It’s the end – for now! – but the moment has Vaya Pashos and Night Terrace co-producer Ben McKenzie talking about the series two finale, “Home Again” by John Richards. You’ll also hear a little from co-stars Petra Elliott and Jackie Woodburne!
After the explosion at the end of last episode, Anastasia awakes in a perfect neighbourhood full of old friends, while on the radio Sue reports on the perfect weather and announces the longest-running number one in history, “I Had a Dream” by Eddie Jones. Anastasia and her neighbours live lives of effortless achievement and bliss, succeeding at everything from baking to mechanics to margarine sculpture…but is something amiss? And even if it is – does Anastasia care? Who would willingly give up such an existence?
Vaya and Ben talk us through Night Terrace’s take on that most wonderful of tropes, the personal paradise. Unravel what’s going on and enjoy the return of guest stars Andrew Hansen, Lawrence Leung and Jane Badler, plus go behind the scenes with Petra Elliott and Jackie Woodburne and get the skinny on the origins of Eddie’s catchy number one hit, “I Had a Dream”!
We’d love to hear what you thought of “Home Again” – let us know via Twitter (use the hashtag #NightTerrace) or leave us a comment on Facebook.
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Episode eight of Night Terrace series two, “Home Again”, is available on BBC Radio 4 Extra for 30 days after broadcast. You can listen to the very first episode, “Moving House”, and purchase both series and a variety of Night Terrace extras via nightterrace.com or the Splendid Chaps Bandcamp store. Find Vaya on Neighbuzz at neighbuzzpod.com.
Show Notes
- “Marry Happy” is Petra’s parody of Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy”, made to express her support for marriage equality in Australia and encourage others to do the same. She released it in 2015, years before the plebiscite that would eventually see marriage laws changed in Australia. The original Facebook video post has had over 20,000 views, and you can also find it on YouTube.
- As mentioned in episode four, Lawrence Leung played the supporting role of Dr Elvis Kwan on Australian medical dramedy Offspring.
- The “blue box” is the often-mentioned container for all of Susan and Karl Kennedy’s sex toys. It’s seldom scene on screen, but you can get a glimpse of it in this episode of The Neighbourshood, a Neighbours behind the scenes web series, from 2016.
- The Good Place is Michael Shur’s sit-com about Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who finds herself in “the Good Place” after she dies but soon realises there’s a mix-up and she isn’t supposed to be there. It’s on NBC in the US, and Netflix most other places.
- In Norse mythology Bifröst is the bridge between Asgard, home of the gods, and Midgard, the mortal realm (i.e. Earth).
- The live episode Situational Awareness is available on our Buy page or via our Bandcamp store.
- Our FAQ includes info on giving Night Terrace as a gift.
- Futurama is Matt Groening’s sci-fi comedy, co-created with David X Cohen, which ran for seven seasons across three networks between 1999 and 2013. “The Sting” is the twelfth episode of season four.
- The trope of a character being presented with their own personal paradise is named the “Lotus Eater Machine” by the All the Tropes wiki.
- Farscape ran for four seasons from 1999 to 2003, followed by two-part telemovie The Peacekeeper Wars, which tied up some of the loose ends from the series. “A Human Reaction” is the sixteenth episode of the first season. All episodes of Farscape were made available on Amazon Prime on the show’s twentieth anniversary in 2019.
- The 1985 Alice in Wonderland was also a two-part television film. As well as Ringo Starr is featured Sammy Davis Jr, Scott Baio, Roddy McDowell, Carol Channing, Pat Morita and Lloyd Bridges, among many others.
- You can find Pratchat at pratchatpodcast.com.