Tane and Felicity marry in Home and Away’s 8000th episode
Home and Away will mark its 8000th episode in style next week, with the wedding of Tane Parata and Felicity Newman.
Tane (Ethan Browne) and Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) planned wedding day had been the main focus of November’s 2022 season finale, as well as this year’s opener, as the event descended into disaster following a car crash. Driver Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) was left in a coma after the ute’s brakelines were cut by bikies hoping to kill Flick’s brother Cash (Nicholas Cartwright).
Though she got away with minor injuries herself, Flick was traumatised after finding herself trapped in the burning wreck, and it’s taken several weeks for her to come to terms with what happened.
After dumping Tane and turning to alcohol, Flick finally turned a corner after visiting foster father Gary (Peter Phelps) on his farm, the first time she’s returned home since she was 16.
Visiting her parents’ graves, Flick was finally able to put all the demons of her past to rest.
“Flick knew that she needed to work on herself, before stepping into a life with Tane,” Jacqui told TV Week. “So, the fact that she had the courage to do that, and the success that came out of that is admirable.”
“She became comfortable with her weaknesses and how to deal with them.”
Back together with Tane, Flick wasted no time in proposing to him. Although Tane worried that Flick might be rushing into things, given her previous reservations, Flick assured him that things were different now, and the pair were delighted to announce the engagement was back on.
Not wishing to have any reminders of their last attempt, Tane and Flick agreed to start over, and made a bold move in asking Cash and Eden to organise things for them.
However, Cash and Eden, who have recently got together after several months of will they/won’t they, find themselves a little distracted with their fledgling relationship, and Tane and Flick are becoming impatient…
Realising they’ve been neglecting their duties, Cash and Eden attempt to ask for forgiveness… but it’s already too late, as the husband-and-wife-to-be announce that they won’t be needing their services after all.
Tane has since made another proposal to Flick, asking if she’ll marry him the following day!
“Ok, I’m in, I’m in!” is Felicity’s ecstatic response.
”After all they’ve been through, Flick and Tane want a simple wedding and just to be married,” Jacqui explained to TV Week.
It’s all hands on deck to get everything sorted in time, with Cash helping Tane to organise a surprise setting for Flick.
When Flick arrives at the secluded bushland venue, she finds a traditional Maori wedding awaiting her, complete with poi dancers, and a kaikaranga—a woman who makes the ceremonial call to welcome the guests.
Furthermore, the ceremony is far more lowkey and intimate than their original plan, with Cash and Eden being the only ones to witness it (nicely eliminating the show having to find a reason for key family members to be absent…)
As Tane wears a traditional korowai cloak, which gets wrapped around Flick to symbolise his protection of her, Flick is still able to provide her own surprise which had been planned for the original ceremony—reciting her vows in te reo Māori.
“I was so lucky to see it firsthand,” Jacqui told TV Week of the Maori customs. “I was truly touched.
“To learn from Ethan what the traditions are has been really moving. I also had to say my vows in te reo Maori, so I felt the pressure! I hope I did the beautiful language justice.”
Finally pronounced man and wife, the pair head off to Salt to celebrate, where there’s still one more surprise in store…
Traditionally, Home and Away don’t tend to make a big deal of the thousand episode milestones, though that’s not to say that there haven’t been a couple which have perhaps raised fan expectations for subsequent celebrations.
Episode 1000 (May 1992) saw the fallout from a drunken Irene Roberts (then played by Jacqy Phillips) falling down the stairs at Summer Bay House, during a struggle with her children Finlay (Tina Thomsen) and Damian (Matt Doran) in the previous episode.
Believing Irene was dead, Fin and Damian left her at the bottom of the stairs and hid out in the bay overnight, thinking that no-one would believe it was an accident. When they eventually returned to the house to confess and hand themselves in, Pippa (Deb Lawrance) was perplexed – when Sophie & Nick had returned to the house the previous night, there was no sign of Irene, alive or dead.
Episode 2000 (August 1996) saw a far more memorable event with the departure of fan favourite Angel Parrish (Melissa George). With husband Shane (Dieter Brummer) having tragically died earlier in the year, Angel left Summer Bay with son Dylan (Corey Glaister) for a new life in England with Simon Broadhurst (Julian Garner).
Episode 3000 (March 2001), which came at the end of a big week following Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Vinnie’s (Ryan Kwanten) wedding, featured the departure of Mitch McColl (played by future series producer Cameron Welsh). Mitch had recently reunited with his dying grandmother in New Zealand after being tracked down by an uncle he’d never met, and on his return to Summer Bay he’d made the difficult decision to move across the Tasman to get to know his family.
In hope of catching Mitch before he left for one last goodbye, his girlfriend Brodie (Susie Rugg) was knocked off her bike by a car. Meanwhile, Will (Zac Drayson) and Gypsy (Kimberley Cooper) gave in to temptation by having sex in his car… which nine months later would lead to the birth of their daughter Lily.
Episode 4000 was by far the most memorable of the milestone episodes, which, as of next week, will remarkably mark the halfway point of the entire show. Airing in July 2005, the episode saw many faces from Summer Bay’s past descend on the town for Alf Stewart’s (Ray Meagher) 60th birthday.
After speeches from Alf’s loved ones, fans were treated to a special montage of moments from the show’s history. However, the event ended in tragedy when a car accident led to the death of Chloe Richards (Kristy Wright).
Episode 5000 in the opening week of 2010 season was a far more low-key affair, with a gentle nod to the number 5000 in the opening lines, as Xavier (David Jones-Roberts) and Romeo (Luke Mitchell) debated what to do with a shoebox of money left by Xavier’s brother Hugo following his apparent death (he’d actually gone into witness protection).
The episode came at the end of a huge week which saw the wrap-up of the year-long mystery, which had revealed the truth about Hugo’s people trafficking. The pair decided to anonymously donate $5000 of it to the refugee appeal, but when it accidentally fell into Leah’s picnic basket it turned into a chain of events which saw them chasing the money around the bay.
Episode 6000 (July 2014) saw Alf maintaining a bedside vigil for daughter Roo (Georgie Parker), as she lay in hospital after picking up a mystery illness following her trip to America. Alf pleaded with a comatose Roo to wake up, but the episode ended on a cliffhanger as Roo went into arrest.
Episode 7000 (November 2018) came and went with little fanfare, as Tori (Penny McNamee) and Robbo (Jake Ryan) awaited news of her IVF procedure. With Robbo having donated sperm to Tori for the cause, the two were concerned as time went on that only three of the embryos were still viable.
Thankfully when it came to it, two still remained, and one was implanted into Tori, while the other was frozen. Elsewhere, Ben (Rohan Nichol) and Coco (Anna Cocquerel) canvassed for Maggie’s (Kestie Morassi) cancer fundraiser, and Ryder resat his Year 11 exams.
Episode 8000 of Home and Away airs in Australia on Monday 27th March, 7pm on Seven.