UK Air Date: 14th July 1999
Justine is accused of child abuse. Duncan claims that Alf doesn’t love him. Sally is worried about Vinnie’s health.
Extended Summary
Alf circulates a petition to stop the council’s declaration of a nudist beach at Christie Beach Inlet. The kids don’t support Alf’s petition and he storms off. He tries again with Vinnie and Sally but has no success. Vinnie gets the idea of sunbathing nude and convinces Sally to have a go. Later, Vinnie boasts to Tom about going to the nudist beach for the ‘all-over tan’. Vinnie lies, saying that there were heaps of young women at the beach.
Ailsa ask Natalie if she will act as a family mediator for them. Natalie agrees. Alf arrives 20 minutes late for the mediation and is in a bad mood about the lack of support for his petition against the nudist beach. Natalie explains the process and rules about the mediation procedure. She assures them that nothing will leave the room and she won’t judge them. They air their grievances, with Duncan going first, then Alf. They all become upset, in particular Ailsa. Duncan says that after his accident they didn’t even try to keep him in a hospital close by, and they hardly visited him. Why should he do what they say when they don’t care about him? Finally they all calm down, and Natalie has them all sign a contract committing them to improve their relationship. Later, Duncan uses the ‘relationship contract’ between Alf, Ailsa and himself to his advantage and avoids doing chores.
Joel no longer suspended tells Rebecca that he is going to take over the Collins baby abuse case from Terri. He questions Rebecca and Travis about Justine’s behaviour when she’d come back from baby-sitting. Later, Joel questions Chloe about Justine’s phone call to James. Chloe admits that Justine sounded tense on the phone, and said that there was a problem with the Collins’ baby, but she was capable of handling it. At home, Justine tells Rebecca and Travis that she feels as if the Collins baby’s injuries were her fault – she should have told someone about the bruises straightaway. Later, Joel tells Travis and Rebecca that they are taking statements and indicates that Justine could be in trouble. None of them look forward to the idea of telling Justine that she’s been accused of assaulting the Collins’ baby. When Joel informs Justine, she looks for reassurances from Travis, Rebecca and the others. Joel then explains the police procedures where they will take statements to determine if Justine should be charged.
Back from Christie Beach Inlet, Vinnie has nasty sunburn and Sally rubs moisturiser into his skin. Later, not mentioning the exact area in question, Sally reveals her concerns about discovering an abnormal lump on Vinnie’s body. She presses Vinnie to have it checked out. Sally explains that she’s been trained to examine herself for breast lumps and it is not something to be taken lightly. Vinnie should be doing the same, because it’s in the area most at risk in young males (testicles). Vinnie dismisses the idea – he’s far too young and healthy to be worried by such things. Sally isn’t convinced.
Jenny Gray, 1999
Guest Cast
DUNCAN STEWART (BRENDAN McKENSY)
