Home and Away

Creator Alan Bateman got the idea for the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, New South Wales, where he witnessed locals protesting against the construction of a foster home for city children in their tight-knit community.

The soap opera was originally going to be called Refuge, but the title was changed to the friendlier Home and Away once production began.

Seven Network executives were initially unconvinced by Bateman's pitch, and the show was created partly as a response to Neighbours, which Seven had cancelled in 1985 before rival Network Ten turned it into a hit.

The show premiered as a ninety-minute telefeature rather than a traditional pilot episode, later reissued as Home and Away: The Movie for reruns and VHS.

Palm Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches has served as the exterior filming location for Summer Bay since 1988, while interior scenes were filmed at Seven's Epping studios until 2010, after which production moved to the Australian Technology Park in Redfern.

The original exterior sets for the Summer Bay House and Caravan Park at the Jackeroo Ranch estate in Kenthurst were destroyed by a bushfire in December 2002; a replica of the house was later rebuilt at the same site but with a grey roof instead of the original red one.

For a 2012 storyline involving Casey Braxton's kidnapping, the production filmed on location at Flinders Ranges and Nilpena Station in South Australia, and the show has also filmed once in Hawaii and three times in the UK.

The theme song, written by Mike Perjanik, has had nine different versions over the years; a 2007 rendition by cast member Israel Cannan (who played Wazza) proved so unpopular with fans that it was re-recorded within months with new vocals by Luke Dolahenty.

During the show's very first season in 1988, a rape storyline involving Carly Morris sparked public outrage and protests over its suitability for an early-evening timeslot.

In August 2012, Home and Away's official Facebook page became the first Australian television show to reach one million likes.

Ray Meagher, Norman Coburn, and Kate Ritchie were entered into the 2002 Guinness World Records as the longest-serving actors in an Australian drama series; Meagher remains the only original cast member still on the show.