The best 100 Australian TV characters of all time

 

Georgie Parker, one of the heroines of our top 100 TV characters list. Source: News Limited

 

Debbie Schipp, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

They’ve touched our hearts in Australia's most popular and enduring dramas - and they've done it more than once.

Television screen queens Rebecca Gibney and Georgie Parker, both 48, have proved themselves the masters - or mistresses - of reinvention. Through characters on hit shows including A Country Practice, All Saints, The Flying Doctors and Packed to the Rafters, they have netted three Gold Logies, a swag of silver and outstanding actress awards, and shared in some of Australia's most treasured televised moments.

Both feature in The Sunday Telegraph's list of TV's Top 100 characters - more than once.

Gibney and Parker agreed that making the cut wasn't just down to them. Their success was a combination of great writing, character resolution, and an audience love of Australian voices telling local stories.

Gibney said 30 years ago she would have scoffed at the idea that she'd still be working post 40. "The fact that I'm 48 and still kicking is great," she said.

The mum-of-one's big break came at the age of 19, when she was cast as the girl next door mechanic in The Flying Doctors - a role she played from 1986 to 1991 - and audiences loved her. She was a hit in All Together Now opposite Jon English and by 1994, as cool, Armani-clad Dr Jane Halifax in Halifax f.p. Gibney was a firm favourite with Australian audiences. Her most recent incarnation as Julie Rafter only reinforced that.

"Of all the characters Julie Rafter probably came the easiest because she felt like a combination of all of my sisters," she said.

And it's her role in Rafters that connects to Parker - they share Erik Thomson as a love interest. He plays Mr Rafter and Parker's boyfriend in All Saints. Parker, currently starring as Ruth "Roo" Stewart in Home And Away, first came to prominence as lovable nurse Lucy Gardiner in A Country Practice. She collected Gold Logie number two as All Saints former nun turned nurse with a heart of gold Terri Sullivan.

"It's the character, not the actor, people fall in love with," she says. "The characters are the stars. They captured imagination, they were in good shows and they hit a nerve, so that the audience wanted what was best for them."

Television screen queens Rebecca Gibney and Georgie Parker, both 48, have proved themselves the masters-or mistresses - of reinvention.

Jessica Marais flies high in new Disney movie Planes

Jessica Marais during a live recording at Sound Firm studio at Fox Studios in Sydney / Pic: Gerard Gaye Source: The Daily Telegraph

 

 

Andrew Carswell, The Daily Telegraph, reports

A plane with some distinct kangaroo livery and the sweet, familiar sound of Aussie twang.

It just couldn't be a film about aviation without an Australian flavour. Or in this case, two.

Not only will Jessica Marais voice a role in the highly anticipated Disney animated film Planes, her character has been modelled on a Qantas plane - Rochelle, a confident and capable Australian plane who started running mail to small towns in Tasmania and now wants to race in the big league.

The character sits well with the former Packed To The Rafters actress - local star makes good on the world stage.

Qantas's unique involvement in the Disney film will also lead to a world first.

There will be no red carpet when the film premieres in Australia on September 7.

There won't even be a big screen. The Planes premiere will be held for 254 lucky passengers at 30,000 feet on a Qantas 767.

"We're thrilled to have an Australian aircraft as a Disney cartoon character in the upcoming movie and this will definitely appeal to our young passengers," Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said. "We'll be working with Disney on lots of activities around the film."

Brooke back as Wonder woman

Wonderland cast members Jessica Tovey, Tim Ross, Brooke Satchwell and Anna Bamford prepare to shoot the 22-part series Source: The Sunday Telegraph

Zoe Nauman, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

It may be the end of the road for Packed to the Rafters but Brooke Satchwell already has a new project lined up - starring in Ten's latest drama Wonderland.

The actor will play the role of uptight and politically correct lawyer Grace Barnes.

"The project has a lovely energy about it, there is quite a beautiful serendipity of things coming together," she says. "It's a very warm, light- hearted look at four couples living in an apartment block by the beach.

"Grace is a very linear, bottled up defamation lawyer, and as you can imagine, she is going to come slightly undone.

"Quite early on she comes across this rather hot South American - Carlos dos Santos (newcomer Glenn McMillan) who shapes her world."The drama, which has been written by Foxtel's Wentworth producer Jo Porter, also stars Michael Dorman (Wild Boys, The Secret Life Of Us, Blood Brothers) as charming bachelor Tom Wilcox.

Jessica Tovey (Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Mr & Mrs Murder) plays the part of Dani Varvaris, Tim Ross (Neighbours, Rush) plays Steve Beaumont and recent graduate Anna Bamford plays Miranda Beaumont.

The 22-part drama, which will be shot in Sydney, has left Satchwell little time for her personal life - especially her wedding to film editor David Gross.

"Make hay while the sun shines, that's what I say. He (Gross) knows I love him," Satchwell says.

But she says things couldn't have been better timed.

"I will be quite a busy girl with a few things on my plate.

"Post-Rafters I was thinking 'that was a nice run. I can do a bit of gardening, or get the renovations going on the house.' Well that's not happening now, but at least I will be able to pay for them."

Packed to the Rafters actors preparing to leave home

Erik Thomson and Rebecca Gibney, from Packed to the Rafters. Picture: Katrina Tepper Source: The Sunday Telegraph

Zoe Nauman, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

If Packed To The Rafters still has another season left to run, someone has forgotten to tell the actors.

Rumours have swirled around the show's future since star Rebecca Gibney revealed she was developing a new project with Screentime and Channel 7 and the network refused to confirm or deny whether this season would be the last.

Rafters creator Bevan Lee will also be committed to a second season of new drama A Place To Call Home.

Actor Fiona Spence told The Sunday Telegraph her eight-week appearance would be on the "last eight weeks of the show ever".

"I felt it was a great privilege and honour to make a small contribution to a show which has been so phenomenally successful and being in the last eight weeks was very special," she said at Foxtel's Wentworth launch.

Spence is playing Eleanor McCormack, and made her first appearance last week. But yesterday Seven said the show had a while to run yet.

"The No.1 drama in the country is Packed To The Rafters; 1.7 million people watched last week's episode, confirming how much the audience loves the show and as does Channel 7," a spokeswoman said.

"There is no way we would bring this wonderful story to a close. The key creative people are working on the development of the next series."

Spence claimed the decision to finish the show, which lost to Nine's House Husbands at the Logies as most popular drama, was mainly down to the main cast wanting to do new things. "They have done six series and Rebecca, Erik (Thomson) and Michael (Caton) wanted to do other work, so it was up to them," she said.

Down Under on top of the ratings with home-grown hit TV shows

Boom time: Asher Keddie led the charge of Australian television successes in 2012 with roles in Paper Giants, Offspring and Hawke. Source: Supplied

Colin Vickery, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Every day is Australia Day on television. Last year 16 of the Top 20 regular programs were locally made and there is no reason to think this will change in 2013.

Aussie-produced TV series including The Voice, My Kitchen Rules, The X Factor, The Block, and Packed to the Rafters rule the ratings roost.

Last year viewers were blessed with terrific telemovies on the commercial stations including Beaconsfield and Underground, the ABC kept rolling out quality local dramas such as Redfern Now and Jack Irish while SBS won plaudits with the second series of Go Back To Where You Came From.

This year looks like another bottler. Ten is promising historical shipwreck drama Batavia, based on the Peter Fitzsimons bestseller. Seven has Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS. Nine will unleash Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story.

And the ABC has Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo follow-up Magazine Wars, with Rachel Griffiths and Mandy McElhinney as women's magazine editors Nene King and Dulcie Boling.

"The great news is that all the broadcasters are investing more in local content," Shine Network president Mark Fennessy says.

Things weren't always this good. Three decades ago, Aussie dramas including Number 96, Homicide and The Sullivans had to fight against a tidal wave of American and British shows.

Leading Aussie producer Susan Bower (A Country Practice, Neighbours), has witnessed the shift. "Back then we were fed a diet of American sitcoms and dramas," Bower says. "To get an Australian voice was quite extraordinary. Now we have a smorgasbord of Aussie shows that should account for everyone's taste - from The Slap to Offspring to House Husbands."

Australia has developed its own star system with actors including Asher Keddie, Lisa McCune and Rebecca Gibney commanding loyal followings among TV viewers.

Gibney, for example, has two new shows in development at Seven while McCune is producing as well as starring in the family drama Reef Doctors for Ten.

"These actors bring a ratings boost to any show they star in," media analyst Steve Allen says.

Keddie - star of Offspring, Hawke and Paper Giants - has stamped herself as one of Australia's most prodigious acting talents - and she has done it without fleeing Australia to 'try her luck' in America.

"The opportunities are here in Australia," Keddie says. "I'm in a very lucky place."

Australian content has become more important, in part, because smash American and British shows are so rare in Australia these days.

Last year, only Revenge and Downton Abbey were breakout hits.

Networks used to base their programming year around their overseas shows - stitched up in output deals with the major US studios - but now they know they're better off creating home-grown Aussie hits. "If you look at it, there have only been a few big hit shows since the year of Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy," Channel 7 CEO Tim Worner says.

Not everything works. Ten hit a brick wall last year when Breakfast, Everybody Dance Now, I Will Survive and The Shire failed.

The world is taking notice of Australian acting and production talent as well as our formats. Chris Lilley's Angry Boys was co-financed by America's HBO network.

In the US, Griffiths had a big success with Brothers & Sisters and Toni Collette won an Emmy for The United States of Tara. Rafters' Jessica Marais snagged a major role in Magic City.

An American version of Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood, is a cult smash. Its creator, Adam Zwar, is now busy fielding offers for international versions of his shows Agony Aunts and Lowdown.

"We (Australian comedians) are getting confident - and that is a big step," Zwar says. "There's a group of comic writers, directors and performers that's coming of age."

Is this the end for the Rafters?

The house from Packed to the Rafters at Riverview St, Concord was up for auction but was passed in for $1.2 million. Picture: Kristi Miller Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

The modest home in Sydney's inner west used as the set for Packed To The Rafters was passed in at auction at the weekend as murmurs continue to mount that the family favourite drama will finish filming for good in under two weeks.

The three-bedroom bungalow in Concord fell short of expectations of about $1.3 million under the hammer on Saturday, with $1.18 million the top bid.

Real estate sources say the owners are negotiating for $1.2 million for the 1930s house, known as "the ugly duckling of Riverview St" thanks to the mansions that surround it.

The sale of the house has only added to speculation that next year's series of Rafters will be the last because the property is no longer contracted to Channel 7.

Cast members including Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson are frequently filming outside the home, while the internal shots are done at Seven's Epping studio.

Confidential understands filming will wrap for the year on December 21 and that the cast has not been told of any future plans.

Now in its sixth year, the next season will be made up of 12 episodes as opposed to the other five, which had 22 episodes.

"(The producers) keep changing their mind," one insider said.

"People have said that we'll be back next year but then no one has told us anything.

"There's definitely a feeling that we are finishing up, which is sad but it makes sense."

Over the past two years many of the show's key stars have left for other projects, including Jessica Marais, Hugh Sheridan, Zoe Ventoura and Jessica McNamee.

Most are rumoured to return to the posts that kick-started their careers, except Ventoura, whose character Mel was killed in a car crash in 2010.

Picture of the month: October '12

Riverview Street, Concord - Packed to the Rafters

Wait over for ex-Rafters star's sultry hotel drama

Jessica Marais plays a mobster's wife in the sexy cable series Magic City.

Michael Idato, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports

Magic City, the sexy US drama that lured Packed to the Rafters star Jessica Marais from Australia to Hollywood, has finally secured a broadcaster and an air date in Australia.

Foxtel has bought the series from US cable channel Starz and will launch it on local TV screens in November on its SoHo channel.

SoHo was recently revamped as a basic cable channel with premium cable drama content. Its schedule includes the HBO series True Blood and Aaron Sorkin's critically divisive The Newsroom.

Magic City is set in Miami in the late 1950s and tells the story of the inhabitants of the luxurious (but fictional) Miramar Playa Hotel.

Marais, best known as Rachel Rafter in the top-rating Channel Seven drama, stars in the series as Lily Diamond, the wife of mobster Ben Diamond (Danny Huston).

In the opening episodes, Ben Diamond becomes involved with Miramar Playa's owner, Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

When it launched in the US earlier this year, Magic City met with mixed reviews, though culture bible Vanity Fair lavished it with attention because of its period setting and its luxurious production design.

Miami Herald television critic Glenn Garvin described it as "irresistible television".

"The Miramar Playa is a gorgeous hotel built on a foundation of lies, corruption and Mafia money," he wrote.

Garvin also noted it was part of a broader trend: "Television's recent fascination with a tiny, peculiar slice of US history: the short interregnum in the late 1950s and early 1960s".

Shows such as the critically acclaimed hit Mad Men, and some less successful shows such as Pan Am and The Playboy Club, have exploited the social mores and distinct style of the period.

Garvin singled out the show's female leads, including Marais, as its strongest suit.

"All play trophy women in a pre-feminist world, roles that could easily have sunk to bimbomania," he writes. "Yet each of them projects intelligence and frustrated ambition, turning their characters into much more than sexual pawns in a male world."

The series is filmed on location in Miami. Series creator Mitch Glazer says the fictional Miramar Playa is inspired by three iconic Miami hotels of the era - the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc and the Deauville.

The Deauville, now known as the Deauville Beach Resort, is being used as the Miramar's exterior for filming.

Marais temporarily relocated to the US late last year to film the first series. Marais and her partner, actor James Stewart, moved permanently to the US with their baby, Scout, in August.

Her departure from Packed to the Rafters was part of a minor exodus of the show's younger stars, who all left the top-rating drama to pursue other opportunities. They include Zoe Ventura, Jessica McNamee and Hugh Sheridan.

The first series of Magic City ran for eight episodes on the Starz channel in the US. A second series of 10 episodes has been commissioned and is being produced for 2013.

Seven network drama Packed to the Rafters back on screen - for now

Cast members of Seven series Packed to the Rafters, from left, Erik Thomson, Jessica Marais, Rebecca Gibney and Michael Caton. Source: HWT Image Library

The Herald-Sun reports

Much-loved Seven drama Packed to the Rafters could well be packing up.

Whispers have grown louder that the sixth series of the drama, starring Rebecca Gibney as mum Julie Rafter, will be its last.

In June, Channel 7 announced Rafters would return in 2013, with production to start later this year.

But it is understood the series will be the last.

Rather than leave the show up in the air, it is believed the series will be a "celebration", with original cast members in talks to return.

Insiders said a "storyline" conference will determine the show's future.

TV darling and new mum Jessica Marais, in the US filming Magic City, is believed to be keen to return for a handful of episodes with fiance James Stewart.

Hugh Sheridan, soon to host Channel 10 reality series I Will Survive, is also understood to have stipulated in his contract with Ten a return for a number of episodes as popular son Ben Rafter.

Angus McLaren, Ryan Corr, Michael Caton, Zoe Cramond, George Houvardas and Brooke Satchwell will all feature in the top-rating drama, along with new faces.

Seven would only say there were exciting plotlines to look forward to.

Tricky time for drama

Actress Gigi Edgley who stars in Channel Nine drama ''Tricky Business'. Picture: Nigel Lough Source: The Daily Telegraph

Richard Clune, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

It’s tricky business this TV game. Especially for a new drama trying to eat into the thick ratings pie the Packed To The Rafters clan has been serving up since debut.

Last Monday, Nine's aptly titled familial drama Tricky Business secured a national following of just 558,000 viewers. It was a further slide from a week earlier and a dramatic falling away from the buoyant, million plus who tuned in to its debut.

While Nine won't discuss the program's future at this stage, it's fair to suggest the slick-looking drama that starred Gigi Edgley, Lincoln Lewis and Shane Bourne, among others, is destined for the scrapheap.

It's been moved to Wednesdays 10pm from this week, and last Wednesday, Edgley tweeted its demise, signing off her comment with: "onwards and upwards". Interestingly, the tweet has since been removed.

That it didn't work is a shame for all involved, indeed the greater industry and again highlights the extremely fickle nature of the local audience.

As a commercial drama, Tricky Business was harmless and a solid showcase of new(ish) talent, utilising a new location (Wollongong and its mountainous surrounds) and with writing that was, well, acceptable. On that front it will be interesting to witness the audience engagement for Ten's next dramatic effort, Puberty Blues, which is set to debut next month.

New TV lead Marta Dusseldorp has Rebecca Gibney on speed dial

Actress Marta Dusseldorp is the star of Channel 7's new drama A Place Like Home. Picture: Tracee Lea Source: The Daily Telegraph

Holly Byrnes, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Playing the female lead in a new Channel 7 drama series puts Marta Dusseldorp squarely in the well-worn shoes of Packed To The Rafters favourite Rebecca Gibney.

And the Sydney actor, who will helm A Place Like Home alongside veterans Noni Hazelhurst and Brett Climo, revealed she had the Logie-winning Gibney on speed dial for advice.

The Crownies star will play Sarah Adams, described as "a woman with a mysterious past who returns to Australia looking for healing and a place to call home", in the rural 1950s drama.

Created by Bevan Lee, the man behind Always Greener, Rafters and Winners & Losers, the new series will be under pressure to perform - amid persistent speculation about the future of Rafters and on the heels of the disappointing colonial drama Wild Boys.

Aware of expectations, Dusseldorp said she felt privileged to anchor the series and follow in the footsteps of great female leads such as Gibney.

"She's such an icon and a true Australian woman, just stunning. I'm sure I'll give Bec a call if things get too hairy for some advice because she's heaven," she said.

Consternation over Packed to the Rafters kiss

Brooke Satchwell says she will understand if there is a backlash. Source: Supplied

Luke Dennehy, Sunday Herald Sun, reports

The controversial Packed to the Rafters infidelity storyline will continue for the rest of the year.

In one of the more divisive storylines in the show's history, Erik Thomson's character Dave Rafter shared a passionate kiss with his apprentice Frankie Calasso, played by Brooke Satchwell.

The storyline upset some viewers as Dave and Julie Rafter - played by Rebecca Gibney - were one of TV's strongest couples.

It's believed the kiss is the crescendo of the infidelity, but the ramifications will be played out until the end of this year.

Satchwell said she could understand if there was a backlash.

"It was a great storyline to play and it came fairly early on my time on the show, but it was quite terrifying as well, as they are one of Australia's most-loved couples," she said.

Satchwell said while many might find the storyline uncomfortable, it was done the right way with lots of thought from everyone involved, from the writers, producers and actors.

Packed to the Rafters is on a production break and Satchwell has four months off.

She has signed on for another series.

"I'm having a sensational time," she said.

"It's been an absolute pleasure to work on the show."

Amazing Jessica Marais, happy James Stewart and a good Scout

James Stewart gives the victory sign outside the hospital after his daughter's birth. Picture: Matrix / Source: The Daily Telegraph

Joel Christie, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Aussie actress Jessica Marais did an "amazing" job at the birth of her baby girl, according to her beaming fiance James Stewart.

Stewart, the soon-to-be former Packed To The Rafters star, and Marais welcomed their daughter, Scout Edie Stewart, at 5.41pm on Wednesday after a 12-hour labour.

"Jess is great," a glowing Stewart said.

"She's amazing. I can't believe women do that."

He said both extended families were over the moon following the arrival of the healthy baby, with Marais' mum particularly excited about becoming a grandmother.

"This is Jess' mum's first grandchild, so they're very excited," Stewart said.

Having opted to be surprised, Stewart, 36, had a wager with his Logie-winning bride-to-be over their baby's gender, predicting the bub would be a girl.

Baby name specialists were quick to point out the pair have likely scouted their little one's unique moniker in the US, where they plan to relocate as early as next month so Marais can continue her promising stateside career.

In 2011, just six Australian children were called Scout, according to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, with seven recorded the year before.

Danielle Townsend, editor of website BabyCentre, said the name was probably inspired by the surge in popularity of the name Harper following the birth of Victoria and David Beckham's daughter last year.

Harper Lee wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning American novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Scout was one of its central characters.

"Bruce Willis and Demi Moore also have a Scout but she is an adult, so the name has been in use for a while. Our database shows Scout has become less common, with about 150 children taking the name last year (in America)," she said.

Hugh Sheridan, double agent?

Hugh Sheridan ... double agent with an agent? Photo: Steven Siewert

Matt Buchanan and Scott Ellis, The Sydney Morning Herald, report

The Packed to the Rafters star may be leaving, or possibly staying, with Twitter, the networks and his own contract telling different tales.

Nothing is ever what it seems in the murky backwaters of television, but few announcements have opened a can of conflicting worms as much as Ten's revelation last week that actor Hugh Sheridan had joined the network to host a new reality series.

Sheridan, who stars in Seven's Packed to the Rafters, was jumping ship to host a new program for Ten, a reality series about drag queens.

''It's the death of Rafters!'' the panic merchants screamed, or at least the death of his character, with Sheridan already (apparently) finished filming his last ever appearances as Ben Rafter.

This was all news to Seven, with a network spokesman saying not only was Rafters still in production, but that Sheridan's management was negotiating with the network for another season. ''The door is always open for Ben Rafter,'' a spokesman said. ''Series six is still a possibility.''

Sheridan himself was quick to reassure fans via Twitter that he had no intention of quitting as a Rafter. ''Not leaving'' he wrote repeatedly: ''Doing both'', ''Ben is going nowhere, promise'' and so on.

Perhaps, or perhaps Sheridan hadn't read his new Ten contract, which we understand limits his Rafters appearances to a handful of episodes.

Jason Donovan rumoured to be returning to Network Ten's new celebrity vehicle I Will Survive

Returning home speculation ... Jason Donovan will star in Network Ten's new celebrity show 'I Will Survive'. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph reports

Jason Donovan is rumoured to be heading home to take a role on the Network Ten's new celebrity vehicle, I Will Survive.

The London-based performer is said to be joining Packed to the Rafters' star Hugh Sheridan, who is scheduled to host the program on Ten.

The serial reality-show contestant, Donovan was affiliated with the UK series of the show and has been on the producer's shortlist.

Less viewers tuning in to Packed to the Rafters

Rebecca Gibney on set of Packed to the Rafters. Picture: Rohan Kelly / Source: Herald Sun

Colin Vickery, The Herald Sun, reports

Is the Packed to the Rafters phenomenon on the wane?

Last night’s episode of the popular Aussie drama was seen by 1.482 million viewers nationally.

It comes after last week’s return episodes were seen by 1.439 million and 1.247 million viewers – some of the lowest ever figures for the show.

Rafters still easily won its time slot, but with figures that were well off the 2 million viewers it averaged in its heyday.

Media analyst Steve Allen says Rafters, which stars Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson and Hugh Sheridan, is “faded but not fallen”.

“This has lost some of its gloss,” Mr Allen said.

It is possible that Rafters has suffered a viewer backlash. People were angry last year when Seven stopped the show early to make way for Winners & Losers.

Seven only showed 15 episodes of Rafters in 2011.

Rafters has also been hit by the loss of Logie-winning actress Jessica Marais, who quit to take up acting opportunities in the USA.

Jessica McNamee, currently being seen in US movie The Vow, and Zoe Ventoura also left the show.

Rafters dropped from Seven’s 7.30pm show My Kitchen Rules, which averaged 1.682 million viewers nationally last night.

Rival shows Two and a Half Men (706,000) and 671,000) and NCIS (847,000) languished.

Mr Allen predicts that the Rafters will bounce back, though perhaps not to the 2 million mark.

“Packed to the Rafters is under attack but we feel the programme will recover lost ground in the next few weeks.”

Rafters not so packed as ratings drop

Ratings for the season premiere of Packed to the Rafters last night were down on previous seasons.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports

Has Seven's ratings juggernaut Packed to the Rafters lost its shine or were too many people out celebrating Valentine's Day last night to care about television?

That's the question Seven bosses must be asking as the premiere of the fifth season of the family drama had about half a million fewer viewers than previous seasons.

The family drama had an audience of 1.445 million for its first episode and 1.252 million for its second episode last night, putting them in second and third place.

It was down on previous seasons, with the fourth series debuting at 1.943 million and the very first episode in 2008 watched by 1.945 million viewers.

The audience may have been decreased by the fact that many people were out for Valentine's Day but figures seem to suggest that the same numbers were watching television as the previous Tuesday.

However, it was still the second most watched show of the night behind the network's My Kitchen Rules.

In fact, Seven had the top four shows with its 6pm news in fourth spot with 1.165 million viewers. It also had six shows in the top ten.

Today Tonight came in sixth with 1.110 million and Home and Away ninth with 981,000.

Other shows in the top ten were Nine's Big Bang Theory with 1.126 million (fifth place) and Nine News in seventh place with 1.054 million.

Nine's new US comedy 2 Broke Girls also rated well with 984,000 putting it in eighth position.

Ten just scraped into the top ten with NCIS attracting an audience of 973,000.

AAP

Packed to the Rafters actor Angus McLaren follows Jessica Marais and Hugh Sheridan on extended leave

Scene from the new series of Packed to the Rafters ... Angus McLaren and Hugh Sheridan, who are both exiting the drama mid-season, with new cast member Zoe Cramond. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Packed To The Rafters cutie Angus McLaren has followed onscreen siblings Jessica Marais and Hugh Sheridan in taking "extended leave" from the family favourite.

Channel 7 confirmed this week that the part-time muso will leave half way through the upcoming series, leaving Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson as the only big-name originals still onboard, with Zoe Ventoura and Jess McNamee also part of the exodus.

The new season is relying on the introduction of new characters.

Channel Seven to host a two-hour premiere of new series of Packed to the Rafters on Tuesday February 14

New cast members ... Camille Keenan and Zoe Cramond will appear in the new series of Packed to the Rafters which has a two-hour premiere on Tuesday, February 14. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

The nation's favourite drama, Packed to the Rafters, is returning on Tuesday, February 14.

The family drama, which features Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson, Michael Caton, Hugh Sheridan and Angus McLaren, premieres at 8.30pm on Valentine's Day, Tuesday February 14.

The two final episodes of last year's series will be replayed at midday on February 14.

With the top-rating My Kitchen Rules on before its premiere, from 7.30pm. Channel Seven will be looking for bumper ratings.

Across at the Nine Network, advertisements promoting its new sitcom 2 Broke Girls began today stating it will premiere on February 14, after a new episode of the top-rating Big Bang Theory.

No timeslot has been given for either show as it leaves Nine's options open if it wants to can Excess Baggage, which drew only 555,000 viewers last Thursday down from its opening of 880,000 viewers.

It is clear Nine's plan to pit Excess Baggage against Ten's The Biggest Loser has been a failure.

Packed to the Rafters returns for full season in 2012

Zoe Cramond from Packed to the Rafters. Picture: Channel 7 /
Source: Supplied

Colin Vickery, The Herald Sun, reports

CHANNEL 7 has promised Packed to the Rafters fans that it will show a full season of the popular Aussie drama in 2012.

The move comes after Rafters had a shortened and interrupted season last year.

In 2011, only 15 of Rafters' 20 episodes made it to air with the series stopped to make way for Winners and Losers.

This year’s Rafters features a range of new cast members.

Cameron Daddo will make his return to Australian TV as newspaper editor Adam Goodman, while former Neighbours star Brooke Satchwell will play new Rafter Electrical employee Frankie Calasso.

An early storyline will have Ben Rafter (Hugh Sheridan) deciding to move forward with his friendship with Emma (Zoe Cramond), a year after his wife Melissa’s death.

Other storylines include a health scare for Ted (Michael Caton) and a life changing decision by Nathan (Angus McLaren).

Other new cast members will include Jacob Allen as Dave’s brother Matt Jennings and Samantha Tolj as Sian Parry, a new love interest.

Packed to the Rafters returns on Valentine’s Day, February 14.