Packed to the Rafters

Packed to the Rafters
Opening Title Card
Format	Drama Comedy
Created by	Bevan Lee
Starring	Rebecca Gibney Erik Thomson Hugh Sheridan George Houvardas James Stewart Ryan Corr Hannah Marshall and Michael Caton as Ted Taylor
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	94 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Holmes
Producer(s)	Jo Porter
Running time	60 Minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	Seven Network
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	26 August 2008 – present
External links
Website

Packed to the Rafters is an Australian family-oriented television series which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The drama series features a mix of lighthearted comedy woven through the plot. It revolves around the Rafter family facing work pressures and life issues, whilst also tackling serious social issues. The Logie award winning series was the highest rating to screen on the Seven Network in 2008 with an average audience of 1,939,000 viewers tuning into each episode. Packed to the Rafters is currently the highest rating TV show in Australian Television History, with an average audience of 2.1 million.^[1]

Packed to the Rafters has been renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on 17 April 2012.^[2]. Channel Seven announced that the show return for a sixth season in 2013, with production to begin later in 2012.^[3] Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson will continue to star, with all other cast members returning to some degree.

Plot

The series centres around the characters Dave and Julie Rafter and their four children Rachel, Ben, Nathan and Ruby. Season one begins on the eve of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary the couple thinks that they are finally about to have the house to themselves. But home is a very welcome refuge for their children and when unforeseen problems loom, they return like a boomerang. After Dave faces unemployment, Julie's father suffers a panic attack, son Nathan and daughter-in-law Sammy need a place to stay, daughter Rachel leaves her abusive boyfriend Daniel, and son Ben moves next door but continues to drop in, the household is 'packed to the rafters'.^[4]

Cast

Main

Current recurring cast

Former recurring cast

Guest cast

Recurring and minor guest stars have included Mercia Deane-Johns, Dina Panozzo and George Spartels, Ria Vandervis, Belinda Bromilow, Craig McLachlan, Melanie Vallejo, Luke Pegler, Denise Roberts, Phoebe Tonkin, Jerome Ehlers, Roy Billing, and Bernard Curry. Kate Ceberano and David Campbell have appeared as themselves.

Production

The producer is Jo Porter, who alongside series creator Bevan Lee and writer Antony Ellis are part of the same team responsible for the critically acclaimed series Always Greener, which also set ratings records.

The exterior shots of the Rafter house are filmed on location in Concord.^[5] Most of the other exterior shots are filmed at locations in Southern Sydney including establishing shots at Oatley and Lugarno shopping centres as well as the Captain Cook Bridge. The dinner venue in episode 1 was filmed at the St George Motor Boat Club at Sans Souci but the indoor scenes in the Chinese Restaurant were a set.^[6][7] The cricket match in episode 2 was filmed at Morrisons Park, Putney. The shopping centre, beach and park scenes in episode 5 were shot in Carss Park. Julie's 'Night Club' scenes were shot near to Concord, at the Epping Hotel.

DVD and Blu-ray releases

Soundtrack

Volume 1

Packed to the Rafters: The Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	AUS: 29 November 2008
Length	55:44
Language	English
Label	Warner Music

Packed to the Rafters: The Soundtrack^[15] was released on 29 November 2008. It has peaked at No. 7 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. It has since gone Platinum, selling in excess of 70,000 copies. The songs "I'm Yours" and "Rock & Roll" have been heavily used in promotional advertising for the series.

Track listing

1. Jason Mraz – "I'm Yours"
2. Gabriella Cilmi – "Sweet About Me"
3. Josh Pyke – "Memories and Dust"
4. Ben Lee – "Love Me Like the World Is Ending"
5. Kahn Brothers – "Stronger Together"
6. Lisa Mitchell – "Neopolitan Dreams"
7. The Cat Empire – "Fishies"
8. Old Man River – "La"
9. José González – "Down the Line"
10. James Reyne – "Reckless"
11. Alex Lloyd – "Same Day"
12. Lior – "Burst Your Bubble"
13. Jenny Morris – "Street of Love"
14. Mark Sholtez – "Love Me for the Cool"
15. Abby Dobson – "It's Only Love"
16. Eric Hutchinson – "Rock & Roll"

Volume 2

Packed to the Rafters: The Soundtrack Volume 2 was released on 18 September 2009. It has peaked at No. 30 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.

Track listing

1. Latch Key Kid – "Good Times"
2. Lisa Mitchell – "Coin Laundry"
3. Empire of the Sun – "We Are the People"
4. Ben Lee – "Birds And Bees"
5. Eric Hutchinson – "You Don't Have To Believe Me"
6. Bob Evans – "Don't You Think It's Time?"
7. Kylie Auldist – "Just Say"
8. James Grehan – "Hold On"
9. Matt Costa – "Miss Magnolia"
10. Mark Sholtez – "Too Late For Heroes"
11. Lior – "This Old Love"
12. Whitley – "Lost In Time"
13. King Curly – "Little Arrows"
14. Sarah Blasko – "Perfect Now"
15. Abby Dobson – "Horses"
16. Rick Price – "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

Volume 3

Packed to the Rafters: The Soundtrack Volume 3 was released on 4 March 2011.^[16]

Track listing

1. Uncle Kracker – "Smile"
2. Olly Murs – "Please Don't Let Me Go"
3. The Potbelleez – "Hello"
4. Michael Franti & Spearhead feat. Cherine Anderson – "Say Hey (I Love You)"
5. Little Birdy – "Brother"
6. Passion Pit – "Little Secrets"
7. The Cat Empire – "So Many Nights"
8. Kisschasy – "Generation Why"
9. Sarah Blasko – "We Won't Run"
10. Missy Higgins – "Warm Whispers"
11. Bertie Blackman – "Thump"
12. Fatboy Slim – "The Rockafeller Skank"
13. Sally Seltmann – "Harmony to My Heart Beat"
14. Leroy Lee – "Mountain Song"
15. Mark Sholtez – "This Perfect Day"
16. Angus & Julia Stone – "Hush"
17. Daniel Merriweather – "Red"
18. Sia – "I Go to Sleep"
19. Holly Throsby – "Now I Love Someone"
20. The Easybeats – "Wedding Ring"

Reception

Critical response

Packed to the Rafters has received generally positive critical response from reviewers. In reviewing the pilot, David Knox of TV Tonight underlined that whilst the series' tone was "predominantly light", 'Rafters' "also features some darker, more successful moments".^[17] The Age's Jim Schembri called Rafters a "superbly sculpted series about suburban class warfare", noting that in his opinion, the series was "one of the most enjoyable, finely honed locally produced TV dramas we've seen in ages", applauding the dialogue that "crackles with wit and energy".^[18] Season 2 received an equal amount of outflowing positivity, with Michael Lallo discovering that Rafters "lighthearted" tone acts as a cloak, allowing it to address controversial topics without making viewers feel they're being lectured. The result is a feel-good series that's meaty and satisfying".^[19]

Of the series' characters, Michael Idato of SMH found an "elegance to the performances", going on to further applaud the "gentle, engaging, emotional dynamics" of the characters interactions with each other that also managed to both "enhance its charm and believability at the same time".^[20]

Awards and nominations

In 2009 the show was nominated for eleven Logie awards and won six.

Packed to the Rafters were nominated for 2 AFI awards in 2009.

Episodes and ratings

The average ratings for Season 1 in 2008 were 1,939,000 making it the No. 1 show of 2008 on Australian television. The second season of Packed to the Rafters averaged 1,881,000, ranking it as No. 2 for the 2009 year.^[22] The program has also been picked up by Irish broadcaster RTE^[23] and New Zealand's TV1 which aired the first season of Packed to the Rafters in early 2009.^[24] The series has also been sold to networks in South Africa, Belgium, The Netherlands, several Scandinavian countries,^[25] and Italy.

Series Ratings

Packed to the Rafters has been a solid performer in the ratings since its premiere. Most episodes have been the number one program during prime time for the night since the series premiere and the show has remained in the top ten programs of the week. In 2008, the series was the highest rating regularly broadcast show with an average of 1,939,143 viewers per episode for the first fourteen episodes of season one which screened in 2008.

Season 1 (2008–2009)

Season 2 (2009)

Season 3 (2010)

Season 4 (2011–2012)

Season 5 (2012)

International distribution

Country	Channel	Year	Notes
Belgium (Flanders)	vtm	2008 –	Subtitled in Dutch
Finland	TV Viisi	2011 –	Subtitled in Finnish
Netherlands	NET 5	2009 –	Subtitled in Dutch
Ireland	RTÉ One	August 2009 –	Season 3 rerun Saturdays 11:40 am season 4 coming soon
New Zealand	TV One	2009 –	Sunday 20:30
South Africa	SET	2009 –
Falkland Islands	Falkland Islands Television Service	2012–
Italy	Joi	17 January 2010 –	Sundays 21:00
Portugal	Sony Entertainment Television	2010 –	Coming Soon
Germany	Passion	11 November 2010 –	Pay-TV; Dubbed in German
Germany	VOX	14 February 2011 –	Free-TV; Dubbed in German
Croatia	HRT	2011 –	Subtitled in Croatian
Sweden	TNT7	2011 –
Poland	Viacom Blink!	20 July 2011 –
Hungary	Magyar Televízió	2011 –

References

External links

• Packed to the Rafters – Official Seven Network website
• Packed to the Rafters at TV.com
• Australian Television: Packed to the Rafters
• Packed to the Rafters at the Internet Movie Database