australian television information archive

Episode 1.01

Wed, March 21, 2018 (9pm)
427,00 viewers (17th)
Writer: Phil Lloyd
Directors: Van Vuuren Bros.

Victoria 'Sando' Sandringham (Sasha Horler) is the charismatic loose cannon CEO, and public face of, beloved department store chain ‘Sando’s Warehouse’. Australia knows Sando as the larrikin ‘Package Deal Queen’, a born performer who for decades starred alongside her young family in their own furniture commercials.

But things began to unravel for Sando the day of her daughter Susie’s wedding, when it is revealed that following a drunken night at a family weekend away, she became pregnant to Susie’s fiancé, Kevin (Firass Dirani), and was excommunicated from the family.

Ten years later we catch up with Sando, freshly removed from her own company by her nemesis company CFO Tony (Rob Carlton), following one too many all-night benders. Her assets frozen and with nowhere else to go, Sando realises she must reconnect with her family if she’s to have any chance of rekindling the halcyon days.

While granddaughter Rian (Sierra Lewis) is easily won over — as is son Eric (Dylan Hesp) for whom the parental flame was never extinguished — daughter Susie (Krew Boylan) has a much larger axe to grind. Even though she’s now happily married to dependable Gary (Uli Latukefu), Susie has never forgiven Sando and doesn’t intend to now that she’s back.

Fearing another banishment, Sando fakes a stroke in order to buy a few crucial days to convalesce in the family’s pool house. Then, by blackmailing her ex-husband Don (Phil Lloyd) and Susie’s best friend and live-in life coach Nicky (Adele Vuko), Sando manages to further extend her stay. This spurs Susie to attempt a number of other extrication plans, including divorcing her own mother (like Macaulay Culkin did), forcing Sando to undergo personality-transforming hypnotherapy, and an out-and-out attack on Sando’s Warehouse with a competing business of her own.

Meanwhile, as CFO Tony continues to work behind the scenes to have Sando permanently removed from the company, Sando pitches to reunite the entire family for one more of their peerless television commercials. To prove once and for all she is not only irreplaceable, but good for business… just the way she is. But will her family agree? Or kill her first?

Cast:

• Sacha Horler as Sando (Vicky Sandringham)
• Phil Lloyd as Don Sandringham
• Krew Boylan as Susie Sandringham
• Uli Latukefu as Gary
• Dylan Hesp as Eric Sandringham
• Adele Vuko as Nicky
• Sierra Lewis as Rian
• Firass Dirani as Kevin Keenan
• Rob Carlton as Tony
•  
• Summer Seckold as Young Susie
• Oliver Patry as Young Eric
• George Zhao as Luke
• Maggie Kirkpatrick as Catherine
• Nick Boshier as Priest
• Lisbeth Kennelly as Board Member #1 - Michelle
• Jeeves Verma as Random Parent
• Kurt Ramjam as Paramedic
• Stan Veniamnov as Showroom Staff #1
• Changdae (Mike) Kang as Showroom Staff #2
•  
• John Walton as Stunt Coordinator/Safety Officer
• Marlee Barber as Sando Stunt Double
• Ali Kadhim as Kevin Stunt Double/Utility Staff #1
• Connor Van Vuuren as Eric Stunt Double
• Gordon Waddell as Catherine Stunt Double
• Renee Ware as Sando Horse Riding Double
• Darvin Dela Cruz as Utility Staff #2
•  
• Phoebe Sun as Rian Picture Double
• Lee Perry as Voiceover Artist - Sando's Warehouse Commercial