During a trip to the supermarket this week, Susan attempted to pick up more than a sliced white and a packet of Tim Tams. After plenty of encouragement from Liljana, Susan asked a mysterious stranger out on a date. Embarrassingly, he turned her down, so she was extremely disturbed when she later saw the man at a church fair. To make a bad situation worse, he also turned out to be not only a Catholic priest, but also Joe Scully’s younger brother, Tom. Lyn was surprised to see him in Erinsborough, while Jack seemed very uncomfortable having a priest around the house. Even Joe mysteriously cancelled a planned trip home on the day of Tom’s arrival. But of course the person who struggled most with his presence in Ramsay Street was Susan. After avoiding a gathering at the Scully house, Susan later admitted to Lyn that she’d asked Tom out after meeting him at the supermarket. A horrified Lyn reminded Susan that he was a man of the cloth, and Susan assured her friend that it was a mistake that she did not intend to repeat. However, when Tom then turned up offering to help at the school, it seemed that Susan was finding it difficult to resist. The arrival of Tom has already proved to be a catalyst for several new situations for the existing characters, which is always a good thing, so hopefully we can look at religion in a more adult way than when it consumed the life of Mark Gottlieb many years ago…

Lyn had other things on her mind this week with the debut screening of Making Mansions. Having invited most of Erinsborough round to watch the show, everyone, including Sindi, got a nasty shock when Channel 44 showed a Portuguese Rock Eisteddfod in its place. Lyn was sympathetic, until Jack overheard Sindi talking to Rocco, describing the Scullys as bogans, and reported back to his mother. Sindi was confronted, and she tried to explain that she had grown to love the Scully family as time had gone on. Lyn refused to listen, and a few days later, just as she was beginning to soften a little toward Miss Watts, Making Mansions was screened. With Lyn portrayed as a fishwife, Jack as a himbo and Valda a battleaxe, nobody was happy with the result. Valda even phoned from Broome to register her disgust. Sindi was also horrified and decided that her only option was to leave. However, before she had a chance to go, Lyn and Jack were on the doorstep, making it clear that they weren’t impressed with the way Sindi had deceived them. Sindi assured everyone that this wasn’t the show she’d approved, and wondered if perhaps Rocco had somehow been involved in the butchering of Making Mansions… With some of the funniest scenes ever shown on Neighbours, the Scullys’ reality television experience was certainly a big highlight of this year so far. It’s also proven to be a fantastic way to integrate the character of Sindi in as a regular character.

Meanwhile, the saga of Shadow the puppy continued. After he’d escaped from Gus last week and found his way onto a golf course, where Sky and Boyd came across him, he continued to move around Ramsay Street this week. With Harold allergic to the animal, he decided to do the neighbourly thing and give the dog to Lou, who was becoming very lonely rattling around on his own. Lou was thrilled, but found it difficult to constantly keep an eye on the dog, with his busy shifts at the pub. After escaping from number 22, Shadow found his way back to the Hoyland house, which had been intended as his original home. Summer was delighted that he’d found his way back to the house, and managed to keep the puppy’s presence a secret for a while, until Max overheard the dog barking. After some persuasion from Summer, Max finally agreed that the dog could stay, but there was still the problem of letting Lou know. As soon as Summer and Izzy walked into the pub with the puppy, Lou was thrilled to see it again, and Summer selflessly allowed him to keep it. With all the drama going on elsewhere in Ramsay Street, it’s nice to have this little saga running along in the background. It’s also one of those storylines that only a show like Neighbours can manage without turning the dog rabid or bringing on a mudslide.