New promo teases Home and Away’s post-Olympic return
Less than 24 hours after Home and Away’s dramatic mid-season final left lives on the line, a bumper minute-long promo has given us our first glimpse of what’s in store when the show returns. We also get our first glimpse of Harley Bonner, who joins the show as a new doc.
Home and Away is currently on a two-week break in Australia to make way for coverage of the Olympic Games. It returns Monday 9th August.
The mid-season final moment gave us a literal cliffhanger, as Dean’s (Patrick O’Connor) car was left perched on the edge of a cliff, with Mia (Anna Samson) and Dean inside, and Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) lying motionless nearby.
They had been returning to Summer Bay from Wee Jasper, a small remote town which Nikau had run away to, when a kangaroo jumped out in front of their car and caused Dean to swerve off the road. The car tumbled down the bank, with Nikau flung out, all three left unconscious. UK viewers, or those needing a recap, can read the whole series of events here.
Now, the show has given us a first look at what the future holds for the trio when the show returns to Australia in August. You can watch the full promo within this article.
The trailer opens with Dean, Mia and Nikau’s loved ones gathered at Northern Districts Hospital.
Bella (Courtney Miller) sits slumped on the floor, Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) and Chloe (Sam Barrett) stand in the corner with their heads in their hands, and Tane (Ethan Browne) and Ziggy (Sophie Dillman) sit on the waiting room chairs.
The promo cuts through various hospital scenes, showing the Summer Bay residents fraught with worry.
Ari sits with a worried look on his face. Will he blame himself, considering it was his blow-out at Nikau which caused his nephew to skip town and head for the remote location?
“What happened?” asks Mackenzie (Emily Weir). Her face turns to shock as Ari recounts the day’s events – “there was an accident on the way back.”
Reminding us of what happened, the promo shows footage of the dramatic smash, with Dean’s car rolling and rolling down the steep bank.
Mackenzie, who has seemingly received an update on the situation, fills Ari in with the bad news – “at least one person is still trapped inside.”
Under the title “LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE”, we see the first new shots of the wreckage. A new angle shows just how precariously placed the car is, as it sits on the edge of a cliff face, with nothing but bare rock and a sheer drop between the car and the ground below.
Nikau lies motionless on the grass with the car’s door and bumper strewn around him.
“Any idea who?” asks Ari, desperate to know whether his girlfriend and nephew are still trapped in the car.
All Mac can do is shake her head.
At the crash site, Mia has woken up. It’s hard to tell but it looks like she’s still in the back seat of the car, and is checking on Dean’s condition.
She sees his motionless figure on the other side of a pane of smashed glass, as she screams out “no, no, no!”
In the next shot, it’s clear she’s still in the car, clinging on in the back seat, precariously close to the huge drop.
Thankfully, she isn’t the only confirmed survivor.
We see Nikau dragging himself back up the hill to the road, hoping to flag down a passing car.
Has he found some luck? He spots a car, and waves desperately to grab their attention. “Wait, stop!”
Yet it seems luck isn’t on his side, as the car continues on down the road.
Exhausted, he collapses to the floor and clutches his abdomen.
It looks like he’s in a bad way. Has the impact from the crash caused internal damage?
Back in Summer Bay, the news that Nikau was caught up in the accident has hit Bella hard.
“I might never get to tell him that I still love him,” Bella emotionally tells Ziggy. “And now it might be too late.”
Finally, news of the crash reaches the rescue services, and a helicopter arrives at the remote site.
It’s here that we get our first glimpse of new character Dr Logan Bennett, played by Harley Bonner.
His arrival in Summer Bay was announced back in March after fans spotted him filming at Sydney’s Palm Beach, where Home and Away’s external shots are regularly filmed. He was announced as a “charismatic trauma surgeon who rushes to Summer Bay to help save the life of one of the township’s loved ones.”
Harvey described his character as capable, compassionate, intelligent and fun, as well as a bit of a nomad, and teased that “he’s seen and done a lot in his life, some of which he tries his best to avoid getting into.”
He’s set for romance with Mackenzie Booth as he becomes a regular fixture in Summer Bay in the months to come. Read more on Dr Bennett’s arrival here.
“Dean… hey, hey, hey, he’s crashing!”
They are the first words we hear from Logan, as he desperately tries to keep Dean stable. Will he succeed?
As Bella and Ziggy hug, it’s revealed that Dean isn’t the only one needing urgent medical treatment.
Nikau lies unconscious at Northern Districts, with Christian (Ditch Davey) treating him.
“Please stay with me,” begs the neurosurgeon.
“You’re worried about him, right?” asks Tane to Ziggy.
The crash came just days after Ziggy and Dean’s kiss, and although Ziggy promised Tane that it was a one-off and that her and Dean were truly done, it looks like the accident is set to put that in perspective.
“I’m scared,” responds Ziggy. After recently coming to terms with the fact she still has feelings for her ex, how would she feel if he didn’t make it?
More shots of Harley Bonner as Summer Bay’s new doc end the promo, as we see him bundling one of the survivors into the air ambulance.
We still have over two weeks until Home and Away returns, but it looks set to be a dramatic few episodes as Summer Bay’s residents learns the fate of their loved ones.
First look at Tori and Christian’s wedding
A second set of promos have also been released, giving us our first glimpse of Tori and Christian’s wedding, as well as teasing the three new relationships set to heat up Summer Bay over the rest of the year.
Home and Away returns to Australia on Monday 9th August. UK viewers will see these episodes in the first two weeks of September.