australian television information archive

Talent Showdown

Episode 2.03 (13)
Wed, August 30, 2017
632,000 viewers (14th)
Written by Angela McDonald
Directed by Tori Garrett

Penny and Floyd have returned to Whyhope. But the hospital is not how Penny left it — her office is hazard zone; moldy sandwiches, a rat trap, miscellaneous files piled high... And things only get worse the further she digs — it seems Nora's been peddling Oxycodone out of the clinic, patient samples haven't been sent for testing and to top it all off, Hugh's now living at the hospital.

Things get more complicated when Penny realizes Nora's still recovering from the lightning strike in the wards, and is determined to carry out the insurance scam. But everything's interrupted when they get a call out to treat a guy who's been caught under a falling tree and now has Crush Syndrome. He needs a fasciotomy, but as they begin, the power goes out. They continue with the help of torches, but all of this chaos has left Penny seriously wondering whether she made the right decision to return to Whyhope. Eventually she confides in Betty that she's not sure if she'll ever be happy here.

Meanwhile, Hugh has a sudden burst of inspiration, and designs a new stent shaped like a helix. But his enthusiasm is quickly deflated when Trevor reminds him that no one will invest in them after the artificial heart disaster. However things start looking up when Hugh learns that Penny has been given a research grant from Sydney, and they strike a deal to engineer his new stent together.

Back at the homestead, Charlie's old sci-fi novel manuscript has come out of the woodworks. Charlie gives it to Matt to read, but he's never been one for sci-fi, and he struggles to get through it. He leaves it with Ajax, and suddenly the whole family are reading it — and are quickly recognizing themselves in some of the characters.

Meanwhile, Hayley's having a crisis of conscience. The boxes of votes in the shed are filling her with guilt, and having her parents over at the homestead isn't helping. Eventually Hayley can't take it any longer and calls the police to report the missing boxes.

Starring:

• Rodger Corser as Hugh Knight
• Nicole da Silva as Charlie
• Ryan Johnson as Matt Knight
• Tina Bursill as Meryl Knight
• Hayley McElhinney as Penny
• Chloe Bayliss as Hayley
• Matt Castley as Ajax
• Belinda Bromilow as Betty
• Brittany Clark as Mia
• Charles Wu as Ken
• Steve Bisley as Jim Knight

With:

• Winta McGrath as Floyd
• Angus McLaren as Dr. Toke
• Jasper Foggo as Painter
• Kenneth Ransom as David
• Susan Prior as Minnie
• Michelle Lees as Patient
• Matt Doran as Jack Howley
• Nick Dale as Delivery Man
• Vanessa Buckley as Kimberly
• Helen Thomson as Nora
• Jacek Koman as Trevor
• Dan Eady as Gus
• Sukhraj Deepak as Grey Nomad
• Sharon Parkes as Grey Nomad
• Darren Eastes as Car Crash Guy
• Lucy Durack as Tugger