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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 2742-2746 by Mark

Originally broadcast in 1996. UK Gold: Monday 12th May - Friday 16th May 2003
Writers: Ray Kolle, Susan Bower, Victoria Osbourne, Christopher Gist, Piers Hobson. Directors: T. Grant Fenn, Robert Meillon.

Departures and decisions were the order of business in this weeks episodes, with two old favourites departing for pastures new, and two even older favourites reaching decisions about their future...

The reunion of Madge and Harold looked set to be short-lived as the week began after Harold failed to meet Madge as planned and she discovered he had moved out of his lodgings. Thinking she had lost Harold again, Madge resigned herself to putting him behind her and returning to Brisbane. However, just as she was about to leave for the airport with Philip, Harold appeared on the doorstep of No.26 and told Madge he wanted to know if he was a grandfather. Presumably, Madge never answered his question, because in the seven years that followed, there was never any evidence or mention of the fact that Harold was indeed, a grandfather.

After agreeing to stay in Erinsborough and work on regaining his memory, Harold and Madge began attending therapy sessions. However, the excitement Harold felt after his first session was cut short when he asked Madge about his children and she was forced to break the painful news to him that Kerry was dead.

Anne Charleston and Ian Smith's return to the show continues to thrill and delight, despite the fact that the writer's threw them into somewhat unlikely scenarios at various stages this week. For instance, would the feisty and determined Madge really pack her bags and plan to catch the six o'clock flight home to Queensland after one setback in her reunion with the husband she thought was dead? Having said that, many tender, wonderful scenes followed throughout the week, as well as hints of nostalgia and welcome references to past characters and situations, such as Kerry's death and Harold's time as a scoutmaster. Of particular note was the touching scene between Madge and Helen, when they were saying their goodbyes and Helen told Madge she was her closest friend. For long-time viewers, the on-screen reunion of Anne Haddy and Anne Charleston was a wonderful treat and the observance of the close friendship so long enjoyed by the two was a nice, understated touch.

The feud between Lou and Darren finally showed signs of reaching an amicable conclusion this week, despite Darren lashing out at Lou in the midst of a family barbecue Marlene had planned to ease tensions between the two. Darren had been left seething when Marlene read out a suggested inscription for Cheryl's headstone, in which she forgot to add Maurie's name and referred to Lou as Cheryl's 'life partner'. An angry confrontation ensued, but after Brett announced he was fed up with the incessant arguing and leaving Erinsborough to resume his travels on the seas, Darren was forced to reconsider his attitude to Lou. They eventually agreed to put their differences behind them for Lolly's sake at the very least. Darren also looked set to put his differences with Karl behind him after agreeing to work with Mal and Karl on the school job.

Brett's departure was to coincide with that of Danni, who within the space of two episodes had opted to pack up her entire life in Erinsborough and move to Malaysia for six months to work with top fashion designer Graeme Williams. Danni initially assumed Luke was going to go with her, but was dealt a lesson in presuming too much when he announced he was staying behind to pursue his teaching degree. In typical Danni fashion, she then concocted a plan to emotionally blackmail Luke into going with her by telling him she had turned down the job because of his refusal to go with her. At first, Luke felt guilty about ruining Danni's big chance in the fashion industry, but Debbie quickly pointed out that Danni was obviously lying about turning the job down in order to pressure him into going with her. Although angry, Luke had some fun with Danni by leading her to believe that he was delighted she had turned her big chance down for him, and she was eventually forced to come clean and admit she was still going to Malaysia. The couple had a final romantic picnic by the lake before Danni and Brett were driven to the airport by Lou, and bid a devastated Marlene farewell.

Danni's departure from the show after almost three years as a central character was quite disappointing and lacking in any real kind of significance. To begin with, her exit was hastily brought about within two episodes - although Cheryl's death a month beforehand most likely prevented the writers from plotting a lengthy lead-up to Danni's departure. The storyline with Luke where he was stringing her along into thinking she'd have to stay behind after all prevented Danni from having a farewell party and instead, Brett took centre stage for all the goodbyes and good wishes. Brett also had a lovely, tender goodbye scene with Libby, in which they both told each other how special they were and reaffirmed their close friendship. As nice as that was, it seemed a little unfair that Brett was given the chance to feature in meaningful goodbye scenes given that he had already left the series once before. Danni, on the other hand, never got to say goodbye or have any final scenes with people who had been close to her in Ramsay Street, such as Lou or Mal. Instead, her final scene was a very subdued affair - just quick hugs for Marlene and Darren before Lou ushered her and Brett out the door and off to the airport. Nonetheless, Eliza Szonert turned in a final week of vintage Danni, scheming away as always to make things go her way. And Brett Blewitt's return as Brett was an enjoyable stint. The character seemed to have matured an awful lot while on his travels, and it was a welcome change to see a more confident Brett rather than the hapless loser stuff he was so often saddled with during his initial run. There was also a nice sense of the two characters coming full circle surrounding their departures - Danni and Brett had come into the series together in 1993, and went out together in 1996.

Just as Ruth and Philip seemed to be putting their initial differences behind them, Ruth accused Debbie of being irresponsible after she left Helen alone while she went to the shops and Helen burnt her hand on the stove. On hearing Ruth's accusations, Philip rushed across to No.32 and became embroiled in a bitter argument with Ruth over their parenting skills, culminating in Ruth revealing that Hannah and Lance were seeing each other. Furious that Hannah had been dating Lance behind his back, Phil angrily lashed out at her and Lance - until Lance owned up and revealed Hannah had only been pretending to be his girlfriend because he didn't want Ruth to know he was actually spending all his spare time working at a nursery to buy her and his father a holiday in the hope of reconciling them. What followed was another legendary ³Stop treating me like a child² scene between Hannah and Philip.

Philip's outrage at discovering Hannah is seeing Lance are a little hard to swallow given that he had shown no signs of disapproval of the pair dating a year ago. It's obvious that this particular story was planned before the decision to change 'Jon Wilkinson' to Lance had been made, which is a shame, because you can't help but disagree with Philip's disgust, given what had gone on before.

The Kennedys had a tension filled week, with both Susan and Billy losing patience with Karl's decision to ditch medicine and work as a labourer with Malcolm. Billy lost his temper with Karl in an explosive confrontation, after Billy had received flak from his schoolmates over his father doing menial tasks around the school grounds. Karl was deeply hurt by Billy's dismissal of him as going through a mid-life crisis, and as a result, announced his intention to return to practicing medicine for the sake of his family. However, Susan wasn't so sure that Karl was returning to medicine for the right reasons. Successive attempts by Susan to get Karl to open up to her about how he felt failed, until he went on his first house call and realised he couldn't go through with it. On returning home deflated and depressed, Karl admitted to Susan that he wasn't ready to return to medicine, and apologised to her for the way he had been behaving towards her lately.

There were some sensational scenes in the Kennedy household this week - most notably Jesse Spencer's Billy angrily attacking his father for embarrassing him at school and reducing himself to such a menial job. Alan Fletcher also turned in a week of wonderful performances as a preoccupied Karl, and Jackie Woodburne deserves a mention too, as a Susan deeply concerned about her husband's state of mind. As well as the dramatic moments in the Kennedy house this week, there was also a real energy to their 'breakfast' scenes - the timing and chemistry between all five Kennedys is so natural and flawless, and the addition of Toadie to the household has complimented the family unit.

In other stories, Mal started to realise that Jo was looking for more than friendship from him and failed in his attempts at putting her off him by cancelling a trip to the theatre for a night at the race track with his mates because she insisted on coming along too. Toadie's crush on Sarah led him to leap to her defence after he caught wind of her problems with Steven. But he ended up making a fool of himself when he showed up at Steven's hotel room and was given a black eye by the English Lord. Sarah, however, was touched by Toadie's attempts at sticking up for her, however misguided, and she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. Steven, meanwhile, left Erinsborough, although he and Sarah managed to part as friends.

On the whole, a hugely enjoyable week of Neighbours. There is now such an energy, brightness and freshness to the series with the new cast additions and return of old favourites, and it is showing excellent signs of finding the perfect mix of characters after a lengthy stale period.

Notes: Nathan Godkin appeared in Episode 2743 as Adam Young, a classmate of Billy's. He would later go on to play the recurring role of Craig 'Pinhead' Pinders. Eliza Szonert is still credited as a permanent cast member and still appears in the opening titles in the episodes after her departure