Home and Away is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2012, by order of first appearance. The 25th season of Home and Away began airing from 23 January 2012. Until mid April, characters are introduced by the soap's executive producer, Cameron Welsh. Thereafter, they are introduced by his successor, Lucy Addario. January also saw Peter Phelps debut as Alan Henderson. arrived in February, while began appearing from March. and made their first appearances in April. , and made their debuts in May. and arrived in August, while , , and his son, , began appearing from October.