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| Plotlines,
characters, dialogue quotes, hospital name, house
image, show photos, & show-specific details
© JNP Productions. The wording and presentation
of the information on this site and all of the
ACP graphics © 1998-2000 Kitty MacAlpine (unless
otherwise noted). Thanks to Louise O for the description and details of this episode. |
Original
-- Feb
14/15, 1984| "It's So Easy" |
| Molly
and Chloe visit Helen Draper, a single woman who runs a
neighbouring pig farm. Helen ha just returned from a cruise, and
admits that she met someone. She thinks it was just a holiday romance
though. Helen gives Molly a pedigree piglet as a present. After ten
years of hard work her farm is starting to be quite successful. Simon
and Vicky are cooking and arguing about him turning her old room into
a study. He wants them to share everything but she feels that she has
no space for herself. Shirley prepares to leave for Queensland, where
she is going to visit her mother. She and Frank both miss Gabe and
are worried that they haven't heard from her yet. Molly has a
check-up at the hospital. Terence warns her to slow down. Brendan and
Judy come into the hall, and while Judy and Terence go on rounds
Molly asks Brendan if he's found anyone to take Judy to her school
reunion. Molly tells Brendan about the piglet that Helen gave her. They discuss Helen's love life (or total lack of a love life) and when Brendan says that she's hardly attractive Molly is furious. She goes on about all the other qualities that men should see in women until Brendan begs for forgiveness. Frank eats dinner at the club. Cookie is worried - he's gone over the books and he can't figure out what Muldoon has done, only that it's probably illegal. Johnno, the barman at the Wandin Valley pub, is trying to take Muldoon's place, but Cookie doesn't trust him. Vicky comes out of the shower to find Simon still up. He's making a list of things he has to do tomorrow, like the shopping icky didn't get around to, They head to bed, but are still arguing about his expectations of a wife, so she goes to the spare bedroom. She'd forgotten that it is now a study, and comes back out quickly. They give up arguing and go to bed. A man knocks on the door of the pub asking for directions. He is looking for Helen, but doesn't know her surname. Johnno clearly doesn't think much of Helen, but tells him how to get to her farm. Brendan asks Judy if she's found a date in front of Terence, who says if he was an eligible male he wouldn't refuse her. Brendan points out that he is in fact an eligible male, leaving Terence little choice but to offer to be her date. Helen visits Molly at the farm. Molly asks her over for dinner. Helen arrives home to find the man from the pub waiting for her. Is in Tony Leonard, who she met whilst on holiday. Vicky talks to Molly on the phone about her new piglet. Frank comes in to ask if she and Simon would mind him coming over for dinner. She says that although they're not doing anything organised, she has a lot of household chores to take care of. He thinks it's just a polite way of saying they want to be alone - they are newlyweds after all. Helens prepares lunch while talking to Tony. She is thrilled to see him again. They reflect on their time together in Sydney. He came up to her in the foyer of a cinema while she was waiting for a friend and just started talking to her. After that they spent all their time together. Tony tells her he's going to give up the sea. he was a naval engineer, but now he wants to settle down. Judy arrives at Terence's flat to pick him up for their date. She is nervous and talks a mile a minute. Brendan and Molly set the table for dinner. She's very excited to meet Tony. Helen and Tony arrive. He is very friendly and gets on well with the Joneses. He and Brendan go outside to look at the FJ while Helen and Molly talk. Frank is having dinner at the club again. He joins Vicky and Simon, who have decided not to eat at home after all. They talk about adjusting to married life. To the confusion of all the townsfolk, Vicky isn't changing her name to Mrs. Bowen. Simon agrees with her, but puts his foot in it when he says "everyone knows Vicky belongs to me." Tony tells stories about the navy. Molly asks if he's going to stick with engineering, but he says he wants to try something new. He knows someone who made a fortune selling bulk wine, and is thinking of setting up a franchise in Burrigan. Hehas to raise the money first. The next day he and Helen talk about his business plans. She offers to lend him enough money to act as collateral for a bank loan. Judy and Terence return from her reunion party. She has had a few drinks and is very giggly; he is exhausted. It's very late and the roosters are crowing already. Helen meets Tony at the pub. She has had a loan for $10 000 approved by the bank, and writes out a personal cheque to Tony on the spot. He is surprised to hear that she put the farm up as collateral. They head off to celebrate, with Johnno watching suspiciously. Terence arrives at the hospital bearing a bunch of flowers. Brendan asks him about selling bulk wine, thinking it sounds dodgy, but Terence assures him that it has been successful in the city. Judy comes into the office and Terence gives her the flowers as a thankyou gift for last night. He starts to go on rounds with Brendan but Judy rushes after him, taking Brendan's place. Molly brings Pinky, her new pig, to Vicky's surgery to receive his shots. She's very pleased that Doris has accepted her new companion. The phone rings and Vicky answers it. Helen Draper is having problems with her pigs. Vicky prepares to go straight out to the Draper farm. She puts Pinky in a cage and instructs Molly to stay at home, and to keep Doris locked up in her pen. Vicky finishes inspecting Helen's pigs. They are showing symptoms of possible foot-and-mouth disease: ruptured vessels on the feet, ulcerations on the snout, and conjunctivitis. If it is foot-and-mouth disease, all of Helen's animals and any livestock that have been in contact with the property will have to be destroyed. Vicky calls Frank from the farm. She asks him to set up a roadblock outside Helen's property. She also tells him that a truckload of stock that left the farm that morning will have to be intercepted before it reaches Sydney. Frank contacts Killer Burke in Burrigan and informs him of the situation. Simon enters the station and Frank tells him that Vicky is out at the Draper farm. She needs him to bring her a change of clothes, but he has to leave it at the gate. Frank rings Muldoon's store and asks Arnie Hodgekiss to take all their supplies of rubber mats, buckets, brushes and disinfectant to the farm. Of course, Arnie asks who will be paying for it. Martin Hughes, the District Veterinary Officer, inspects Helen's pigs. Samples have been sent to England for testing but it will be three weeks before the results come back. A valuer from the Department of Agriculture gives Helen a quote, based on the estimated current market value of her stock, to determine how much compensation she will receive. She is not happy with the amount, but has no choice but to accept it. The entire stock has to be put down. A car pulls up at the roadblock outside the Draper farm. Frank asks the driver to step out so that the vehicle can be disinfected. The man protests that he doesn't own any livestock, but Frank explains that all vehicles travelling through the area need to disinfected to prevent the disease from spreading. Martin Hughes holds a press conference at the club. He says if the tests come back positive there would be a disastrous effect on the entire Australian economy. All properties within a 50km radius of the Draper farm have been placed under quarantine, effectively closing off Wandin Valley from the rest of the country. Mr. Hughes is having trouble keeping the locals, Esme in particular, from panicking. He finishes the press conference and goes to speak to Vicky. She introduces him to Simon, whom he calls Dr. Dean. Vicky goes to the Jones' farm to check on Doris. She has no symptoms yet, but the virus has a four day incubation period. Vicky tells Molly that since Doris came into contact with the piglet from the Draper farm, if the tests from England come back positive for foot-and-mouth disease, Doris will have to be destroyed. Helen and Tony sit inside her house and listen as her pigs get shot one by one. She is determined to start all over again. Brendan enters the matron's office to find Judy still there, even though she was rostered off ten minutes ago. When Terence arrives it is clear that she was waiting for him, and Brendan takes his leave. Judy volunteers to go on rounds with Dr. Elliott, but he reminds her that she is off duty. Frank tries to convince the men from the bush fire brigade to transport water to the Draper farm for decontaminating water troughs. They are concerned about their own farms, but Frank assures them there will be no risk if they follow correct procedure. The captain remarks that he would like to find the person who started this. Helen looks at her empty sheds. She remembers something from the day Tony arrived and asks him about it. She saw him throw a scarp of food into one of the pens, and Tony admits that it was a bit of sausage he bought in South America. She can't believe he brought food into the country against the customs laws, and prepares to ring Vicky to inform her of the cause of the outbreak. He asks her to wait until his business arrangements have been sorted out, and she reluctantly agrees. Frank asks a group of farmers at the pub for help. When no one volunteers, he is forced to comandeer their trucks. Johnno asks when he is going to find out who started all this. Helen tells Tony that she isn't going to report him, but she does need the $10 000 back since the compensation payout is so low. He promises to go to Burrigan to get it. She is surprised to hear that he doesn't have a cheque book. Tony talks her into going to dinner with him, and when she leaves the room to get changed he makes a phone call. He tells the man on the other end of the line that he has managed to raise the money, and is ready to go ahead with their deal. They arrange to meet in person. Molly worries to Brendan about Doris. There are still no symptoms, but she doesn't think she could cope if Doris died. Simon comes in to Vicky's surgery to take her home. She is struggling with Pinky (who she calls 'whatsisname'), who is fine so far. Vicky and the rest of the vet team have to check every farm every day until the test results come back, and she is exhausted.Simon, on the other hand, is in a romantic mood and promises her an evening of "wining and dining". Frank eats dinner at the club (for a change!) Esme is concerned that he's not being looked after with Shirly away. She can't resist spreading a bit of gossip about Terence and Judy ("that pert little nurse"). Helen and Tony walk in. Esme says she has a hide showing her face in town after all the trouble she's caused. She tells Frank all about the man staying with Helen and forces her way into an introduction to him. Terence enjoys dinner alone in his flat when Judy drops by, dressedto the nines. She is ostensibly looking for something she may have dropped the other night, but is soon becomes clear that she is interested in spending the evening with Terence. He politely offers her a drink and she sits down to talk, although he isn't enjoying the conversation half as much as she. Frank relieves the constable on duty at the check-point outside the Draper farm. Helen runs up and asks if either of them have seen Tony. He wasn't around when she got up that morning, and all of his things are gone. Helen tells them he's taken her money. Frank realises that since he didn't go throh the check-point he hasn't been disinfected, and must be travelling cross-country, spreading the disease. Johnno stirs up a group of locals at the pub. He says that Tony was probably the one who brought the disease into the area, and now he is spreading it further. Since the police can't find him, Johnno and the others go after him themselves. Tony runs through the bush until he comes across a road. When he sees a vehicle inspection station ahead, he jumps over a fence and avoids the police by continuing to run cross-country. At the hospital, Terence tells Brendan that Judy came over last night and he couldn't get rid of her. Brendan can't help teasing him about it, but Terence insists that his interest in Judy is wholely in her mind. Judy's harsh tones directed at a patientturn sweet when she sees Terence, who complains to Brendan that he is too old for this sort of thing. Tony manages to hitch a lift but Frank sees him and pulls the car over. He is put under arrest andtaken back to the police station. A man runs into the club and announces that Tony has been caught. Everyone abandons their drinks and heads for the station. Frank has to fight to get Tony through the angry mob of farmers. He is furious with them for not volunteering when he needed help earlier. He tells Tony that he's lucky the mob didn't find him first. Frank brings Helen in to the police station. he asks her if Tony brought anything with him from overseas, and she admits that he did. He will be charged with leaving a property under quarantine and importing goods contrary to the Comonwealth Quarantine Act. He could go to jail. Helen asks Tony why he ran away. He admits that he was only showing interest in her to get the mony. Terence starts to explain to Judy that he is not interested in her romantically but she takes his point quickly. She is seemingly very gracious, but when a patient calls her snaps angrily. Vicky washes her hands after inspecting Molly's livestock. She is upset at the prospect of people she's known her whole life losing everything. If the outbreak is confirmed to be foot-and-mouth disease, the town she grew up in will die. A few weeks later, everyone waits in the club to hear the results of the tests. the phone rings and silence falls as Martin Hughes takes the call. He announces that they are in the clear. The pigs at the Draper farm were suffering from a non-infectious vesicular disease. Everyone starts celebrating, except Helen. Molly sits with her while the rest of the townsfolk keep Cookie busy. Molly tells Doris that everything will be okay. She wishes she could do something for Helen though, then gets a great idea. Vicky, Simon and Martin talk about what has happened. The extra veterinary teams and quarantine staff have left. Martin bids farewell to Vicky and Simon, whom he calls Dr. Dean again, to Simon's chagrin. Molly gives Pinky back to Helen, to start her stock again. Frank has convinced Tony to give Helen's money back. She is still very upset about what he did to her, but says it was nice to be happy for a while. Simon tells Vicky that Frank asked how they were getting on, to which he replied she's a lot like her mother. Vicky doesn't think much of that comment and suggests Simon must be like his father. She asks why he didn't answer Frank's question, and Simon says he didn't know where to start. They head off to bed. "Goodnight Mrs. Bowen." "Goodnight Dr. Dean." |