Tuesday March 17 at 8:30pm on Seven (PG)
Julie is left shell-shocked after a visit to her doctor yields a disturbing diagnosis tonight on PACKED TO THE RAFTERS. The Rafters confront in their various ways the bittersweet anniversary of grandma Louise’s tragic death and the wedding of currently-estranged Nathan and Sammy.
Julie is struggling to adjust to what she believes is the onset of menopause and the first anniversary of her mother’s death. Her father Ted handles the situation by creating a party atmosphere at Louise’s grave, believing the family has cried enough tears. Julie is uncomfortable but goes along with Ted’s wishes. However, when he invites his new lady friend Marjorie to dinner, Julie can’t help but react sensitively. With her hormones raging out of control, Julie takes herself off to the doctor.
Ted, meanwhile, cooks up a storm for Marjorie, and it’s looking like the night will end smoothly until a shell-shocked Julie returns home and announces she’s not in the mood for dinner. She proceeds to drop a bombshell on Dave and their secrecy makes Rachel assume that Julie is much sicker than she’s letting on. After sharing her fears with the family, Rachel confronts Julie, begging her to tell them the truth – does she have cancer? Julie has no option but to share the news which will rock the entire Rafter family.
Nathan wakes up alone on the morning of his first wedding anniversary. Missing Sammy like crazy, regretful of their fight, and determined to turn things around, he heads again to the Westaway house, where Trish needs only gently nudging to persuade Sammy to sort things out with her husband.
Ben is pleasantly surprised by a visit from Melissa to the Karandonis house. She reveals that she’s been home to Perth, and has reconciled with her family. She thanks Ben for putting them back in touch. When she leaves, Ben feels dejected – will she ever grant him a second chance? Carbo tells Ben he just needs to work harder to win her over. Ben tries to do just that by organising a romantic picnic but will his romantic overtures work? Just as things start to look up for the pair, a mystery man from Melissa’s past turns up unannounced.
PACKED TO THE RAFTERS stars REBECCA GIBNEY as Julie Rafter, ERIK THOMSON as Dave Rafter, MICHAEL CATON as Ted Taylor, JESSICA MARAIS as Rachel Rafter, HUGH SHERIDAN as Ben Rafter, ANGUS McLAREN as Nathan Rafter, JESSICA McNAMEE as Sammy Rafter, GEORGE HOUVARDAS as Nick ‘Carbo’ Karandonis, ZOE VENTOURA as Melissa Bannon, CAROLINE BRAZIER as Chrissy Merchant and JUSTIN ROSNIAK as Warney, with special guests GEORGE SPARTELS as Theo Karandonis, DINA PANOZZO as Rita Karandonis, JEROME EHLERS as Tony Westaway and SARAH CHADWICK as Trish Westaway and KATE FITZPATRICK as Marjorie.