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I Love you Terri!

When Mitch professes his love for Terri at the hospital Christmas party, All Saints ends on a cracker of a cliffhanger…

The wards of Western General hospital have already played host to a dramatic year—but with the 1999 finale of All Saints screening this week on the Seven Network, series star Georgie Parker promises things are just warming up!

After dealing with a hostage drama, a shooting spree, domestic violence and simmering sexual tension, Georgie makes a prediction of her own—that it's only a matter of time before her character Sister Terri Sullivan renounces her vows and leaves the religious order.

"I think Terri might eventually move on," she says. "I'm not sure how, but it will be interesting to see how she copes.

"Terri has a sincere relationship with her spiritual life, but she became a nun to avoid a lot of emotional things. Terri's problem is that she doesn't trust relationships."

It has become increasingly harder to avoid her emotions in recent months, with the constant presence of her former lover Dr Mitch Stevens (Erik Thomson) working alongside Terri on Ward 17.

While Mitch is dating Rose (Joy Smithers), the torch he carries for Terri continues to burn. Terri's resolve shows the first sign of breaking when Mitch professes his love for her at the staff Christmas party.

"They do want to be together and they do love each other, and if Terri was honest with herself, she would admit that," Georgie says. "But she continues to hide behind the line 'I've chosen this life'. At the moment, the life she has chosen is winning out over being with Mitch."

While the topic of Terri's feelings for a man draws protests from some people, who argue that as a nun she is a "bride of Christ", Georgie refutes such claims.

"Terri is a modern woman and a sexual person," she says. "People forget that nuns are real people. A lot of people assume that when a woman becomes a nun, she loses her identity as a feminine entity. That is simply no the case."

It's this dilemma that presents Erik Thomson with the ongoing challenge to his character.

"In Mitch's eyes, Terri was never a nun." he believes. "He respects her for her commitment, but he still knows the woman she is. That's why he confronts her at the Christmas party."

With All Saints having firmly established itself as a series, we can expect its characters and storylines to take some risks next year.

"We have only seen the tip of the iceberg," Georgie says. "There's a lot more to come. It's huge from now on… and totally unmissable!"

John Burfitt
TV Week
November 1999