News and Spoilers > August 2007

Kate Ritchie and her skater boyfriend Corbin Harris have set rumours flying by browsing engagement rings at upmarket Double Bay jewellers 'Cerrone'. It was confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that Kate & Corbin, who have been dating for six months, had been inspecting 'some serious sparklers'.

The Telegraph contacted a Seven spokesperson who told the paper ""Kate is not engaged, but her on screen character Sally Fletcher will be heading down the aisle on Home and Away next week.''

Debra Lawrance, known to most Australians as the warm, caring and maternal Pippa from Home And Away, takes on a completely different role whilst playing a heartless DIMA Case Officer, in a new Australian film The Jammed. Written and directed by Dee McLachlan the film is about human trafficking, and how Australia responds.

The Jammed is showing at The Brisbane International Film Festival and screens exclusively at The Dendy from August 30th.

Joining an increasingly long line of Home And Away cast, past and present, currently appearing on stage, is Joel McIlroy, who played the late Flynn Saunders.

Joel is currently appearing at The Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide, in Lion Pig Lion by Marty Denniss alongside Michaela Cantwell, Brant Eustice, Patrick Frost, Patrick Graham, and Carmel Johnson. Lion Pig Lion is a new play which explores complex social themes, corruption in the business world, with intelligence and humour, and a fair amount of strong language.

The State Theatre Company site states... " ... Cost Corridors, lifts, saunas and car parks - that's where this company's contracts are negotiated. Virginia and Sidney are doing their level best to navigate a maze of hard-hitters, fast-talkers and pokerfaced deal makers, but when the guy from the commission starts poking around asking difficult questions, everyone realises that there's more at stake than just their jobs.

On the other side of the world, a security guard shoots a young man who works at a water plant owned by the company. An investigation is set up to find out who's responsible. Back in Australia, the employees plead ignorance but are they somehow responsible for the young man's death? The investigation is bound to sort the sheep from the goats.

Everyone has something to hide. And everyone is prepared to reveal that something for a price. It's all about exchange.

From the sharp-witted writer of The Duck Shooter comes a high-speed journey into the lives of ordinary and ruthless people making and breaking contracts with themselves and each other, set against a backdrop of brokered deals between the heads of a large company and the people of a small nation."

Lion Pig Lion is on until 1st September 2007, tickets priced between $37 and $50.

Having completed work on the thriller film Punishment, Nic Bishop, who played the hapless detective Peter Baker, is tomorrow flying out to the UK. Nic has several auditions lined up and is looking forward to trying his luck within the UK branch of the industry. If we hear more we will keep you posted.

BTTB would like to congratulate former H&A star Brendan McKensy (Duncan Stewart) who has just become a father at the age of 21. His fiancee Bec gave birth last week to a boy, that they have named Tyler James McKensy.

Brendan first appeared as Duncan in 1998, and since leaving his permanent role in 2001 has returned for a couple of guest stints.

Mitch Firth,who was in a former life Don Fishers grandson Seb Miller, is currently appearing on stage at the TAP Gallery, 278 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst, NSW in UnProtected Sex, the third part of a three parter from Stella Green Productions called Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High-Class Issues.

This section of the production is centres on two footy-watching blokes nervously awaiting and then subsequently dealing with the Pill-induced mood-swings of one of their girlfriends. Crtics reported that ".... whilst that might sound sexist in abstract, this piece as performed, was comedic gold. Adam Cleland as the hapless boyfriend and Mitch Firth as his bemused mate form a stunning double-act as they wrestle with the hilariously extreme behavior of the hormone-addled girlfriend, played to scenery-chewing perfection by Megan Alston. Riddled with some wonderful performative subtlety amidst the volleys of blatant outrageousness, this excellent triple-hander is one of the most uproarious nuggets of theatre I've seen this year."

Mitch will be appearing until 2nd September and tickets are very reasonably priced between $15 and $25 dollars and can be obtained from www.mca-tix.com or 1300 306 776.

Tim Campbell will be appearing in the musical RENT, alongside Aus idol contestant Anthony Callea and Nikki Webster - who was one of the singers at the opening of the Sydney Olympics.

RENT by Jonathan Larson, "provides a scorchingly hot modern take on Puccini's classical opera La Boheme and is considered the greatest rock musical of modern times. This stirring musical centres on a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York City's Bohemian East Village. Searching for love and dealing with loss these artists and musicians choose to embrace life as if there is No Day But Today!"

RENT can be seen at The Regal Theatre, Perth, Western Australia, from 9th to 2bth November 2007. (See ticketek.com for tickets - prices $44.90 - $94.90)

BttB wishes Tim all the best in this venture.

As previously reported, there will be no normal episodes of 'current' Home and Away on Five on 27th August - however the Early Years episodes will still be shown on Five Life, as well as another special selection of episodes later in the afternoon.

As one of the longest running and most popular characters in the history of Home and Away, Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) has had a tumultuous love life. Five Life gives you the opportunity to relive the highs and lows of her past relationships in a special series of episodes dedicated to Sally's loves.....well, one of them in particular!

The episodes will air for 3.5 hours from 15:30 - 19:00 on Monday 27th August

15:30 - Flynn's Birthday (2002)
Flynn's 30th birthday arrives and he has a special surprise for Sally. He gathers Sally, Steven, Carly and Frank in their old house and plays a heart-warming video message from Pippa, Sally's adoptive mother.

16:00 - Flynn's Proposal (2003)
In the next episode, Sally broaches the subject of marriage with Flynn and a fierce row ensues. Sally is devastated to think that Flynn doesn't want to get married but Flynn has a surprise up his sleeve. Later, in tears of happiness, Sally accepts Flynn's proposal.

16:30 - Sally and Flynn's Wedding (2003)
Sally's big day arrives in the following episode. She is set to marry the love of her life but can she make it to the church on time? At the church, the guests wonder if Sally has changed her mind, but Flynn remains calm - he knows that Sally will turn up. Meanwhile, Sally and Leah are lost, their dresses are dirty and their shoes are broken - will Sally make it to her own wedding?

17:00 - Flynn's Cancer (2005)
Sally plans a surprise break to Italy for her and Flynn in the next instalment, unaware that Flynn has received some devastating news - his mole was cancerous. After some tests, Dr Matthews explains that the cancer has spread to his liver. Flynn breaks the news to Sally and they both crumble, fiercely aware that the life they should have been looking forward to is destroyed forever.

17:30 - Flynn's Cancer Part 2 (2005)
The following episode sees Sally and Flynn struggling to come to terms with his cancer. Sally breaks down while Flynn tries to remain strong, for her sake. They agree not to tell their children before they've had time to deal with it themselves, although Alf soon realises that something is dreadfully wrong.

18:00 - Flynn's Death (2006)
The residents of Summer Bay are shocked when they realise that Flynn has only hours left to live. Sally lies down next to her husband, both aware that the end is drawing near. The silence is broken by Flynn's request to see the kids. Later, Flynn expresses his last wish - to dance with Sally one more time. As the sun rises, Flynn slips away.

18:30 - Flynn's Funeral (2006)
Four days have passed since Flynn's death, Sally lost in her reverie as the others prepare themselves for the funeral. It's time for Summer Bay to say goodbye to a friend, in their own special way.

Wouldn't you know it, we go months without any news of Lynne McGranger and then suddenly we get two stories popping up together. Those of us who wondered why Lynne/Irene is not as active as she is usally need wonder no more. Lynne is shortly to star on stage in a play called Honey , which is co produced and written by Lorrae Desmond. Lorrae played the part of the much loved Shirley Gilroy in the long running Seven show, A Country Practice, and also played the part of Donald Fisher's mother on Home And Away.

Lynne will be appearing at The Riverside Theatre in Parramatta, NSW from October 19th(previews) the official opening night being 24th October, until November 10th 2007.

Honey is an adaptation of Bryce Courtenay's 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' - a play with music, with a special screening on Saturday 20th October to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation.

Set in Australia in the 70's, at a time of political unrest when the nation was divided by the first televised war, Vietnam. A moving and at times a highly amusing look at how the love of a mate gives this band of unlikely heroes the strength to organise an intricate, if not quite legal "scam" to raise money to save the life of a little girl who is dying of leukaemia. Along the way, with the support of some very strong women, they become entangled in the civilian jungle of politics and the social set.

Lynne is playing the part of Mum, a strong woman who blames Honey's Dad, Thommo, a Vietnam vet, for everything that is wrong with her grand daughter Honey and indeed the world.

You can listen to a preview here : http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=213492905 and also see who else will be performing.

BttB wishes Lynne well with this venture.

Lynne McGranger, known to most of us as Irene, opened the Wattle Time Art exhibition on Friday 10th August at the town hall in Cootamundra. Cootamundra expects a lot of visitors this week end to see Irene, and the art.

It has been announced that Amy Mizzi is the latest H&A Cast member to be heading over to the UK for Panto this winter.

She will be starring in Aladdin at the Civic Centre in Rotherham from 4th Dec 2007 - 8th Jan 2008.

Information on booking tickets can be found on the Rotherham Borough Council website.

Home and Away will not be shown on five in the UK on Monday 27th August due to the Bank Holiday, a move which will now see the UK offset from the Australian week structure by an addition of 3 weekdays.

This means that after the Bank Holiday, any episode shown in Australia on a Friday, will now air in the UK on a Wednesday.

Whilst this does not dramatically affect viewing of the show, some viewers may note that dramatic episodes, that usually led to a weekend cliffhanger, now air on a Wednesday.