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Packed to the Rafters revival under discussion

Seven reportedly in discussions to bring back Australia's favourite TV family for 2020.

Could a revival of Packed to the Rafters be the answer to CEO James Warburton’s prayers?

The Courier Mail’s Amy Price reports plans are underway to bring back the long-running drama, which was a ratings bonanza for Seven.

Producers are currently pursuing talks with key cast members.

Rebecca Gibney -currently filming Halifax: Retribution for Nine, has reportedly agreed to return to the project (no Bec, no Rafters!) while discussions are underway with Erik Thomson, Hugh Sheridan, Michael Caton, Jessica Marais, Angus McLaren and Ryan Corr.

George Houvardas, who played the inimitable Carbo, is also returning to screens soon on ABC comedy and there are various others who were memorable regulars….

The Rafters clan remains Australian favourite TV family according to a recent survey of TV Tonight readers, pipping The Sullivans, Proudmans, Kennedys and Fletchers.

When the series ended in 2013 with Julie and Dave driving off into the sunset in a kombi van, Seven had never ruled out a return of some kind, possibly as telemovies or even as a “next-gen” edition centred around the children.

At this stage conversations are ongoing. If the cast are locked in, filming would likely commence in early 2020.

Seven declined to comment.

14 Responses

  1. Yes I think this one could work with the whole core cast returning. The trouble with the final years of the show was that most of the kids had left, even if there was occasional appearances, the show didn’t have the same magic.

  2. I think we need to remember Pack to the Rafters was airing when is was the norm to have about 22 episodes per year screen.
    If it came back with a very limited run and the bulk of the core cast return I’d certainly watch it… This show would certainly have the pull factor

  3. May as well drag Cop Shop and Acropolis Now out of the grave. PTTR was of it’s time but soon resorted to dull storylines and new characters just to keep it going.

  4. Yes please! Packed to the Rafters is one of my all time favourite Aussie dramas. Hopefully this doesn’t fall through like the McLeod’s Daughters revival did a few years ago.

    This makes me all the more excited for Upfronts next month.

  5. I found during the last season I was often playing catch-up due to losing interest in the story-lines, I had to quickly watch a few to be ready for the finale. I think this show is best left in the past, I don’t see myself tuning back into a new series.

  6. I really wanted to like this, but when they had a flashback episode just 2 or 3 episodes in, I threw in the towel. Why not have the series start at the point of the flashback? (Seeing as the events in the flashback episode took place only a short time prior to when the début episode was set)

    It was far too schmaltzy and tried too hard to maximally arouse an emotional response out of the audience. I wasn’t buying the sentimentalist contrivances and found it emotionally dishonest and insulting with mountains constantly being erected from molehills.

    A reboot may attract some eyeballs, but like I said about Seachange, I think it’s ridiculous that shows get rebooted after their DVDs/Blu-rays have gone out of print and they aren’t available via streaming platforms. How do they expect audiences to refresh/catch-up and/or attract new fans? That’s just poor business.

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