Alf to find romance again

[Perdita]

Grumpy legend Alf Stewart may soon have a smile on his face...with a new love interest.

Not since the death of his wife Ailsa in 2002 has Alf, played by Ray Meagher, below, had a long-term love.

He was briefly reunited with former flame Viv Standish in 2004 but she suffered a terminal illness. Then he flirted with Marilyn Fisher.

Now there are plans to give him the woman of his dreams. An insider on the Channel 5 show said: “He deserves a break does Alf. I think the viewers who have followed him across the years wouldn’t begrudge him a bit of true love.”

But Ray is treading carefully with the rumours as he doesn’t want Alf rushing into anything he will regret. He said: “I’m very happy with what they give me to do. I think everyone would like a partner to share their lives with.

“But you’re better off without a partner than with someone who isn’t right for you.”

Ray, who has played Alf for 22 years, was recently given a prestigious Aussie acting award for his services – the Golden Logie Award.

Now he’s heading to the UK to appear in London’s West End in the top-selling production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, The Musical after starring in the same show in Oz.

[tammyy2j]

I always thought he might get with Irene

[Perdita]

After 25 years in Home and Away, Alf Stewart remains one of soapland's best-loved characters, and the good news is that he's not going anywhere soon as actor Ray Meagher recently signed a substantial new contract to keep playing him for the foreseeable future.

While on holiday in the UK last week, Ray took time out to chat to Digital Spy about his long history with the programme and what's coming up.

How are you finding your latest trip to the UK?
"I love the UK - I honestly can't get enough of it! I've been coming here for about 23 years for pantomimes at Christmas. That was broken up a couple of years ago by doing Priscilla in the West End for two separate runs - one for six months and one for three months.

"I'm on holidays now for three weeks, and the UK was a logical place to come for one of those weeks to catch up with some friends who I've made over the last 23 years. I just love the place. There's even been some good weather for me this time, which is a bit of a shocker!"

Do you get recognised much by the British audience?
"I guess that's an occupational hazard or blessing, depending on how you look at it! Having been in English homes twice a day for the last 20-odd years, it's a natural by-product that people do recognise you.

"Sometimes you walk past people in the street and you're gone by the time they're looking over their shoulder saying, 'Wasn't that…?' There's a lot of that sort of thing, and whenever I'm with a group of people, they'll say to me, 'You should have seen the look on that fella's face after you'd walked past!' It's really nice to be warmly welcomed in this country that's been so kind to me."

Is it important to the cast that the show does well in the UK?
"Absolutely. It's wonderful to have success in Australia, but it's fantastic to have the show performing well internationally too. I think we're sold to over 100 countries around the world, but in our minds, far and away the most important sale is to the British Isles. That's why in recent times, a couple of times a year, people will come from Australia to the UK to do publicity for Channel 5."

Do you still enjoy working on Home and Away as much as when you first started in 1988?
"In some ways, I enjoy it more! When it first started, I was very busy doing movies and mini-series. I was lucky enough to do around 30 Australian films, sometimes big parts and sometimes small ones. I didn't look down my nose at soap, but I thought, 'I'm not sure I want to be involved in one project for a long time'. A year would have felt like a lifetime!

"I went into Home and Away agreeing to do six months. The producers wanted us all to sign two-year contracts, and I wouldn't do that. After signing for six months, I later signed for another six and then later a year, so that brought me up to the two-year mark, and then on from there! Much more recently, I've signed a new five-year contract.

"As you can tell, the reticence that I had to signing a long-term contract quickly dissipated after I got into the show and enjoyed it so much. The other thing that was really good, for a freelance actor, was to be able to stay in my own city and sleep in my own bed."

You've said in the past that you prefer the show's more down-to-earth storylines, rather than ones involving guns and violence. Do you think the balance is right at the moment?
"I think we're still working on that - it's a work in progress. I think it is progressing in that direction, but we've still got a bit more work to do yet."

Are you glad they've brought back the fostering element of the show with Jett, Maddy and Spencer?
"Absolutely. That was one of the basic tenets of the show when it first started, and I think it's important to keep that. I'm a big fan of the Jett character as Will McDonald, who plays him, is a wonderful young actor. I think he, and the storyline around him, embodies what Home and Away was about when it first started with Bobby and some of those tearaway kids! Young Jett started like a young scallywag, and there's still a little bit of that left in the character!"

Our readers are always saying they want more storylines for Alf and the other old favourites like Irene and Marilyn. Can we expect that this year?
"Well, I think your readers should write to Channel Seven in Australia with those suggestions! (Laughs.) I've never asked the storyliners for a storyline in my life. Some people who write the storylines will follow certain characters and maybe get in a bit of a rut with them from time to time, and others will broaden it out more.

"I honestly don't know what's coming up, but if viewers want to see more of certain characters, maybe they should drop a little line to Channel Seven and address it to the producer!

"Another thing to remember is that Home and Away is a youth-orientated show, and the characters you've mentioned are older characters. But there does have to be a balance in the show, and it's always nice to have a bit of both."

What are your thoughts on Kate Ritchie's return as Sally?
"I'm absolutely over the moon! Kate is fantastic and I'd forgotten how good she is. She's a wonderful actress and when she comes back, the storylines are going to rip your heart out! They're going to be very moving, but I can't say any more than that."

Is there anyone else you'd like to see back?
"I'm a bit biased - I love the old family. I love working with Cornelia Frances as Morag, especially when her and Alf are having full-on battles! I also enjoy working with Fiona Spence, who plays Celia. More than any of them, I loved working with Norman Coburn who played Fisher - it was fantastic to have him around the group.

"And of course, if we could dig Alf's former wife up out of the grave, it'd be wonderful to have Judy Nunn back playing Ailsa! Poor Alf - it's been a pretty dry gully in terms of romance since she died! But in saying all that, I'm sure I've forgotten some of the others who'd be wonderful to have back as well."

Do the younger cast approach you for advice on set?
"Sometimes, but not often and I don't push advice on them. When I meet them as they first arrive, I'll say, 'If you need a hand with anything, please feel free to ask'. I leave it at that. Some of them will have a little chat, and some won't.

"If during the course of a working day you see them struggling with a scene, it's always better to make a gentle suggestion rather than pushing something onto them."

Are you planning any more stage work?
"It's manners to wait until you're asked, and I haven't been asked! (Laughs.) I thoroughly enjoyed doing Priscilla and I'd always be open to doing something else."

After seeing Home and Away launch so many careers, is there anyone from the current cast who you'd tip to go far?
"The most obvious one has already started to go far! Steve Peacocke, who plays Brax, has got a major supporting role in a big American movie called Hercules. He'll be out of our show for 12 or 14 weeks down the track a little bit, in order to allow him to do that movie. Then he's coming back to us and will make up the time that the producers have allowed him out. The producers have been very generous in allowing him to break his contract to explore that opportunity.

"Steve is definitely going to be the next big thing. He's a very nice, humble young man, and it's wonderful to see those people getting the breaks. Chris Hemsworth was the same and so was Ryan Kwanten. Not all of the nice guys do as well as they deserve to, but it's fantastic when you see really nice guys, who have the right approach to the job, reaping the rewards for their efforts."