TV soap brings back iconic theme tune after nearly two decades

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Home & Away’s iconic theme tune has made its long-awaited return to the soap with the first full-length opening titles in nearly 17 years. Thursday’s Australian broadcast of the show saw the reintroduction of a 50-second opening sequence featuring the classic ‘Closer Each Day’ melody.

The new titles featured various shots of the cast on the sands of Sydney’s Palm Beach, interspersed with stylised shots of the soap’s fictional location of Summer Bay. The opening credits and accompanying theme last aired in full back in 2008. They were replaced with a short 15-second version in 2009, which also marked the first time the cast had not appeared in the opening credits since the show launched in 1988.

The titles were then dropped entirely in 2010, with a short instrumental sting of the theme playing before or after a recap of the previous episode. While the theme tune has continued to play on the end credits on UK broadcasts in the years since, this has not been the case in Australia, where it has not been heard since 2009. The theme that can now be heard over the new opening credits is an extended version of one of the short vocal ‘stings’ used at the start of each episode since 2018.

However, it doesn’t seem the new opening titles will air with every episode going forward, with a source telling Digital Spy: ‘For creative reasons, the new titles will only feature in certain episodes, but fans will be delighted to see them back after such a long break. ‘The new sequence is also easy to update, allowing producers to adjust the titles as and when characters leave and newcomers arrive in the Bay.’.

Curiously, the titles do feature Xander Delaney (Luke Van Os), who Australian fans saw leave the soap back in November – could he be on his way back to the Bay?. With UK broadcasts of Home & Away currently around six weeks behind Australia, fans can expect to see the new titles debut on Channel 5 in late March. Home & Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with a first-look episode at 6.30pm on 5STAR.

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