Production
Conception and development
Following the success of Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye , which broke Presto streaming records when it aired in 2015, Tiffany Dunk of The Daily Telegraph reported that the company were looking to create further spin-offs. [2] Revenge was commissioned along with All or Nothing in May 2016. [3] [4] A reporter for MediaWeek said scripts were in development and production would begin during the coming months, with the first special airing later that year. [3] Revenge serves as a sequel to An Eye for an Eye. [5] It also adheres to Home and Away's PG classification, so it does not put off long term viewers. [6]
Actors Dan Ewing and Lisa Gormley, who play Heath Braxton and Bianca Scott respectively, returned to Home and Away in late 2016, and their storylines lead into Revenge. [7] Ewing liked that their characters appeared in the main show first, as not all of their fans have access to Foxtel. [4] He also told Sue Yeap of The West Australian that despite the name, the special felt more like a feature film than an episode of Home and Away. He continued, "We're shooting like a feature film, the production values, the scripts are much different to the regular shows... it's a great experience." [4]
The plot focuses on Heath Braxton and his wife Bianca Scott, who travel to the Northern Territory for the honeymoon they never had, unaware that they are being followed by their enemy Trevor "Gunno" Gunson (Diarmid Heidenreich), who Heath believes he killed. Gunno kidnaps Bianca, causing Heath to come under suspicion. [8] Gormley stated that Heath and Bianca use the holiday as a way of finding out if they still like each other, which is made all the more difficult when Gunno's revenge plan separates them. [9]
Casting
Like An Eye for an Eye, Revenge features both current and returning Home and Away cast members. [3] In November 2016, it was confirmed that actors Dan Ewing and Lisa Gormley would be reprising their roles of Heath Braxton and Bianca Scott respectively. [10] Gormley "took no convincing" to reprise her role of Bianca. She was the only female cast member to travel to the Northern Territory. Gormley admitted that she became "emotionally invested" in the role and was happy to get involved in the action. [4] Ewing found the opportunity to return as Heath in Revenge "as too good to refuse". [7] He also stated that since An Eye for an Eye, Heath had changed and matured. He is no longer wearing singlets and his grenade neck tattoo is gone. The actor also admitted that while he enjoyed filming the spin-offs, he was unlikely to return to Home and Away full time. [7]
The special also features regular Home and Away cast members George Mason (Martin "Ash" Ashford), Kyle Pryor (Nate Cooper) and Lynne McGranger (Irene Roberts). [11] Ewing explained that as Heath was "kind of the big hero" in An Eye for an Eye, it was good that he could call upon Ash and Nate to help him out this time. [4] He was also pleased to see Pryor away from the hospital set and featuring in the fight scenes, as Pryor is a former stunt man, who worked with Ewing on Power Rangers RPM . [4] Diarmid Heidenreich reprised his role of Trevor "Gunno" Gunson, who was last seen falling from a cliff in An Eye for an Eye. In Revenge, Gunno sports a large scar on his head. [4] Ewing praised Heidenreich's scary performance in Revenge, and said Gunno returns "more bitter and twisted than before." [4] Alea O'Shea also reprised her role of Heath's daughter Darcy Callahan. [11]
Producers offered actress Lisa Flanagan the role of Sergeant Amy Peters without an audition. Flanagan admitted that she had wanted to appear on Home and Away for a while. [12] Amy was the first indigenous female character to be introduced to the show, and Flanagan hoped more Aboriginal actors would appear in the serial in the future. [7] Flanagan reprised the role in the main show in June 2021. [13]
Filming
Revenge was produced by Seven Productions. [3] It was mostly filmed across the Northern Territory in Alice Springs and Darwin. Filming took place during the winter and lasted for ten days. [14] Gormley pointed out that the weather conditions were different to Sydney, where Home and Away is filmed. On the first day, the production was interrupted by rain and Gormley said the crew had "to get creative" with the environment. [4] Of filming in the Northern Territory, Gormley commented, "Bianca has spent most of her life living in Europe so I think everyone wants to see the Red Centre at some point, its one of those really iconic places. I have always wanted to come as well so I was really pumped when they said where we going." [4]
Several scenes were shot at a cattle station and the former film set Ooraminna Homestead, just outside Alice Springs. [12] [15] Yeap (The West Australian) observed that it was "an ideal setting" for the special. [4] The production also filmed at Ormiston Gorge, a waterhole surrounded by mountains. [12] The Summer Bay scenes were filmed in Sydney. [4] Ewing explained that guerrilla filmmaking was employed during the shoot and they had a skeleton crew for much of it. [9] Ewing and Gormley shot some of the footage themselves using mobile phones and GoPro cameras. [14] Ewing found the tough conditions helped his performance. [9] For Heath's interrogation scenes, Ewing used method acting. He deliberately got as little sleep as possible the night before and drank double espressos to help him portray Heath's anger. [4]
