australian television information archive

Skating the Dish

Episode 1
Sat, March 25, 1995
Written by Christine Madafferi, Jeff Peck
Directed by Mario Andreacchio

Mike Masters and his astrophysicist father, Tony, arrive at the Kaputar Tracking Station in the Australian outback after having been away for eight years. The dish is parked while it cools down to operating temperature and so Mike decides to put on his roller blades and skate the dish. Against Nikki's advice, Maggie joins Mike on the dish taking Polaroid's. Unexpectedly, the dish begins to move putting Maggie and Mike in danger. Nikki saves the situation but Tony discovers the Polaroids later and dresses down his son. Mike doesn't care. "Science sucks". Nikki is furious with Mike.

Starring: Petra Jared as Nikki Colbert, Zbych Trofimiuk as Mike Masters, Emily-Jane Romig as Maggie Colbert, Steve Jacobs as Tony Masters, Anna Maria Monticelli as Marie Colbert

With: Paul Sonkkila as Frank Giles, Marco Chiappi as Christian, Rosalind Hammond as Elfie, Mark Venn as Brad, Uyen Vu as Lisa, Justin Anderson as Bruce, Kaz Hall as Steve, Gareth Yuen as Joe, Kathryn Marks as Kathy, Nelson Leongue as Sam, Frank Veneziano as Dick

Guest Cast: Susan Tan as Tanya

Note: the cast credits at the end of each episode are largely the same regardless if the actors are in the episode or not. The "with" actors listed above are always credited but to economise space, will just be shown for episode 1. Only the unique guest actors will shown for each episode going forward.

Meteor Rights

Episode 2
Sat, April 01, 1995
Written by Ray Boseley
Directed by Julian McSwiney

Visiting Wright Foundation scholarship student Susan Cooper arrives to study a meteor shower. She and the kids photograph the shower at night and track one meteorite that has hit the earth. Another student, Bruce, and his gang decide to find the meteorite as well, planning to sell it for money. The meteorite is eventually found in the middle of Mullins, a scrap metal yard, and a chase ensues between our kids and Bruce and his gang. Mullins, the owner of the scrap yard, decides that if it landed on his property, it must be his. A deal is finally struck. The meteorite is donated to the museum and exhibited along with advertising material for Mullins scrap yard.

Guest Cast: Frankie J Holden as Mal Mullens, Noni Bousfield as Suzie Cooper, George Dixon as Scientist

The Beast

Episode 3
Sat, April 08, 1995
Written by Cameron Clarke
Directed by Mario Andreacchio

Mike convinces his father, Tony, that it's time to buy a horse. But when Mike goes for a ride, the horse throws him, and Tony decides it's too dangerous. Mike swears that something scared the horse. To prove his point, the kids lay bait containing a transmitter. Using radio telemetry, the animal is tracked. It turns out to be a feral cat. Mike eventually buys the horse and names it Hendrix in honour of his guitar hero, Jimi Hendrix.

Guest Cast: Lynne McGranger as Jack

Tell Someone Who Cares

Episode 4
Sat, April 15, 1995
Written by Jutta Goetze
Directed by Julian McSwiney

Tony asks Mike to go camping with him but Mike declines. Tony camps near where he and his late wife used to collect gemstones. Tony's vehicle gets bogged and his mobile phone is out of range so he is unable to contact Mike. Mike gets worried, fearing his father is not going to come back just like the day his mother didn't come back. Mike steals a 4-wheel drive and goes in search of his father. Nikki helps Mike locate Tony using GPS satellite navigation and stereoscopic map reading.

Guest Cast: none

The Big Skip

Episode 5
Sat, April 22, 1995
Written by Jan Sardi
Directed by Mario Andreacchio

Maggie, while listening into CB radio, hears a distress call from a child. But no one believes her. Nikki thinks Maggie's doing it for attention. Maggie has given a Valentine Card to Mike. But Mike has presumed it came from Nikki and so Mike's reciprocated with a Valentine card to Nikki. The distress call is heard again and a satellite link is established with a low orbiting satellite that has a CB band. The distress call is pinpointed and the child is rescued.

Guest Cast: Shane Connor as Sergeant Blake, David Montalti as Athos

Goddess of the Dawn

Episode 6
Sat, April 29, 1995
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Mario Andreacchio

Visiting Wright Foundation student Romy arrives from Germany to study solar flares. Mike decides its time to try for his first kiss with Nikki. The kids observe sun spot activity and estimations made as to how many days before The Southern Lights will appear. On the third night of sky watching for The Southern Lights, they finally appear… just as Mike and Nikki are leaning in for the their first kiss. Giles is forced to pay up on the bet he made.

Guest Cast: Kelly Sulikowski as Romy Strauss

Dead Ducks

Episode 7
Sat, May 06, 1995
Written by Rick Maier, Robert Greenberg
Directed by Steve Jodrell

The local legend of "The Sundowner", a turn-of-the-century bushranger, sparks Mike's interest in looking for the bushranger's hideout. Dead ducks are discovered in a lake and an autopsy reveals that lead poisoning was the cause of death. Small traces of gold are also found in the duck's gullet. Using remote sensing, Mike and Nikki discover the exact location of The Sundowner's hideout, now covered by the lake. They search underwater and locate the submerged cave, but Bruce and his gang arrive to collect the spoils themselves. Much to their disgust, no gold is found. However, plenty of antique bottles are found and Mike and Nikki end up selling the antique bottles to a local dealer.

Guest Cast: Ernie Bourne as Mr Krauss

Is There Life on Earth?

Episode 8
Sat, May 13, 1995
Written by Shane Measday
Directed by Julian McSwiney

Shane, a visiting student, is doing a project on the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. Mike gets jealous that Nikki and Shane are spending so much time together and hatches a plan to fool Shane into believing that radio signals are being received from outer space. But Nikki and Shane uncover the plan, and make it backfire on Mike. When the radio signals are decoded, an image of Jimi Hendrix appears, and Mike becomes the butt of his own joke.

Guest Cast: Che Broadbent as Shane Evans

Letting Go

Episode 9
Sat, May 20, 1995
Written by Mac Gudgeon
Directed by Steve Jodrell

Items that Tony's late wife Ellen had with her on her final, fatal flight wash up in a lake. Mike wants to find out more, but Tony doesn't. Tony thinks that he's dealt with the issue of Ellen's death and doesn't want to open up old wounds. But Mike is insistent. Using remote sensing and by tracing the current patterns of the lake, the wreck of the plane is discovered. Tony and Mike re-enact Ellen's last flight in a flight simulator and both father and son finally say their goodbyes to Ellen at the edge of the lake.

Guest Cast: John Arnold as Captain Lobb

To Tell or Not to Tell

Episode 10
Sat, May 27, 1995
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Julian McSwiney

Jupiter's magnetic field is a project that Zoe is supposedly working on as a Wright Foundation student. Unfortunately, it's Nikki's project as well. Zoe is not interested in science; her domineering mother has forced her into it. Zoe steals Nikki's research and presents it as her own at a conference. Maggie forgoes her part in the school play to go with Nikki and confront Zoe, only to find out that the same information was published in a science journal more than twenty years ago. Mike's father also learns that he will be going on the next shuttle mission but Mike gets upset when he finds out about this news from Nikki and not his father.

Guest Cast: Kimberly Michaels as Zoe Banks, Susie Edmonds as Liah Banks, Jackie Kelleher as Judge, Dominic McDonald as James

Kiss the Sky

Episode 11
Sat, June 03, 1995
Written by Mac Gudgeon
Directed by Steve Jodrell

Nikki needs expensive new software to help her complete drawings for her project on Mars, but she can't afford the it. Nikki sets about making enough money to buy the software. Meanwhile, she is asked to teach a local girl, Lynne, how to use a word processor. Lynne and Nikki have a falling out but finally become friends when Nikki discovers that Lynne is good at drawing illustrations. Instead of buying software, Nikki employs Lynne to illustrate her project. Mike and Nikki kiss for the first time.

Guest Cast: Amy Luxford as Lynne, Daniel Daperis as Tom, Casey Hawkins as Milly, Raymond Chubb as Repo Man

Can't Buy Me Love

Episode 12
Sat, June 10, 1995
Written by Christine Madafferi, Robert Goldberg
Directed by Julian McSwiney

Marie's old boyfriend offers her a position with RGM Research, a private research organization based in Sydney. Nikki doesn't want to leave Mike and live in Sydney. With Tony's help, Nikki finds out more about the company using a computer bulletin board. She discovers that RGM is involved in a variety of bioengineering projects involving viruses. Paul is non-committal when asked if the research is going to be sold to the military. He doesn't know and certainly isn't interested in finding out. Marie eventually decides not to take up the new job.

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Thomas as Paul

Rocket to Me

Episode 13
Sat, June 17, 1995
Written by Cameron Clarke
Directed by Mario Andreacchio

An inter-school competition sees the local school pitted against other schools to build the best rocket. During rocket testing, Mike discovers that his friend Brad is being bashed by his father. Nikki and Mike's parents are concerned that their children are staying out too late at night. Nikki and Mike's families have a peace conference, dealing with family responsibilities. On the day of the rocket competition Brad doesn't arrive. Mike and Nikki find him having an argument with his father. Eventually, Mike, Nikki and Brad launch their rocket and it's a success.

Guest Cast: Nicholas Bell as Dan, Liam McGowan as Blazer Captain