australian television information archive

Available on DVD

Episodes 1 and 2

People are finding themselves drawn back to The Alice. Jack Jaffers, charismatic ex-rock star and erstwhile nomad, has built a bar in town and is intending to tell Jess that he’s her father. He’s just waiting for the right moment.
Helen Gregory has returned to resolve the mysterious death of her husband during the eclipse—she still fears she is responsible. Helen’s best friend Patrick disagrees, but Helen is trying to ignore him. He is dead after all—people might think she’s crazy.
Matt Marione can’t leave either—it seems the plant he found in the desert has curative powers. Also maybe more importantly, he can’t get that extraordinary night he spent with Ellie Delaney out of his head.
Toby Delaney wishes his parents would sort it out. His dad Hugh has moved in and is cramping his style. Furthermore, his ex-girlfriend Jess is dating some miner, and the tour business he runs with his best mate Michael is in utter chaos. But somehow he’ll find his way through—he always does.
Everyone is set to collide, but The Alice has a way of intervening and giving people what they need, often in surprising ways.

Episode 3

In the desert a storm is brewing. Matt is wracked with guilt over his affair with Ellie and goes bush in search of his plant. He gets more than he bargained for when he encounters the feuding Watts brothers and a woman in labour. It is Jess’s birthday and Kirk from the junkyard gives Jack an ultimatum—tell her he’s her father or Kirk will reveal all.

Episode 4

Toby and Michael’s friendship is put to the test when they compete for the affection of a gorgeous backpacker—a girl with a dark secret. While dealing with the revelation that Jack is her father, Jess brings her mother Heaven home to care for her.

Episode 5

Following a bike accident, Helen discovers her wedding ring is missing—is this a sign that she must move on? All hell breaks loose when Hugh discovers Ellie and Matt’s relationship, while Jess struggles to accept Jack into her life.

Episode 6

Jack tries to impress Helen with an outback spin in a new Mercedes but things turn ugly when the keys get locked in the car. When Jack goes to get help he becomes embroiled with a woman who is on the run from her husband. Meanwhile Helen gets in a state as she searches for Jack. Toby loses his cool when he confronts Matt about the affair with Ellie - however Ellie is unperturbed and decides to go on her first official public date with Matt. Toby and Hugh console each other over the affair.

Episode 7

In an attempt to bond with Jess, Jack promises to take her to Scotland, the home of her ancestors, but it seems Jack has a habit of making promises he can't keep. A whole new Helen emerges when she agrees to play for a local netball team. Jess's best friend and Michael's sister, Natalie returns home - and she's got a secret. Toby witnesses some strange lights - maybe it's a UFO.

Episode 8

When Jack is bitten by a tick after a liaison with the sexy Tansy, he starts hallucinating and goes on a fantasy journey where women appear and disappear. Ellie and Matt take off for a romantic weekend that leaves Ellie's life in danger. Natalie's new love Will appears too good to be true—is he?

Episode 9

Helen fears her late husband Connor has returned to haunt her. Celebrity psychic Bryan Abbot is in town and Helen attends, hoping Abbot can send Connor away, but finds herself facing an ethical dilemma. Jess is at Abbot's show too, hoping to hear from her mum, but the comforting message she longs for does not come in the way she expected. Jack accompanies Jess even though he thinks Abbot is a fraud, but gets somewhat distracted by a sexy grieving widow. Meanwhile Toby is forced to confront his grudge against Matt when he gives him a trailbike riding lesson with the Watts Brothers.

Episode 10

When an ill wind blows into town, Michael and Toby are forced to cancel a climb and keep the tourists occupied by telling stories of how this strange and surprising wind can affect the lives of all it touches. Hugh is taken on an unexpected journey when he answers a simple call to save a woman from a spider. Jack fears he's lost his cool and embarks on a search for it in the desert. Matt, worried that Jess and Natalie want him to move out, discusses his living situation with Ellie and ends up confessing his love for her.

Episode 11

Matt is in for a culture shock when he and Jess visit a local community and meet a patient who has been diagnosed with water snakes in the belly. Toby and Michael meet two cute backpackers but can't decide who teams up with who. A surprise gift from Jack has unexpected consequences for Helen. Jess has to admit her relationship with Darren has reached the complicated stage.

Episode 12

When Michael goes on the radio as the 'Love Roo', everyone in Alice is wrestling with the complexities of love. Helen invites Jack to dinner, sending him into a tailspin—what if dinner means more than just dinner? Jess and Toby rekindle their romance after spending a day together looking for a time capsule, but Jess's timing couldn't be worse. Meanwhile, Hugh realises the person he loves most is his son. He decides to move out of Toby's house as he doesn't want to jeopardise their relationship.

Episode 13

Jess agonises over Darren's marriage proposal while Toby, oblivious to this new development, prepares to declare his heart to her. Matt pays rock bottom price for a vintage motorbike in mint condition but ends up in hot water. Toby and Michael are furious when a delinquent work experience kid steals their 4WD. Helen and Jack spend the perfect day together and it seems romance might be in the air again.

Episode 14

Jess tries to tell Darren her secret but ends up setting a wedding date instead. Toby decides to make a grand romantic gesture in an attempt to win Jess back, while Michael struggles to reveal his own feelings to her. Helen plucks up her courage and answers an ad for an artist's model, but can she go through with it? Jack drags his future son-in-law, Darren, out bush for an unusual spot of male bonding.

Episode 15

With wedding preparations well underway, Jess is beginning to feel the heat: Jack is determined to play Father of the Bride and pay for the wedding, despite the fact that he can't afford it. Jack finds himself the victim of a smear campaign by rival publican, Simon Westlake. When Simon challenges Jack to a camel race with a $10,000 winner's purse, Jack sees the solution to his financial dilemma and accepts. Of course Simon's real agenda is to undermine the competition and when he tries to entice Helen to come and work for him, Jack assumes they are having an affair. Meanwhile, Matt and Ellie discover they are harbouring different ideas about their future together.

Episode 16

On the anniversary of Patrick's death, Patrick's younger brother arrives in town and seeks out Helen - there is something he needs to resolve. Matt and Ellie break up, and each deal with the aftermath in their own peculiar way. Ellie is so distracted that Toby begins to worry for her safety; she almost seems to have a death wish. Matt tries flirting with Claude, an attractive worker at the Desert Park ­ but realises things are still a bit raw for him. Jack becomes worried Helen is going to move out of her caravan and makes her an offer. Natalie challenges Michael to a land-sailing race with one condition: if she wins he has to stop mooching over Jess. Jack and Helen help Hugh 'smoke' his new rental property to get rid of the bad spirits - with unexpected results.

Episode 17

Jack and Michael embark on a five-hour drive to Purgatory Hill to find Lara, a regular caller to Michael's Love Roo show. It's obvious to Helen Jack just wants to avoid a scheduled meeting with a financial planner…but Jack and Michael are convinced Lara is in some kind of trouble. Plus, Michael's enamoured with her sexy voice. Jess and Darren get home from their honeymoon, anxious to savour their last day together before Darren heads back to the mine. But Matt, newly broken up with Ellie, doesn't notice they would like some "alone" time. Meanwhile, Helen's sold one of Ellie's sculptures to the financial planner, and they go to check it out in the foyer. Ellie's joy turns to outrage when she discovers it is upside-down. When Hugh refuses to intervene on the grounds it's hardly a police matter, Ellie ropes Helen and Toby into a hair-brained mission to break into the office and turn the sculpture back the right way.

Episode 18

Helen fears her secret will be exposed when nude sketches of her are stolen during a burglary. Jack tries to come up with the perfect wedding present for Jess, but he's a little distracted by Helen's suspicious behaviour. Natalie pretends she is dating Matt to make Will jealous, and the two boys find themselves competing to capture a rogue cane toad. Jess wants Toby to accompany her to a horror movie double, but Toby is trying to freeze her out of his life now that she's married. Hugh comes to Ellie's rescue when an intruder breaks into her house.

Episode 19

Jack is shocked when an old band mate arrives in town and tells him the band has replaced him with a younger lead singer. Driving back from Katherine, Toby fears for the safety of his passenger, a woman whose son has just died. Helen's new job as a real estate agent gets complicated when she is caught having a bath in one of the houses. Matt and Natalie are confused when they accidentally kiss. When Ellie starts feeling unsafe in her house she and Hugh each come up with a creative solution.

Episode 20

Simon of the Bull Bar has been messing in Jack's patch. He's been luring Rusty away with daily treats of prime porterhouse steak and he's requested Helen specially to show him real estate. Jack does not like any of this, so when Simon suggests a friendly game of football between the Baa Bar and the Big Bull Bar to keep that old rivalry alive, Jack takes up the challenge.

Episode 21

Jack reacquaints himself with the joys of meditation in a makeshift sweat lodge and is shown a tantalising glimpse of his future: an abandoned mine shaft, a skeleton in a Hawaiian shirt, and a glorious reef of gold in a bed of quartz.Jess's guilt about Toby resurfaces.

Episode 22 (finale)

Helen must face reality when a Patrick look-alike arrives in town.