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Episode Summaries >
1985
> Episode 53
Written by Adrian Van Der Bok, Directed
by Mandy Smith, Produced by John Holmes
Channel Seven: 29/05/85, BBC One: 12/01/87, UK Gold: 13/01/93
Recap
• Kevin Morgan asks Des to return to the bank as acting manager
• Nick asks Maria to go to Hawaii
• Jim mistakenly tells Shane that Max isn’t Danny’s father
No 24 - Backyard: Shane demands Jim to tell him what he is talking about. Jim reassures him that Danny is still his brother and Shane remembers a time when his parents
had separated when he was a child. He figures that Max has on just found out and believes it to be Nick. Jim tells him Nick wasn’t even in the country and that he doesn’t know who Danny’s real father is. Danny appears, asking if Shane will in for dinner
that night or not. Shane walks off and Jim tells Danny it’s because he couldn’t get the lawnmower to work.
No 26 - Lounge Room: Julie, Paul and Helen are playing scrabble. Julie places a word and Paul doubts whether it is real or not. As Paul looks the word up Helen takes
her turn, placing all her letters. Jim enters from the kitchen asking if he can talk to Helen. She is busy playing her turn and asks him to wait as the phone rings. Jim answers and the man asks to speak to Helen, not giving away his name. When Helen
picks up the phone, the man asks if she can recognise his voice but she can’t. He reveals that he is Victor Armstrong, a friend from during the war years. There is a knock at the back door and Jim goes off to answer it. It’s Shane, asking who else
knows about Danny and Max. Jim reassures him that it’s only him and Helen. Shane is angry and starts accusing his mother but Jim tells him that he shouldn’t be so hard on her. Shane says he’s not going to tell Danny and asks Jim not to let anyone
know that he knows the secret. Jim gives him one week to come to terms with the situation before he will tell. Back in the living room, Helen is still talking to Victor, who invites her to dinner for that night. She accepts but asks if he would
like to come around to their place and have dinner and meet the family, he agrees and they say goodbye. Paul and Julie start jokingly paying Helen out, saying they have never heard of a Victor Armstrong and that he must be one of Helen’s old lovers.
 . . . 
No 24 - Danny's Bedroom: Shane is busily searching for things in Danny’s wardrobe as Danny enters and wonders what he is doing. Shane explains he is looking for what’s left
of the camping equipment because he is going away for a while. Danny is excited and shuts the bedroom door as he tells Shane he will join him, since the last trip they had together had been fun. Shane tells him he doesn’t want him to come because he wants
to be alone. Danny thinks it’s because of the fight they had had and that Danny likes Nick. Shane explains that it’s not Danny’s fault and he shouldn’t blame himself, he just needs some time away.
No 26 - Lounge Room: Helen walks in from the kitchen, placing some bowls of nibbles on the table. Paul walks in telling Scott, who is sitting on the couch that he has
to be on his best behaviour because “you never know what the squadron leader will expect.” Helen tells them to stop fooling around as Scott jokes about Victor and Helen’s relationship being a ‘brief but beautiful wartime romances’. Jim walks in with a
bottle of wine, asking if the boys are giving her a hard time. He tells her that Julie is taking care of dinner and that Helen doesn’t have to worry about a thing. As Scott goes to put a record on there is a knock at the door and Helen introduces
Victor to her family. Jim tells the boys to help Julie with dinner as he goes off to get drinks. Helen and Victor take a seat on the sofa. They talk about how successful Victor is and about his wife (who had died a long time ago). He glosses over
details and they talk about Helen’s late husband Bill.
No 24 - Kitchen: Maria is preparing dinner as she talks to Nick who tells her she should be out enjoying herself, reinviting her to Hawaii. Shane storms in and
rudely tells Nick that he wants to talk to Maria. Nick leaves to see Danny and Maria tells Shane he should be nicer to Nick. Shane ignores this and bluntly tells Maria that he is going away and that he is leaving the next day. Maria wants to know
why and Shane tells her she will find out soon enough. When she questions where he is going and how he is going to get there (seeing as he has no car), he tells her he doesn’t need to tell her anything and that he only wanted her to know he was
taking off for a while. He attempts to leave the house for the night but Maria tries to stop him. She tells him she isn’t going to Hawaii with Nick and hopes that this will stop him from leaving. He tells her she should go seeing as Max doesn’t
have what she wants. She finally lets him pass and he leaves.
No 26 - Kitchen: Everyone is finishing their meal and Victor complements Julie on a wonderful meal. He asks the children what they do and tells Paul he should be flying
planes, not attending to passengers and that when Scott finishes school he should join one of the services. They talk about Victor’s time in the and how he had been gunned down twice over the English Channel. He tell them that military discipline had
saved him and this causes the boys to breakdown in laugher, resulting in Helen kicking Scott from under the table. She asks them to make to coffee for everyone.
 . . . 
No 24 - Lounge Room: Maria and Nick are watching TV as Maria tells him she can’t go to Hawaii with the state the family is in at the moment. Nick explains that
Shane’s mood must be because he thinks he made Max and Maria split up. He asks why they split up and she tells him not to ask. He suggest he comes around in the morning to tell Shane he is leaving, hoping that he will stay. He explains that Nick
wants Maria to be his wife because she is the only woman he has loved.
No 26 - Lounge Room: Victor complements Helen on her family and Helen says it’s a pity that Lucy is spending time with her friends. Victor tells her that he and his daughter don’t see eye to eye and have lost
contact over the years. He heads off and says he will come by to see Helen in the morning.
No 26 - Dining Table: Paul and Scott talk about the previous night and how Victor’s ranting caused Paul to lose it. Helen says she was embarrassed by them last
night and Scott says he now has a bruise thanks to her kick. Paul continues making jokes about their love and Helen wonders when the airline will send Paul off on a long journey. Scott leaves for school and Paul asks Helen if she and Victor were
really lovers. She tells him that if he hadn’t been sent to war he would be Paul’s grandfather. Paul asks if she has ever thought of remarrying, telling her she isn’t bad looking for her age. Helen doesn’t know how to take the complement and Paul
comments on how Victor looked at Helen the night before – full of passion. “He was full on vintage port” she replies.
Pacific Bank: Marilyn hands Victor his withdrawal and as he leaves bumps into Julie. Marilyn comments that Victors is scraping the barrel for money and hasn’t got that much left.
 . . . 
Park: Helen is trying to get Basil to play fetch with no success. She re-joins Victor who is sitting on a park bench. Helen talks about how she is happy
with good health, a home and loving family. She tells Victor that when she went to bed the previous night that she had thought about him and his daughter which made her think about her own daughter Anne. She tells him that when Anne died
she was glad they loved each other. He changes the subject by giving Helen a necklace as a thank you for dinner the night before. She puts the necklace on and tells Victor she has to go as she is judging an art exhibition at Lucy’s school.
He tells her he had business to attend to as well. She picks up Basil saying that they will both go and get the stick that Helen had thrown moments before.
No 26 - Kitchen: Julie arrives home as Jim eagerly awaits Helen to come home so they can go to the exhibition. Julie asks Jim what she should do if
she found out something that someone else should know – talking about the information she found out about Victor. Jim tells her to keep quiet about whatever she knows bout. At that moment Helen arrives home, telling Basil to get into her
basket. Jim tells her they have to leave now. She apologises for being late and shows them the necklace Victor had given her. As Jim and Helen leave, Julie wonders to herself about Victor and how he could afford the necklace.
Phone Box: Victor calls a cheap motel asking what their rate is. Its $10 a night in advance and Victor books, saying he will be there soon.
 . . . 
No 24 - Kitchen: Shane is packing food as Danny asks him when he’ll be back and what he is going to tell Max. Danny has taken the day off school
to try and get Shane to stay. Nick arrives and tells Shane he knows why he is leaving. Shane thinks he has been talking to Jim and realises he doesn’t know about the situation. Nick tells Shane that he is leaving, meaning that
Shane can say. He tells Nick he is not the reason he is leaving. Nick is appalled at the way Shane is acting and starts telling him what he’d do if Shane was his son. Shane yells at him telling him he is glad he is not his son
and storms out of the house, past his mother who looks worried.
Regular Cast Credits
Featured Regular Characters: Maria Ramsay, Shane Ramsay, Danny Ramsay, Helen Daniels, Jim Robinson, Paul Robinson, Scott Robinson, Julie Robinson
Guest Cast: Vic Hawkins as Nick Burman,
Kassie McKluskie as Marilyn Temple, Frank Wilson as Victor Armstrong
Trivia Notes
• Julie spells ‘sabot’ in Scrabble which means a shoe made from single block of wood hollowed out. This also earns her a triple word score
• During Scrabble, Paul plans to play the word ‘bull’ as it’s seen on his rack in a close up shot
• Lucy has spent the episode at a sleepover at a friend's house
Summary
by Victoria
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