Throng

Filming starts this week on Series Three of Bed of Roses. This entertaining family Australian drama returns with 12 great new episodes.

Returning to the series is the outstanding ensemble cast of Kerry Armstrong, Julia Blake, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence along with Jay Laga’aia, Caroline Gillmer, Kaarin Fairfax and Andrew S. Gilbert.

In series three Louisa Atherton, (Kerry Armstrong) has finally found her place in the town of Rainbow’s End. Now 50something, Louisa’s life finally seems to be on track; she is head over heels in love; she is the proud new co-owner of the Echo newspaper; and is managing to negotiate her affectionate, if often exasperating family. It just could be a Bed of Roses… but then again it is Louisa Atherton we are talking about!

7:30pm - Saturday, April 3 on ABC1

Tim (Philip Quast) and Gavin (Andrew S. Gilbert) break the news to the team; they're selling the newspaper to Wentworth Regional Press. Tim surprises Louisa by asking her to come with him to a new and better job in the city. Louisa is anxious... Tim... Nick... the job of a lifetime in the city or her life now at Rainbow's End - what does the future hold? What does she want.

At the mining office, Wendy (Kallista Kaval) announces that no trace of the lizard has been found. She strongly implies Louisa's (Kerry Armstrong) photos are not authentic. It looks like Louisa and Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) might be in real trouble. Louisa picks Minna (Julia Blake) and Sandy (Bud Tingwell) up from the hospital; his health is deteriorating and Minna has decided he'll move in with her.

7:30pm - Saturday, March 27 on ABC1

A mine at Rainbow's End looks inevitable. Outside The Echo, Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) and Wendy (Kallista Kaval) continue to debate Chimaera's mining practices, both refusing to give ground.

Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) and Sean (Tim Phillips) are helping the Heritage Committee clean up Sandy's (Bud Tingwell) Museum of Oddities and Holly uses this as her chance to 'borrow' the preserved specimen of the now extinct Golden Speckled Leaping Legless Lizard. Near the Community Gardens, Rooster catches a standard legless lizard. Holly prepares some gold paint and starts snapping photos. Holly shows an astonished Louisa - the extinct lizard is alive... This could change everything.

7:30pm - Saturday, March 20 on ABC1

Minna (Julia Blake) and Sandy (Bud Tingwell) visit an essential oils warehouse estate to buy ingredients for their mysterious business, Foxglove Fragrances. On the way home Sandy suddenly forgets the way, Minna gently talks him through it, but it's clear that his Alzheimer's is worsening.

Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) learns that Wendy Watt (Kallista Kaval) is back in town working for the mining company Chimaera Gold, which has secretly begun exploration in the area. Louisa discovers evidence of Chimaera Gold's questionable practices elsewhere and when Wendy is confronted with some ugly home truths about Chimaera, she does her best to 'spin' it.

Nick (Jay Laga'aia) gives Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) another driving lesson, and discovers that Jack had been cheating on Louisa before he died. Nick resolves to tell Louisa what he really feels, but once again becomes tongue tied.

7:30pm - Saturday, March 13 on ABC1

With exams looming Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) is concerned about Holly's (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) focus and gently suggests she slows things down with Sean and maybe quit the Rainbow Inn... only to discover Holly earns more in her waitressing job than she does as the editor of The Echo.

Gemma (Dina Panozzo) and Pat's difficulties escalate, with Gemma becoming convinced that Pat has lost interest in her, but Pat is avoiding intimacy for different reasons.

The success of Caring Caroline is going to Vivien's (Susie Dee) head and when Marty blurts out the secret of Pat's impotence, Vivien is sure that she can offer some good advice.

At the Rainbow Inn, Tsung Chi (Gareth Yuen) shows the Lims a photo of Ah Chin. The mystery of his missing ancestor is fast becoming all-consuming for him; why did Ah Chin never return to China from the goldfields.

7:30pm - Saturday, March 6 on ABC1

Despite Tim's efforts to smooth over his Sean Smithwick article, Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) remains indignant about The Echo's content and her role as the editor. She heads out to Deb's (Kaarin Fairfax) animal shelter to research a community profile for the paper. It's obvious Deb was born for this job and Louisa is beginning to feel the same about working at The Echo.

Sandy (Bud Tingwell) and Minna (Julia Blake) show Rita (HaiHe Le), Lily (Amanda Ma) and Tsung Chi (Gareth Yuen) where the Chinese used to pan for gold on the block of land owned by the Heritage Committee. Tsung Chi cannot shake a bad feeling about this place.

Minna notices that the native bush is being destroyed by marauding goats owned by Owen Diston. Owen wants to buy the land and when his offer is rejected begins a campaign of intimidation against Minna.

7:30pm - Saturday, February 27 on ABC1

It is not all smooth sailing as Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) takes up her position of editor at The Echo. Louisa has a vision for the paper and it's soon clear that the bottom line is Tim Price's (Philip Quast) primary concern.

At Gemma's (Dina Panozzo) belly dancing class Marg (Caroline Gillmer) reveals she's asked Tim out for dinner and that from now on she's going to set the agenda with men. But the dinner with Tim is not quite as successful as she had hoped.

Sean (Tim Phillipps), hurt by Holly's (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) perceived betrayal with Jake, continues to avoid Holly, and Nick, smarting over their date, uses Holly as a go-between so he doesn't need to speak to Louisa. Finally both generations of the Atherton women have had enough and demand answers.

7:30pm - Saturday, February 20 on ABC1

Her gold fortune whittled away, Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) realises she needs a job. Hat in hand she asks Gavin (Andrew S. Gilbert) for a position. He's not so keen to employ her but grudgingly gives her a temporary job selling ad space for The Echo.

It's a depressing grind of a job and one that Louisa is completely unsuited for. Finally it gets too much for her and she mouths off to a handsome stranger. What Louisa doesn't know is that Tim Price (Philip Quast) is Gavin's new business partner and the new financial manager of The Echo.

Later that day, Marg (Caroline Gilmer) wants the dirt on Louisa and Nick's (Jay Laga'aia) date. Sheepishly, Louisa tells them that kissing Nick was like kissing her brother! It's not going to work - there is just no chemistry.

7:30pm - Saturday, February 13 on ABC1

Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) comes back from her overseas trip with Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), still on the 'gold nugget' high. She has a plan. Sort of. She is going to be an art photographer - and maybe, just maybe she will get together with Nick (Jay Laga'aia)? Holly bumps into Sean (Tim Phillipps) and he notices that she looks older, more grown up. He's starting to see her a little differently.

Meanwhile, Louisa catches up on the goss with the girls; Marg (Caroline Gillmer) is taking a course to become a civil celebrant; Deb (Kaarin Fairfax), as always, has too many animals to save in not enough time; and Gemma's (Dina Panozzo) 20-year-old son Jake is visiting soon.

7:30pm - Saturday, February 6 on ABC1

Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) is about to start a new phase of her life. The shack is for sale, the auction sign's up; the minute it's sold Louisa is moving on.

Realising she has little time left to put her affairs in order, Louisa summons the courage and declares her feelings for Tibor (Geoff Morrell). She sleeps with him, but leaves wondering whether she has done the right thing. Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), for one, doesn't like him.

When Minna (Julia Blake) has an accident and is hospitalised, Louisa is shocked to find the woman she thought indestructible, is getting old. Her mother needs her. And Holly doesn't want to go back to the city. Louisa is torn. She's wanted to go back to her old life, she has the perfect job and the shack has to be sold if she is to realise her dreams.

7:30pm - Saturday, January 30 on ABC1

An exhausted Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) is juggling her cleaning and photography jobs with heavy labour, as she struggles to finish the shack by herself.

Nick (Jay Laga'aia) comes to her rescue but she stupidly offends him and he retreats, leaving her alone again. When a rain storm destroys her plaster sheets Louisa finally admits defeat, sobbing as she tells Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) they'll have to sell the place unfinished. But she wasn't counting on her Rainbow's End friends, who rally in a huge working bee.

Meanwhile Minna (Julia Blake) is atypically despondent after losing her driver's licence on account of failing eyesight, and Louisa enlists her to organise an exhumation ceremony and send Meilin Chee's bones back to China.

7:30pm - Saturday, January 23 on ABC1

Shonky builder Marty Mason (Frank Magree) is still the bane of Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) and Holly's (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) life. Holly demands that Louisa sack him, but Louisa is too intimidated.

Holly confides to Sean (Tim Phillipps) that her mother is much more annoying than her father ever was. She also confesses that she's still carrying Jack's ashes and can't bear to let him go yet.

Meanwhile Louisa discovers old letters that reveal 'Mary Kelly' was actually a Chinese woman called Meilin Chee. Meilin's not the only mystery close to home - Louisa is intrigued by her enigmatic neighbour, Tibor (Geoff Morrell), whose wife died recently. His grief and aloofness are strangely attractive.

7:30pm - Saturday, January 16 on ABC1

Shannon Atherton (Dave Thornton) is lost, but a footy legend doesn't admit to feelings of insecurity, nor will he face the fact that he's a has-been at 24 and he's also in financial trouble. Shannon's life has run off the rails and so he does what he's always done, he looks to his mother Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) to help him out.

Builder Marty Mason (Frank Magree) is renovating Louisa's shack and is chuffed to have an AFL player on his turf. As coach of the Rainbow Roos, known as the 'Road Kill' because they have been wooden spooners since 1992, Marty is hoping Shannon's influence can lift the Roos out of their malaise.

But when Louisa can't pay Marty because she decides to pay Shannon's debt, her builders walk off the job. Louisa finds herself stranded with a half-finished house and the Roos are without a much-needed mentor.

7:30pm - Saturday, January 9 on ABC1

Now stuck in Rainbow's End, Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) is deeply depressed and humiliated as she's forced to sell her clothes at a garage sale and search for unskilled work.

She hides her pain behind jokes for Holly's (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) benefit. But in reality, Holly is falling apart. After inadvertently incurring the wrath of her new school mates, she slips the urn containing her dad's ashes into her backpack for comfort.

The next day the ashes fall out at school, and she's derided and ostracised. Vulnerable and fragile, she finds herself fighting off the amorous advances of local footy star Rooster McIver (Richard Davies), until she's rescued by Sean (Tim Phillipps), the sweet undertaker.

Saturday, 14 June
7.30pm

Louisa (Kerry Armstrong) is about to start a new phase of her life. The shack is for sale, the auction sign's up; the minute it's sold Louisa is moving on.

Realising she has little time left to put her affairs in order, Louisa summons the courage and declares her feelings for Tibor (Geoff Morrell). She sleeps with him, but leaves wondering whether she has done the right thing. Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), for one, doesn't like him.

When Minna (Julia Blake) has an accident and is hospitalised, Louisa is shocked to find the woman she thought indestructible, is getting old. Her mother needs her. And Holly doesn't want to go back to the city. Louisa is torn. She's wanted to go back to her old life, she has the perfect job and the shack has to be sold if she is to realise her dreams.