling, the show received critical acclaim, with The Guardian calling it “a warm, complex and credible Australian soap opera” that was “bridging the gulf that separates real life from the whitewashed worlds of Ramsay Street and Summer Bay”. On the subject of Ramsay Street, there was a minor war of the words when Roz Hammond (Claudia) stated in an interview that The Heights was “a Serial Drama not Soap because I think the production values and the writing are so much greater than that” and in response to a comment about the diverse cast “ticking boxes” she said “if people get their cynical hats on I just don’t think that’s a fair accusation, because what you’re trying to say is Neighbours casting is the norm. But that’s not the norm”. Neighbours writer Sarah Mayberry fired back “I am already furious about the way the show (Neighbours) is being written off……The Heights will live or die on its own merits, and it will be built on the platform created by Neighbours and Home and Away, and it will benefit from the vast pool of talented writers that Neighbours and Home and Away have produced over the years”. Story editor Shane Isheev tweeted “Sick of 'soap' being a dirty word. The writers on #TheHeights also work on #Neighbours and #HomeAndAway. And our production values are amazing. I look forward to The Heights & hope it does well. Not only because of its diversity, but our industry deserves another long-running SOAP." Warren Clarke calmed proceedings by tweeting "We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the long tradition of Australian soaps. If we could be as loved as Neighbours #SeriesGoals."The first season came to a close in August 2019, with the show renewed for a second season within days of the finale. Returning in March 2020, the new season brought one big change, with the recasting of Pav (Marcus Graham was unable to commit to a second season due to scheduling conflicts, so Rupert Reid took over the role). The second season dealt with the fallout of the Patch baby father reveal, Ash’s ongoing struggles with his sexuality, Leonie falling for an unexpected person and resolutions to some of the ongoing love matches. Now airing only one episode per week, the BBC screenings in the UK were actually ahead of the Australian ones at one point. In early September 2020, with a handful of episodes still to air, the show’s official Twitter account posted “The Heights hasn’t been renewed for a third season and we’re not sure if it will.” Presumably, with this in mind, the writers crafted a second season finale that, if it came to it, also worked as a series finale that saw a shock death, a celebration of a life and some new beginnings. Unfortunately that’s how it played out. The finale episode aired in October 2020 and amidst sets being sold off and the crew moving on to other roles, the show was quietly cancelled at some point after that. The Heights was an excellent show in my opinion and I’m not sure if it was Covid related production issues or lack of network interest that led to its demise but I think it should’ve run and run.So, with The Heights being the last Aussie soap to premiere, that’s a wrap! It’s only taken me three and a half years to finish this thread, during which we lost and subsequently regained Neighbours. Unfortunately, no new Aussie soap has launched during this time but who knows what the future will bring. Given the vast swathe of soaps covered, I might add bits and pieces of Aussie soap ephemera from time to time. Other than that, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading!</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?