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Thread: Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie)

  1. #161
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    Home and Away's UK fans have seen show favourite Sally Fletcher return to Summer Bay this week in an emotional new storyline.

    After five years away from Summer Bay, Sally is back with her daughter Pippa for a two-month stint and has told her loved ones that the schoolgirl is seriously ill with mitochondrial disease.

    With Kate Ritchie - who plays Sally - in the UK this week to promote her comeback story, Digital Spy caught up with her for a chat about what's ahead.

    How are you finding your time in the UK? Is it nice to have a chance to meet the British Home and Away fans?
    "Absolutely. I've met a few while I've been here, actually! As we now have social media, we're able to keep in touch with fans of the show in a different way to when we first started all those years ago, but you really can't beat being here and meeting people face-to-face. We live so far away from you guys and for many years we've always known that Home and Away is very popular in the UK, but it's lovely to be here and see that first hand."

    Are you visiting just for publicity work, or is it a holiday too?
    "It's a few things rolled into one. Initially it was all about doing publicity for Channel 5, but it's such a long way, so you try to turn it into something else as well.

    "I do radio work in Sydney so while I'm here in the UK this week, I'm filling in on the breakfast show on a station called Nova. That means working from 9pm to midnight, presenting the show from the Capital building in Leicester Square. That's been a bit crazy, I must say! Jetlag can be exhausting at the best of times, but I'm also up at the middle of the night talking about breakfast. It's all messing with my body clock, to be honest! (Laughs.)

    "On top of all that, I'm catching up with some friends who live here and I'm also heading off to Dublin for a couple of days. It'd also be rude not to fit in a spot of shopping, so I'm ticking off a few boxes!"

    You've said in the past that you might like to do some acting work here in the UK. Is that something you'd pursue in the near future?
    "It's most certainly something that I'd like to do soon. It's definitely not a secret that I have always loved this place. The popularity of Home and Away has always made the UK a nice place to be, but it's also a place where you guys produce some incredible drama. Not only have I grown up watching it, but I continue to do so at home.

    "Most recently I couldn't wait for Broadchurch to be screened on SBS back at home, and I've also bought the DVDs. I've always watched a whole lot of UK TV. If the truth be told, I would love to be a part of that. Who knows what the future holds?"

    Now that you've finished filming at Home and Away again, are you glad that you did make the decision to go back?
    "Yes, I'm really glad that I went back. When the invitation first came through, I was a little hesitant to start with. I didn't know whether returning would be a good idea. I had such an emotional attachment to the show and it took me a long time to find the courage to leave, so I wondered whether going back would be a good move.

    "Then I realised that I was thinking way too much about it and I should just do something that I love. I didn't go back forever, but I revisited something that I did love for many years."

    What are your thoughts on Sally's return storyline?
    "The surprising aspect has been that there's been such a wonderful response to the storyline. Sally has come back with her little daughter Pippa, who is living with mitochondrial disease. As much as that is quite a tragic story, I can only hope that it does in the UK and Ireland what it did back at home in Australia.

    "The response has been incredible to something that is such a little-known disease. The awareness that has been raised has been brilliant. Myself and Piper Morrissey, who plays Pippa, have both become involved as ambassadors for the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. We're both doing quite a bit of work with them. I knew that if I was going to go back to Home and Away, I was always going to have a great time - but there's all these other extremely rewarding things which have come from it too."

    Out of the new cast members, is there anyone you particularly bonded with?
    "I didn't work with her a lot, but I really enjoyed being on set with Kassandra [Clementi] who plays Maddy. Not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she is a really talented actress as well. It was really nice to work with her. I also enjoyed getting to know the young fellas. Steve Peacocke is such a delight. Of course I'd heard a great deal about him beforehand as the River Boys are extremely popular, but I didn't realise how nice they would all be. That has been lovely too."

    We've heard that when Sally does eventually leave again, she makes it quite clear that she wants to come back! Is that a hint from the writers that you could return again?
    "I don't know - I honestly didn't know that Sally felt like that until I read the script! I was thinking, 'This is the writers being a little bit cheeky!' (Laughs.)

    "Despite not knowing that I was going to verbalise those things, I do know Sally like the back of my hand and I know that Summer Bay will always be her home. In some ways, it's where she belongs. I'm not sure if it's where I belong as Kate, but I think it's lovely that she feels that way. I guess in my heart, wouldn't it be nice for Sally and Pippa to live in Summer Bay and have a wonderful life where Pippa is healthy? I wish all of those things for them, but I'm not sure if it's what I wish for me! We'll have to see."

    Home and Away is always evolving. Did it feel like you were returning to the same show, or was it quite different?
    "In some ways it definitely felt like I was going back to do a job that I'd done before, but as you said, things do change and evolve over time. Home and Away has certainly changed over the last five years while I haven't been there - not only the characters, but the locations and the way we shoot things. That's the wonderful thing, though - people continue to watch it because the show has the same heart. At the core of Home and Away it's still the same show, but it continues to renew itself and refresh which keeps it interesting."

    Are you back auditioning now that you've finished filming?
    "Yes, I'm back auditioning and doing lots of different things. Since I left Home and Away, I've done a lot of breakfast radio in Australia and will continue to do that. I've also been presenting - not only on TV, but also lots of big live events. I've worked in TV dramas too, so it's been quite varied and I'm guessing it will continue that way. I'm hoping next year will be another big, busy year."

    Everything has turned out well for you work-wise, but did you worry at any point about being typecast as Sally?
    "I didn't worry too much about that, because I thought I probably should have worried about it 15 years ago! I think that I've moved beyond those feelings, and I didn't want to leave Home and Away a day earlier than I did all those years ago. To some people, I will always be Sally - that little girl who grew up on the TV. But there are also some people who don't feel that way. In some ways it will work for me and there are some ways it will work against me, but that's just been the reality of my career - and I just have to be thankful that I worked solidly for 20 years and had a great time."

    What would you say your career highlights have been?
    "Home and Away has been a highlight in a very special way, because it's such a big part of who I am. I spent all of my formative years on the show and it taught me everything. But I must say that in the last five years, I feel that I've learned a great deal as well. I guess it's nice to know that you can continue to learn, no matter how old or young you are.

    "The radio work has also been a highlight because it's taught me so many new skills. As far as acting goes, the first acting job I did after Home and Away was working on a drama called Underbelly. I received a nomination for that and the show did extremely well, so that has been a highlight too. It was the job that proved to me that I loved acting, I didn't just love working on Home and Away."

    Are you interested in work behind the cameras too?
    "I do a little bit of writing, and I also have a great interest in casting. Ultimately I'd love to produce some Australian drama. I do have lots of other interests, but it's all under the one roof - it's all in our industry. I'm busy at the moment but there's lots of other things that I'd like to do."

  2. #162
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    Also ahead on Home and Away, Sally Fletcher's return stint comes to an end as she says goodbye to Summer Bay.

    Sally (Kate Ritchie) is ready to depart the Bay as she has raised enough money to pay for her ill daughter Pippa (Piper Morrissey) to have expensive treatment over in America.

    Although Sally has some doubts about leaving all of the people who care most for her, she knows that she needs to put Pippa first and proceeds with the plan.

    Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) is hit hard by Sally's plans to leave, fearing that it'll be the last time he ever sees Pippa. His fears make him wary of joining everyone as they say goodbye to Sally, but in the end he does the right thing by giving her a proper send-off.

    Alf spends some final quality time with Pippa and Sally
    © Channel 5
    Alf, Sally and Pippa spend quality time together


    Alf says goodbye to Pippa
    © Channel 5
    Alf says goodbye to Pippa


    Alf and Sally have an emotional farewell
    © Channel 5
    Alf and Sally have an emotional farewell

    Home and Away airs these scenes on Friday, November 8 at 1.15pm and 6pm on Channel 5.

  3. #163
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    does alf ever mention sally and pippa, where they are, how pippa is doing now?

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