Real tears flow on Isidingo

2008-04-04 17:32

Birgit Ottermann

Cape Town - Real tears flowed on Isidingo and in thousands of households across South Africa on Thursday night when the death of late actress, Ashley Callie's character Lee Haines was announced.

Callie, who tragically died in a Johannesburg car accident on 15 February, will not only be missed in real life, but also on SABC3's favourite soapie Isidingo.

An entry on a special website dedicated to Callie reads:

"The hurting in tonight's (Thursday's) episode was so real, reminding us all of this incredibly huge loss. As Horizon Deep loses Lee, as Barker loses his second child, we all feel the terrible pain of losing the actress we loved so much. RIP Ashley."

It is not clear how Callie's character Lee (Leone) Haines died in Isidingo - the cause of her death still remains a mystery.

After her mother's death, Lee goes to Mpumalanga.

In Wednesday's episode Frank discovers from his PA that Lee has not been at work since her Mom's death.

And, on Thursday Lee's father Barker receives a phone call from Mpumalanga that Lee has been found.

He goes to the Mpumalanga mountains with Orlando where rescue workers have found Lee's body. All that is seen is Lee's abandoned car with numberplate Lee 3 GP and the serene beauty of the mountains and valley far below.

The episode ends with Barker breaking down on the road before the camera turns back to the beautiful landscape.

Real grief

Last night was the saddest TV episode I've ever seen," an Isidingo fan told News24 on Friday.

"In that episode the soapie had become reality TV. The tears and grief were real - especially the scenes where Harriet and Barker broke down were heart-breaking. It must have been incredibly hard for the cast."

"The serenity and timelessness of the Mpumalanga mountains were a beautiful reminder that Ashley Callie is at peace now and will live on in our hearts," the News24 User added.

"Well done to the writers of Isidingo, to let her go in such a beautiful place, as beautiful as she was herself," another fan echoes these sentiments on Callie's website.

Mystery

"These last episodes were incredibly hard to shoot," Isidingo's publicity officer Nyagunda Chauke told News24 on Friday.

The cause of Lee Haines's death in Isidingo will remain a mystery," Chauke said.

"The Isidingo writing department and producers acted with a lot of sensitivity around Lee Haines's final story line and also discussed it with Ashley Callie's family," Chauke said.

She explained that the decision not to reveal the cause of Lee's death, was seen as the most sensitive way to handle the difficult situation.

She also said that any storyline revealing the exact way that Lee dies, could just cause offense.

"She is gone now, that's reality, and we have to look to the future," she adds with sadness.

- News24