.
Main Pages

Home
News
Spoilers
Features
Comment
Reference
Interactive
Neighbourhood
Actors & Crew
Characters
Year by Year
Magic Moments
Episodes
Interviews
Articles
Multimedia
Galleries
Music
Links
Search

Message Board

.
Magic Moments > 1993 > Bouncer's Departure Episode 1850

Written by Roger Moulton, Directed by Richard Sarrell, Produced by Sally-Anne Kerr and Dave Worthington

Channel Ten: 12/02/93, BBC One: 16/12/93, UK Gold: 03/12/99

Philip suffers a nightmare about the car crash which killed his first wife, Loretta... Wayne accidentally brushes against Gaby at the bar and she thinks he was trying to grope her and throws a drink over him... Julie gatecrashes an important meeting, wrongly believing that Philip and Gaby are having an affair...

At number 26, Jim, Helen and Hannah are sitting with Bouncer, amazed that he survived such a long journey. Hannah thinks that he came back because he missed her so much, though Helen isn't so sure. Jim carries the dog into the laundry to make him up a bed, and Hannah goes along too, saying that Bouncer must like her more than Toby. Wayne then walks in, telling Helen that he did his marking at the pub - and thankfully he didn't run into Gaby. Helen tells him that she hates feuding neighbours, and it's bad enough with Jim and Benito at each other's throats. She suggests that there might be an easy way to heal the rift, by giving Gaby a gift.

..

At number 32, a furious Philip storms into the house, with an apologetic Julie close behind, and he asks Michael to give them some space. Julie says that she got the wrong end of the stick after some things that Michael said to her, but Philip tells her to stop blaming Michael for her own behaviour. Julie tries to explain, but Philip won't let her. He tells her to go to bed, whilst he tries to come up with a way to salvage the deal. Julie slopes off, and Philip sits down, as Michael sticks his head out the door, to check on the damage he's caused.

At number 28, Gaby has been telling Doug and Pam about Julie's outburst - Doug says that it could have been worse, at least he wasn't confronted by Pam in her rollers and dressing gown. Pam tells him off for laughing about it, and says that she realised Julie was having a few problems, but she's worried and starting to believe that she might need some help.

..

The next morning, at number 32, Philip offers Julie a cold goodbye as he leaves for work. She reminds him that it's Valentine's Day on Sunday, but he isn't really interested, and isn't sure if he'll be home for dinner either. Michael then appears and tells Julie that Philip will calm down soon, and not to worry too much. Julie realises what a fool she made of herself last night, and says she can't blame Philip for being so upset. Michael tells her that he would have jumped to the same conclusions about Philip and Gaby, and Julie hugs him and says that she glad to have someone who understands what she's going through.

At number 26, Hannah is on the phone to Toby, who wants to know when Bouncer will be going back to the farm - she passes the phone to Jim, who says he'll ask around and find out if anyone's heading out that way soon. Helen then finds that some meat, which she left on the counter to defrost, has been eaten, Bouncer's nowhere to be found and the side gate is open. Hannah is distraught as she realises that Bouncer's run away again.

..

At The Hungry Bite, Cathy tells Gaby that Marco has finally been in touch, and he's now in Italy, working at Caroline's bar. Cathy goes to get a drink for Gaby, as Wayne comes in. He tries to clear the air with her, by offering her a gift - a voucher for a beauty treatment - but she takes great offence, assuming that it's a hint that she's ugly. Wayne tries to tell her that's not what he meant, but she throws it back at him, tells him to 'go back to Woop Woop' and storms off, as a confused Cathy returns from the kitchen.

Jim, Helen and Hannah walk out onto Ramsay Street, calling out to Bouncer. Jim and Helen decide to knock on a few doors, and Jim goes over to Doug, to tell him that Bouncer's missing again. Meanwhile, Julie is leaving the house and delighted to see Hannah, who runs over and hugs her. Jim goes over to check that Julie is well enough to be up and about, and then Doug calls him over. He tells Jim what happened at the office the night before, and suggests that Julie might need some help. At the end of the street, Julie walks off to go and see Philip, whilst Hannah and Helen continue the search. They bump into Wayne, who offers to help out too, as he was apparently taught about this sort of thing in the Army Reserves.

..

At the Lassiter's office, Philip is apologising to Gaby for Julie's behaviour, when Julie herself turns up. She tells Gaby how sorry she is, and says that she managed to convince herself of something that wasn't really happening. Gaby accepts the apology and says that they should just put it all behind them, then she leaves the office. Philip tells Julie that she should be at home, resting, but she says that she was just so upset about everything - she explains that she was worried as he forgot their anniversary, which has never happened before. Philip feels terrible, and suggests that they go out for dinner that evening.

..

Jim and Helen are at the park, still calling out to Bouncer, and in the distance, Hannah and Wayne spot something and go running over. They find Bouncer with another dog and a litter of puppies. They're all joined by Jim and Helen, who realise that Bouncer was coming home to see his new family.

At number 32, Julie is searching for a brooch, and she tells Michael that Philip is taking her out for a romantic dinner. Michael wonders if she's up to it, but she says that she's fine - then Philip arrives home and tells her that they're booked in at The Westminster in two hours, so Julie rushes off to get ready. Michael quietly asks Philip is he thinks this is a good idea, as Julie should still be resting, but Philip says that it might just be the boost they need, to rediscover their old magic.

..

That evening, at number 28, Gaby and Pam are preparing dinner and Gaby is telling her mum about Julie coming to apologise - though they're still not sure if they've lost the client whose meeting Julie interrupted. She also tells Pam about the gift that Wayne gave her - Pam thinks that he might have meant well, and she starts to tell Gaby about some of the terrible gifts that Doug has given her over the years, including a washing up brush and a lady's razor. She makes Gaby see that Wayne might have had good intentions and that maybe she overreacted a little bit.

At The Westminster restaurant, Julie is apologising to Philip for all the trouble she's been causing recently. Philip, however, says that they've all been under a lot of stress and they should just forget about it and enjoy themselves for the evening. The waiter comes to take their drinks order, and Julie starts looking at the wine list, but Philip takes it from her and says that they'll have two mineral waters. Julie looks completely mortified.

..

At number 26, Helen says that Bouncer was disappearing a lot, even before he went to the country with Toby, and now they know why. Jim says that he'll have to drive the dogs up to Joe's farm soon, but Doug tells him that and Pam have been meaning to go and visit Joe and Melanie for ages - they could probably go the following day if Pam can change her shifts, and could take all the dogs in the ute. Jim is very grateful, and Helen is delighted to finally seem to some neighbourly cooperation. Everyone is glad that there's a happy ending, except for Hannah, who says that she wishes she could go with Bouncer.

Philip and Julie are in the car, on the way home, and she is still furious at the way he humiliated her in front of the waiter. She accuses him of treating her like a child, and asks if he thinks that she's a drunk - he says that he's seen all the empty bottles in the kitchen, and the lipstick marks on the wine glasses. She gets increasingly upset with him and then starts grabbing at the steering wheel, demanding that he stop the car. Philip brakes to a sudden stop and tells Julie to just get out. She wants to know what's wrong with him, but he tells her to just leave him alone.

..

At number 32, Julie is still trying to get Philip to talk to her, when Michael appears and asks what happened. Julie tells him that they had a fight in the car, and then Philip tells her that she was behaving just like Loretta. Michael tries to stop his dad, saying that he can't put Loretta's problems onto Julie, as they're two different people, but Philip won't listen and goes to the bedroom, saying that he doesn't want to talk.

At number 26, Wayne answers the door to Gaby, who says that she wants to clear the air. She explains that she's realised that he probably thought he was buying her something that she'd like, and she'd be happy to accept it now. Wayne, however, has had enough of her behaviour and says that he gave the voucher to someone else, and he only wanted Gaby to have it because he thought that he liked her. She tells him not to take his bad mood out on her, but he says that he wasn't in a bad mood until she turned up with her 'snotty little speech'. He then calls her a pain in the bum, she calls him a hick, and then he throws her out.

..

The next morning, Pam and Doug are putting the puppies into the front of the ute, and she says that she's looking forward to some time in the country - if they survive the journey! Doug then ties Bouncer into the back of the ute, and Hannah says her goodbyes to him. The ute drives off, with Jim, Helen and Hannah waving goodbye to Bouncer, then Philip and Michael comes over. Michael has to go somewhere, but Philip explains that he'd like a chat with Jim and Helen, so he sends Hannah to number 32 to spend some time with Debbie.

..

Inside number 26, Jim, Helen and Philip sit down, and Philip explains that things have gone from bad to worse. Helen says that they've heard about the outburst at the office the other night, but Philip says that things got worse last night, when they went out for dinner and he wouldn't let her order any wine - they argued in the car and she started grabbing at the wheel, almost causing an accident. Helen realises that it sounds just like Loretta, and Philip says that it was like history repeating itself and he's had enough - the marriage is over.

..

Michael walks through a graveyard. He puts some flowers on his mum's grave, and proudly tells her that he's done it - he's managed to end Philip's marriage to Julie, and she'll be going out of their lives forever.

Featured Regular Characters: Bouncer, Doug Willis, Pam Willis, Gaby Willis, Jim Robinson, Helen Daniels, Wayne Duncan, Philip Martin, Julie Martin, Debbie Martin, Michael Martin, Hannah Martin

Guest Cast: Cole Horsfall as Waiter

Trivia Notes
• Final appearance of Bouncer, after 6 years
• Past characters Marco Alessi, Caroline Alessi, Toby Mangel, Joe Mangel and Melanie Pearson are mentioned
• Jane Bayley is credited as playing Loretta Martin in this episode, but the character only appears in the recap

Summary by Steve

< Previous Episode | 1993 Magic Moments | Next Episode >