Fostering and adoption have been staples of Home and Away since the show first aired in 1988.
Alan Bateman, the Head of Drama at the Seven Network at the time, came up with the idea for the show when driving through a country town in southern NSW. Stopping in an ice cream shop to escape the heat, he struck up a conversation with the locals about a new building causing controversy on the town’s main street.
“[It will be] a place for druggies, thieves and bludgers,” was how one resident described it. Alan was stunned to learn they were talking about a foster home, but it gave him an idea for a new show.
“Then in the country town I saw it.” said Alan in a 1989 interview. “Nobody in the community wanted [the foster children] to move in and I began to wonder how streetwise city kids would adapt to the new lifestyle.
Suddenly I thought, there is my slice of life in a community. Some residents were violently opposed to what they saw as troublesome kids being dumped on their own doorstep. Others wanted to give them a go. It had all the elements of fine drama.”
Soon, the basic premise of the show had been developed – and it all surrounded Tom and Pippa Fletcher and their six foster children.
Fast forward 33 years and fostering may no longer be front and centre on Home and Away, but it has still played an important part in the show’s storylines over the years.