

01 The Siege of Barton's Bathroom
Director
Richard Sarell
Writer
Jocelyn Moorhouse
Airdate Australia
Monday,
29 February 1988
Airdate UK
Monday,
3 April 1989
Airdate Netherlands
Monday,
28 January 1991
But Mr Jensen has a plan. He convinced Elly's dad Robert that the tree is a risk and needs to be cut down. Elly's brothers are excited: a real chainsaw in action in their own backyard!
But Elly won't have any of it, and she has a plan too. She lays siege to her family's only bathroom and won't come out until her tree is safe.
- Although the first episode to be broadcast, this was not the first one to be filmed (Half-time was)
- In reality, the Barton's house is located at 5 Copnal Court, Glen Waverley. Mr. Jensen's house is really next door, at No. 6.
- There was no tree in the backyard of the house at 5 Copnal Court. All the scenes involving the tree were filmed by and in a tree at a different location. When both the house and the tree needed to be in a single shot, like in the opening shot of this episode, the tree was added in post production.
- Interior scenes were not filmed in the house; they were filmed in a studio. Kudos to the studio designer (Frank Earley) for making it seem they weren't.
- The title of this episode is often misprinted as "The Siege of the Barton's Bathroom", you might even find that typo on this very site, but according to the title card of the episode and the official publicity kit for the series, there's no "the" in front of "Barton's".
- This episode is basically a remake of Jocelyn Moorhouse' 1986 short film of the same name. Now, of course, starring the new cast for the series.
02 The Barton League of Bird Lovers
Director
Peter R. Dodds
Writer
Jocelyn Moorhouse
Airdate Australia
Tuesday,
1 March 1988
Airdate UK
Monday,
10 April 1989
Airdate Netherlands
Tuesday,
29 January 1991
But not everyone agrees with the course of the new League and soon a rival club is started.
This means war!
- This episode introduces Anita and Yvonne McPherson, Skinner and Susan Davies and Vince Capaletti. Anita's mom is also briefly seen.
- Barley Sugar, the cat, is owned by the Stoomph family, who lives in the next block of houses behind Elly's. What's that? You've never heard of them? Well, they're something that could have been.
- The first hint of Vince and Susan's secret love for each other is given during the photo shoot at the bird feeder. This is the set up for the next episode's subplot.
- There are backstage photos available for this episode in Photos & Clippings
03 Half-time
Director
Richard Sarell
Writer
P.J. Hogan
Airdate Australia
Wednesday,
2 March 1988
Airdate UK
Monday,
17 April 1989
Airdate Netherlands
Wednesday,
30 January 1991
Elly and Anita meanwhile, are a two-girl cheering squad for Paul's team. Elly is primarily there to cheer on her favourite brother of course, but Anita has her own agenda. She's planning on winning over Vince's heart and eventually marry him. But unfortunately for Anita, Vince has other plans.
- This is one of only two episodes that doesn't focus on Elly, although she still has a sizable subplot in this episode. The other episode is "Suspected" (episode 11).
- In the book, Anita falls in love with Paul after she sees him leave the field in tears. Although that particular scene is not in the episode, Anita is in love with Paul for the rest of the series.
- That missing scene should play just after Elly tries to talk sense into Anita by (teasingly) predicting that Vince and Susan will get married and "they'll have children, and not call any of them 'Anita'!".
- That scene might be my favourite from the entire series; the chemistry and timing between Olivia and Rose is brilliant.
04 Mr Snoller's Black Bag
Director
Mandy Smith
Writer
Noel Robinson
Airdate Australia
Thursday,
3 March 1988
Airdate UK
Monday,
24 April 1989
Airdate Netherlands
Thursday,
31 January 1991
Elly tails Mr Snoller on one of his suspicious trips to… where exactly? And what's in that black bag of his? And what is Miss India, the mysterious lady living in the house with him, up to?
- The scene where Elly chases Mr Snoller around Banksiawood, was shot in the city center of Glen Waverley (Monash, Melbourne). The Monash City Counsil building can be clearly seen.
- The library where Elly follows Mr Snoller into, is the Glen Waverley branche of the Monash City Library.
- This episode marks the first appearance of the Snollers.
- All the Snollers related story lines are missing from the book, making them the only "main" characters unique to the television series.
- The people of Banksiawood call Miss Snoller "Miss India" because she's supposedly from there. In reality, she's from England, but here parents did use to live in India.
- Miss Snoller tells Elly of her desire to one day visit India, which sets up the plot for the future episode Position Vacant.
- Maureen Edwards had to put on an English accent for her role as Miss India. She's actually from New Zealand. Alan Lovett, who plays Mr Snoller, also puts on an English accent. He's Australian.
- There are backstage photos available for this episode in Photos & Clippings
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