australian television information archive

Basics of Team Building

Episode 1
Wed, Sept 03, 2008
735,000 viewers (26th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Don Angel is a small-business man — the backbone of this great country's economy. But if that's true, it's no thanks to him. After numerous unsuccessful business ventures, Don's World Wide Business Group is now hurtling towards liquidation.

To give the impression of a much grander business than what he's got, Don sells the advertising space in his five magazines under different aliases. He can sell the ads, he just can't write the articles. So he hires Ray Leonard as his sole journalist.

Taking his first tentative steps back into the workplace after a six-year battle with depression, Ray enters a world totally alien to him. He's come from being a noted social commentator for The Australian to writing advertorial for 'Wilson's Woodwind and Brass' Autumn Sale — which might just be his cure.

But Don's debts are mounting — he has the bank on his back and a posse of disgruntled small businesses at his door. His wife has left him, and not only does she want to take him for all she can she also expects him to actually spend time with his two kids. To make matters worse, he's just been diagnosed with a nasty case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which it seems no medication can cure.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Ian Bliss as Tony Orsini, Sally Cooper as Janet Wilson, Jeremy Kewley as Ron Grealy, Katerina Kotsonis as Blanca, Emma Leonard as Leslie, Geoff Paine as Lloyd, Queenie Van De Zandt as Tina

With: Michelle Bourke, Susan Stratford, Christine Cato, Felipe Valderrama, Brett Manton, Georgie Walker, Fabienne Parr

Human Resources

Episode 2
Wed, Sept 10, 2008
758,000 viewers (24th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Don's children, Sam and Alex, arrive at the office unexpectedly. They inform Don that their mother thinks they should spend more time with him and will be staying with him for the next couple of days. He decides the best way to deal with it is to leave the room and get some air.

Outside the WWBG HQ Don watches a gardening contractor with a leaf blower at work and quizzes him about his mowing franchise. It sparks his next big idea, starting a mobile dog wash franchise.

With Sam and Alex tagging along, Ray meets Leslie for lunch. He struggles to communicate with Leslie due to her new-found love of Jesus. As a possible way to draw her closer to him and away from the church, Ray offers her the dog wash design job.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Ian Bliss as Tony Orsini, Molly Daniels as Samantha, Emma Leonard as Leslie, Lenny Lyon as Alex, Geoff Paine as Lloyd, Queenie Van De Zandt as Tina

With: Andrew Bailey, Eleanor Wilson, Andrea Gibbs, Kate Gorman, Chris McLean, Steve Sammut, Marcella Russo, Tim Bell

Export Fluctuations

Episode 3
Wed, Sept 17, 2008
743,000 viewers (20th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Don's creditors are hunting him down and things get worse when his doctor diagnoses him with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Ray's attempt to get close to Leslie fails dismally when Don rips shreds through her design proposal for the mobile dog wash franchise. Ray watches Leslie leave and run into the arms of an older man, who happens to be the pastor from the Pentecostal church.

Don's bowel problems deepen when he hears from his solicitor that a date has been set for his divorce settlement.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Sally Cooper as Janet Wilson, David James as Sol Doman [sic], Emma Leonard as Leslie, Steve Mouzakis as Dr Rolf, Geoff Paine as Lloyd

With: Sarah Arthur-Young, Robert Price, Rhiannon Leigh, Heath Campbell-McLean, Carmen Warrington, Andrea Gibbs

Diversification of Capital

Episode 4
Wed, Sept 24, 2008
653,000 viewers (26th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Unable to fix his bowel problems with medication, Don's doctor refers him to a psychologist. Meanwhile his ex-wife Tina turns up at the World Wide office and squeezes money out of Ray.

Armed with a rudimentary prototype of the Dog Wash Trailer and a Scottish Deerhound, Don makes a late night TV commercial for the dog wash franchise.

Ray convinces his old boss at The Australian to find Leslie a job in the graphics department. The gesture warms Leslie momentarily until Ray brings up the topic of her forty-seven-year-old boyfriend.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Molly Daniels as Samantha, Emma Leonard as Leslie, Lenny Lyon as Alex, Steve Mouzakis as Dr Rolf, Ken Radley as Graham, Queenie Van De Zandt as Tina

With: Gracie Hooper, Kathryn Tohill, Nic Jensen, Donna Van Leeuuwen

Systems Analysis

Episode 5
Wed, Oct 01, 2008
608,000 viewers (27th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Don reluctantly begins his appointment with the psychologist Jasmine about his Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She gently unearths Don's struggle with his business and unwittingly reveals just how fruitless his enterprises are.

Back at the office, while Ray listens to a recording of Janet Wilson's local orchestra, Leslie arrives unannounced with Lloyd to invite Ray to her graduation.

Potential dog wash franchisees, Noel and Coralie, arrive to be talked through the Don's Dirty Dog Wash. Fuelled by his frustration about Leslie's graduation, Ray pitches them the business with uncharacteristic gusto.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Robyn Arthur as Coralie, Ian Bliss as Tony Orsini, Robyn Butler as Jasmine, Dennis Coard as Noel, Sally Cooper as Janet Wilson, Miriam Glaser as Roxley, Emma Leonard as Leslie, Geoff Paine as Lloyd, Rod Mullinar as Dick Denyer, Robert Z as Patient

Obligations Under the Taxation Act

Episode 6
Wed, Oct 08, 2008
602,000 viewers (27th)
Written by Wayne Hope and Gary McCaffrie with Robyn Butler
Directed by Daina Reid

Three auditors from the Tax Office arrive unannounced at the World Wide office to investigate why Don Angel hasn't filed a BAS statement for eleven quarters.

Ray attends Leslie's graduation where he comes face to face with Jerome, Leslie's biological father. While the auditors from the Tax Office try to unweave Don's web of deceit, a posse of the World Wide Business Group's disgruntled creditors turn up at the office. They want to take action against Marcus Goode, James White, Kerry Akermanis, Pete Mandela and Hayden King — not realising that they are all Don's aliases.

Starring: Kim Gyngell as Ray Leonard Leonard, Wayne Hope as Don Angel, Ian Bliss as Tony Orsini, Sally Cooper as Janet Wilson, Marg Downey as Yvonne, Molly Daniels as Samantha, Lenny Lyon as Alex, Geoff Paine as Lloyd, Brian Vriends as Jerome, Queenie Van De Zandt as Tina, Robyn Arthur as Coralie, Dennis Coard as Noel, Sonya Suares as Sandra, Rod Mullinar as Dick Denyer, David James as Sol Dolman, Jeremy Kewley as Ron Grealy, Katerina Kotsonis as Blanca. Emma Leonard as Leslie [uncredited]

With: Lily Hall, Amy Mudge, Cory Jones, Siros Niaros, Adam Lubicz, Beejan Olfat, Dino Marnika, Daina Reid, David Rosk