australian television information archive

Secret Lab

Episode 1.14
Canada: May 28, 2004
Germany: May 05, 2004
Australia: October 01, 2004
Written by David Phillips
Directed by Richard Jasek

The start of the new school term and Elizabeth seems to be behaving herself. But things are not as they seem. Elizabeth has set up a secret laboratory in a basement under the School. She orders Garth to use her newly-developed shrink-ray device to shift objects from the school storeroom to the basement. When Dina catches him in the act, Garth panics and shrinks Dina. Shrunken Dina must evade Elizabeth, Garth and Verity while trying to alert Toby.

After several frustrating attempts, shrunken Dina finally catches Toby's attention. Toby reverses the wicked science, returning Dina to her normal size, but he must now face facts; Elizabeth is still dangerous and only Toby can stop her.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, David Bergin as Phil, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Exploding Melon

Episode 1.15
Canada: June 04, 2004
Germany: May 06, 2004
Australia: October 08, 2004
Written by David Phillips
Directed by Richard Jasek

Elizabeth, in her secret underground lab, works on a new invention. But the power she uses attracts the attention of Mr Tesslar. Meanwhile, Toby tries unsuccessfully to track her down using his new creation, a superbug, on Garth.

Garth responds by trashing Toby and Russ' science project: a hydroponically grown watermelon. Annoyed by the interruptions, Elizabeth decides to divert Tesslar's suspicions onto Toby. She modifies the hydroponics water pump, to implicate Toby for the excess power usage. What she doesn't know is that Toby has genetically modified a new super watermelon seed, one that will grow overnight.

The excess water is soaked up by the super watermelon and it grows to the size of a VW. Toby, Russ and Dina rush to destroy the huge melon before Tesslar finds out, resulting in an enormous explosion of pink goo.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, David Bergin as Phil, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca, Natalie Walker as Olivia

Fame

Episode 1.16

Canada: June 11, 2004
Germany: May 07, 2004
Australia: October 15, 2004
Written by Annie Fox
Directed by Richard Jasek

The students are busy preparing for a fashion parade that will be telecast live on the coolest show on TV, 'Groove'. Seeing himself as potential rock star material, Russ offers to play guitar in the opening act. Trouble is — he's hopeless.

It's Toby to the rescue with a pair of programmable, remote-controlled articulated music gloves, which make Russ play like Jimi Hendrix.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, has her own plans for the parade — and hijacks it to launch her new fashion makeup range Mood By Elizabeth — makeup that changes colour to reflect the wearer's mood. The makeup is a huge hit, and Elizabeth is on the way to becoming rich and famous.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, Anthony Barron as Sound Recordist, David Bergin as Phil, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Stephen Oyston as Cameraman, Sam Page as Russ Guitar Double, Jacqui Swallow as Producer, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca, Dikala Vuki as Girl Band, Mereoni Vuki as Girl Band, Natalie Walker as Olivia, Brodie Young as Tarq

Transporter

Episode 1.17
Canada: June 18, 2004
Germany: May 10, 2004
Australia: October 22, 2004
Written by Annie Fox
Directed by Richard Jasek

Elizabeth receives the first bulk order for her new make-up range, but things go awry when Russ stumbles in to her secret underground lab. Panicked, Elizabeth uses the teleportation machine, designed to transport her make-up, to zap Russ out of the basement.

She soon realises it's only a matter of time before Russ tells Toby about her secret lab, so, using the teleportation machine, Elizabeth frames Russ for stealing from Vyner's office. But Toby creates a signal scanner and detects Elizabeth's next teleportation, resulting in the make-up going to the bungalow while he is transported into the secret basement. Toby demands Elizabeth clear Russ' name. Elizabeth has no choice but to comply. Russ is vindicated and Toby now knows where Elizabeth carries out her evil deeds.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, Chris Bidlo as Driver #2, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Andy McPhee as Driver #1, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca, Natalie Walker as Olivia

Weird Date

Episode 1.18
Canada: June 25, 2004
Germany: May 11, 2004
Australia: October 29, 2004
Written by Peter Kinloch
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby, feeling that he'll never get a date with Bianca, decides to impress her by beating Sean's high score on a new arcade game by using wicked science.

Toby finally plucks up the courage to ask Bianca out on a date. She accepts and Toby, contrary to Dina's warning, creates a remote control that patches his home computer into the arcade game — giving him the control to win. Things go awry and the arcade game goes berserk — ruining Toby's date.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and her mother Colleen are at odds over the direction of her Mood By Elizabeth make-up campaign.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, James Barkley as Spike, Kristy Barnes-Cullen as Tara, Peta Doodson as Colleen, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Michael Isaacs as Arcade Manager, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Benjamin McNair as Earl Hanley, Lee Monik as Sean, Jarrod Taylor as Kid, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Excursion

Episode 1.19
Canada: July 02, 2004
Germany: May 12, 2004
Australia: November 05, 2004
Written by Helen MacWhirter
Directed by Richard Jasek

The class is on a palaeontology field trip and Dina contrives to leave Toby and Bianca alone. But Bianca heads into the bush by herself and falls down a natural shaft. A search mission is mounted and Toby goes into Hyperfunction and modifies the MFE machine to scan the rocky landscape for Bianca.

Elizabeth summons the media for her publicity but she is furious when they become more interested in Bianca's disappearance. Toby finally has success with the MFE and rescues Bianca but he also finds that the strange rock in the area react weirdly with the MFE.

Back at school, Tesslar believes Toby has doctored the MFE and Toby realises he's awoken his Teacher's suspicions.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, James Barkley as Spike, Paul Collins as Senior Officer, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Cassie [Cassandra] Magrath as Jess Faraday, Lee Monik as Sean, Derrick Murphy as Photgrapher, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Nanna

Episode 1.20
Canada: July 09, 2004
Germany: May 13, 2004
Australia: November 12, 2004
Written by Susan Macgillicuddy
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby repairs the MFE machine and uses it to test the strange rock, concluding that they could both be mysteriously linked to the genius transformation. Toby hyperfunctions and creates a wormhole generator, thinking he can go back in time and discover the missing piece to the puzzle.

Toby's Nanna, visiting for her eightieth birthday, gets sucked into the wormhole. She is transported back to 1931 while her younger self, Amelia, is transported to the present — smashing the wormhole generator. Toby and Russ are forced to take Amelia to school where she is caught by Tesslar and tells him the whole, fanciful story. Toby manages to get Amelia home and swap her back with the old Nanna just in time for her birthday party.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, David Bergin as Phil, Sage Butler as Amelia, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Esme Melville as Nanna, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Virtual Game

Episode 1.21
Canada: July 16, 2004
Germany: May 14, 2004
Australia: November 19, 2004
Written by Greg Millan
Directed by Richard Jasek

Still on the trail of how he and Elizabeth became geniuses, Toby Hyperfunctions, and creates a virtual memory for Russ, who has the “missing element” locked in his memory. But Elizabeth gets wind of the idea, and guessing that this will give Toby the power to remove her genius, she hacks into Russ' virtual memory, turning it into a virtual game.

She enters the game herself to keep Russ away from the lab. Dina is forced to enter the game also to help Russ out, and finds herself monstered by Garth's giant dog. Russ' memory becomes a virtual battleground between Toby and Elizabeth; Elizabeth thinks she's won, but Toby pips her by crashing her hard drive. Toby at last uncovers the vital missing clue: the escaped frog that jumped across the MFE's keyboard.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, James Barkley as Spike, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Russ Rampant

Episode 1.22
Canada: July 23, 2004
Australia: November 26, 2004
Written by Greg Millin
Directed by Richard Jasek

By jumping on the keyboard, the frog entered a random sequence of numbers into the MFE as it scanned the strange rock. Toby figures out the correct sequence but when he does, Russ is accidentally turned into a genius.

Russ promises to keep his genius power secret, but when he is spurned by Claire and Jade, Russ Hyperfunctions and creates a super skateboard. Elizabeth discovers that Russ is a genius while Russ finds himself in a moral dilemma — will he show-off his super skateboard or will he back down and save Toby, and himself, from exposure? Russ uses his wicked science to scuttle his own invention then asks Toby to turn him back to normal.

Elizabeth reacts — if Toby can turn Russ' genius off, then he can do the same thing to her. ANd that is something she will not allow to happen!

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, James Barkley as Spike, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Renton Miller as Troy, Lee Monik as Sean, Simon Russell as Promoter, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Tractor Beam

Episode 1.23
Canada: July 30, 2004
Australia: December 03, 2004
Written by Susan Macgillicuddy
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby attempts to cancel Elizabeth's genius but his plan goes awry and Elizabeth learns about the importance of the MFE machine. Toby and Elizabeth race to get their hands on the MFE, teleporting Russ and Garth into the storeroom to get it; it's a close call, but Russ wins.

Elizabeth offers a truce and organises a meeting but Toby is suspicious. Elizabeth tips Tesslar off about her meeting with Toby; if Tesslar wants the MFE and its thief then he should be there.

Toby and Elizabeth meet and as soon as Toby gets the chance, he activates a tractor beam that restrains Elizabeth. Just as Toby is about to cancel her genius power, Tesslar arrives and catches Toby with the stolen MFE.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, James Barkley as Spike, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Clone Vyner

Episode 1.24
Canada: August 06, 2004
Australia: December 10, 2004
Written by Annette Moor
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby is about to be expelled for being caught with the stolen MFE. Elizabeth, keen to keep Toby under her eye, attempts to coerce Ms Vyner into going easy on him. The Principal hotly refuses. Elizabeth then manufactures an urgent request for Ms Vyner to fly to Japan, where she has been “granted a fellowship”. But, before her hasty departure, Elizabeth clones her. Clone Vyner takes Ms Vyner's place, controlled by Elizabeth.

Under the threat of expulsion, Toby finds himself with no choice but to tell Tesslar about his genius. Tesslar finds this to be amazing. He goes to Vyner to inform her of the news but what he doesn't know is that he is talking to Clone Vyner. Clone Vyner fires Tesslar. Elizabeth pressures Toby — give her the key to the MFE, or else.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, David Bergin as Phil, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Takahito Masuda as Professor Tanaka, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

Checkmate

Episode 1.25
Canada: August 13, 2004
Australia: December 17, 2004
Written by Greg Millin
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby refuses to give up the key to the MFE so Elizabeth decides to raid the bungalow. Toby confronts her, telling her she'll never get the key because it's in his head. With this in mind, Elizabeth tries another tack. She takes Bianca captive in the basement knowing that Toby will rescue her.

Toby invents a laser-toting robotic doll that can access the basement via the school air ducts and provide him with a way into Elizabeth's lair. But things don't go as planned. Elizabeth outsmarts Toby, immobilising both him and Bianca in an impenetrable force field. When Elizabeth threatens to use the shrink ray on Bianca, Toby has no choice but to give up the MFE key.

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Elizabeth Mah as Little Girl, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca

End Game

Episode 1.26
Canada: August 20, 2004
Australia: December 24, 2004
Written by Greg Millin
Directed by Richard Jasek

Toby and Bianca remain trapped in the force field. Elizabeth reveals her own T-Rex, and zaps it with the MFE, making it trainable. She's going to organise a press conference where she will unveil the T-Rex and reveal her genius to the world. Then she is going to zap Toby back to normal. But things go horribly wrong when the T-Rex breaks free and rampages through the school.

Toby escapes and searches for a way to overcome the T-Rex. It's too big for axolotl spray. He must fight it with something just as big. The idea forms. Using the robotic doll and Elizabeth's shrinking/enlarging ray machine, Toby works fast.

As the T-Rex continues to loom over the school, ;it is confronted by a giant doll striding towards it. Below Toby is animating it with a remote control. The T-Rex attacks the doll, but the doll takes a hefty swing with her enormous handbag, dealing the beast a stunning blow to the head. The T-Rex falls to the ground, inanimate.

Elizabeth runs back to her secret lab. Toby follows and begins to program the MFE to turn them back to normal. Toby tackles Elizabeth and they both stumble in front of the MFE. The blue beam hits them and they both fall to the ground — their genius powers removed.

Elizabeth is defeated and Toby's back to normal again. But the next day, in Science class, Elizabeth looks in her pocket and finds the genius sequence for the MFE. Will her genius gift be reawakened?

Cast: Andre De Vanny as Toby Johnson, Ben Schmideg as Russell, Saskia Burmeister as Dina, Bridget Neval as Elizabeth Hawke, Emma Leonard as Verity, Brook Sykes as Garth, Robert Van Mackelenberg as Carl Tessler, Genevieve Picot as Alexa Vyner, James Barkley as Spike, David Bergin as Phil, Vinodh Fernando as Simon, Cara Foley as Claire, Ella Holmes as Veronica, Ibrahim Ibrahim as Vince, Lucy Mack-Hancock as Jade, Lee Monik as Sean, Charlene Tjoe as Chloe, Anya Trybala as Bianca, Natalie Walker as Olivia, Cassie [Cassandra] Magrath as Jess Faraday, Derrick Murphy as Photgrapher