‘THE RIVER BOYS WERE OFF-BRAND’
THE SURFER GANG WERE TOO SEXY FOR THE HOME AND AWAY VETERAN
Stone the flamin’ crows! Home and Away stalwart Ray Meagher is raising eyebrows with his thoughts on some of the long-running drama’s most popular characters. Ray, 79, recently gave a wide-ranging interview to TV Tonight. One of the topics he touched on was his true feelings about the period when the River Boys were introduced into the soap in 2011. Stephen Peacocke played the surfer gang’s leader, Darryl ‘Brax’ Braxton, alongside Dan Ewing as Heath and Lincoln
Younes as Casey.
Loyal viewers loved the introduction of the Braxton brothers. Their storylines were a ratings success, and Stephen won two Logie Awards for Most Popular Actor. To this day, Brax is considered one of Summer Bay’s best-loved characters.
But in hindsight, Ray now wonders if the “bad boy” storylines weren’t in keeping with the wholesome family show he’s been part of for almost 40 years.
“I just reckon that the story from a country coastal town that started with a family, where you follow the foster kids’ stories, came to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,” Ray said. “There’s nothing wrong with any of that, except it came in too big a dose.”
The Gold Logie winner, who has played Alf Stewart since Home and Away began, did add that it is inevitable for writers on a longrunning series to “stray a little every now and then”.
He also prefaced his comments, saying, “I mean, that was just a great period. But was it Summer Bay? Hmmm … in my humble
‘It came in too big a dose’
opinion, not to that extent.
“However, what the boys did was great. What they wrote was great.
All of that was fantastic.”
Ray’s comments about the River Boys have left some TV commentators wondering how the actors who played them are feeling.
“They love Ray, but surely they’d have to be taken aback a little,” says one.