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Weekly Reviews >
Episodes 2782-2786
by Mark
Originally
broadcast in 1997. UK Gold: Monday 7th July - Friday 11th July 2003
Writers: John Upton, Xenia Michael, Victoria Osborne, Ray Kolle, Lyn Ogilvy. Directors: Tony Osicka, Robert Meillon.
Sexual tensions, a sensitive house guest and scrambling to hide a broken
vase on this week's UK Gold.
The Phil/Debbie/Coffee Shop saga continued this week, with Jo Evans now also
immersed in things. Helen firmly stood by Debbie in the wake of Philip
recommending to Jo that she cancel her plans to invest in the business now
that he knew it was the Coffee Shop. Philip ended up in a furious mood when
he arrived home to find Helen, Debbie and Jo at the Martin house discussing
plans for the business. It appeared Jo was happy to ignore Philipıs advice
and with Helen on board as financial consultant, was keen to give things a
go with Debbie. Philip stuck to his decision to object to the idea, leading
Helen to sternly warn him that he wasn't being fair to Debbie.
Philip, meanwhile, had other problems to contend with. At the first PTA
meeting of the year, he and Ruth had a huge argument over the books,
culminating in Philip storming out. Karl brought Philip to the pub to cool
down, while Ruth asked Susan to try and find Philip and convince him to stay
on as treasurer. However, when Susan called at No. 26 looking for Philip, she
only found Helen there, who shed some light on the tension between Philip
and Ruth by letting Susan know there was more to their relationship than
meets the eye. Having realised that Ruth and Philip actually fancied each
other, Susan marched back over to Ruth to get the goss, and Ruth confirmed
that she did like Philip. Philip, meanwhile, apologised to Ruth once he had
cooled down, and they agreed to put the incident behind them and continue
working together. But by that stage, word has spread around Ramsay Street
that they were 'an item'. Susan had told Karl about the pair, and he in turn
told Marlene and Lou. But when Marlene met Lance in Ramsay Street and told
him how pleased she was for Ruth and Philip, he was disgusted, and thought
his mum and Phil had got together without telling him. Ruth was puzzled when
Lance told her what Marlene had told him, and she and Philip confronted
Marlene about the rumours she had been spreading. However, as soon as
Marlene mentioned that she had heard it from Karl, Ruth put two and two
together and realised it had all come from Susanıs conversation with her.
Fearing Phil would find out about her confession to Susan if they pursued
the matter any further, Ruth told Phil she thought it best if they just
leave things rest.
The rocky road to getting together continued with plenty of drama and comedy
for Phil and Ruth this week. The sparks really flew between the couple at
the PTA meeting, despite the presence of some dodgy extras in the scenes.
Ailsa Piper and Ian Rawlings have great chemistry as Ruth and Philip and,
perhaps mirroring the will they/won't they storyline Ruthıs daughter Anne is
involved in with Billy Kennedy, the viewer is watching in frustration
willing them to get together. The speed at which the rumours spread about
their 'relationship' also made for some amusing scenes, with Marlene
proceeding to tell everyone as soon as she saw them - despite having assured
Karl she wouldn't tell anyone else.
Catherine began making enemies for herself amongst the neighbours when she
started taking driving lessons. Catherine had always vowed never to drive
because she didn't want to add to the pollution caused by gas emissions, but
when Debbie announced she wanted all staff at the Coffee Shop to have a
drivers licence so they could deliver pizzas, Cath had no choice but to
learn. Mal opted out of teaching her because he felt they would only end up
fighting, and Sarah gave up literally seconds after starting to teach
Catherine in Ramsay Street when she almost ran over Madge. Quite why Madge
was so annoyed with Catherine for almost running over her while learning to
drive is a mystery - how quickly she forgot that she herself was driving
around Erinsborough like a lunatic some years previously when she was being
taught to drive. At least Catherine didn't plough into the fire hydrant on
Ramsay Street. Anyway, Darren stepped into the breach and took on the role
of instructing Catherine, boasting that he would have the patience to teach
her. However, their first lesson in the bush got off to a bad start when
Catherine slammed on the breaks after a rabbit ran out into the road, and
Darren laid into her for stopping so suddenly for the sake of a rabbit. A
row broke out resulting in Catherine storming off, insisting she'd walk
home. Darren tried to persuade her to get back in the ute, but she refused
and an irate Darren left her in the middle of the bush. Mal and Libby had a
go at Darren when he got back to Ramsay Street and told them he had left her
behind. But Darren assured them she'd be fine because there was a train
station not far from where he left her. When Catherine got home, she had
realised how stubborn she had been, and called over to No. 22 to apologise to
Darren. Finding him relaxing in the spa out the back, the first signs of an
attraction between the two was evident as Darren teasingly invited her to
join him.
The stubborn streak in Catherine O'Brien returned to the fore in the driving
lesson scenes, very reminiscent of the days when she was busy scaling the
walls of uni hanging banners for the Wilderness Society and handcuffing
herself to Sam Kratz in protest at his modelling agency. Radha Mitchell gave
a fine performance all week, with a nice understated sexual tension coming
through quite clearly with Todd MacDonald's Darren in the spa scene.
However, the attraction seems to have developed rapidly with Sarah, Libby
and Marlene all showing signs of noticing the attraction between the pair
within an episode.
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While Harold busied himself with preparations for the old bus and giving
Libby an interview about his plans for the Erinsborough News, Madge was
consumed with suspicion and jealousy when a letter arrived in the post for
him with S.W.A.L.K on the back of the envelope. Helen tried to reassure
Madge that it couldn't be too much of a threat, but Madge wasn't convinced.
A mysterious phone call from a woman in the middle of the night unnerved
Madge even more and unable to contain her curiosity, demanded Harold tell
her what it was all about. Harold explained that the letter and phone call
had been from Claudia Harvey, a good friend of his from his days in
rehabilitation in Tasmania. Madge was horrified when Harold announced his
plans to invite Claudia to stay with them for a while, and even more so when
the mousy, nervous Claudia arrived at No. 24 and proved to be the exact
opposite of the more forward and fiery Madge. Various problems ensued, with
Madge determined Claudia's stay at No. 24 be a short one, and Claudia finding
it hard to cope with this 'new woman' in 'Ted's' life. By the end of the
week, Claudia felt so unwelcome and uncomfortable around Madge that she
decided to leave and left a note for Madge announcing she had left town. And
Madge threaded dangerous water by considering not showing the letter to
Harold and letting him think Claudia had simply disappeared.
Terrific performances all round from the three actors involved in this
storyline. Anne Charleston, in particular, seems to be enjoying the scenes
- initially as Madge struggled with her jealousy and suspicions that Harold
had another 'special friend', and later in the week as she gradually lost
patience with the bag of nerves that is Claudia. Also of interest is the way
in which this storyline manages to include some comedic moments in the midst
of the more sensitive and dramatic moments.
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Other events in this week's episodes included Lisa's first day at
Erinsborough High. When Hannah and Anne warned her about a prank some of the
students had planned for her, Lisa felt like she owed them one, so when she
caught the girls wagging school the next day, they pressured her into
covering for them. Torn between getting off to a good start in her new job
and repaying Hannah and Anne's kindness, Lisa agreed to keep quiet just this
once. But when Susan saw a picture of the girls in the next day's newspaper
at a local sale, and confronted them about missing school, they thought Lisa
had told her and ended up dropping Lisa in it. Mal started work on restoring
the bus for Lou and Harold, while Lou continued trying to find ways to
wrangle discounts for the work on the bus by playing the charity card. In
some comic scenes, Toadie struggled to prevent the Kennedys from discovering
he had broken Susan's late mum's vase, and took to rearranging the furniture
in the house to throw them off the scent.
An enjoyable week in Erinsborough, with that wonderful '1996 Revamp' mix of
drama and comedy.
Anne Phelan begins a guest stint as Claudia Harvey. Anne had
previously worked with Ian Smith on Prisoner Cell Block H.
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