<< Rebuilding a family, finding new friends, finding yourself >>

Official press release (ABC Television, 17 November 2008)

SYNOPSIS of Season 2
Louisa Atherton (Kerry Armstrong) is 50-years-old. She has a loving relationship with her daughter Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) and gets on well with her mother Minna (Julia Blake) - most of the time - she owns her house. The new series begins with Louisa and Holly returning home from a holiday in Europe. Louisa is inspired to make changes in her life and pursue her dream of working as a photographer. She’s found her gold nugget, she owns her house. She has a caring group of friends, a job, and a place in the Rainbow's End community. She finally puts the cottage up for auction, after renovating it, so that she can move to the city, but then realises that the town of Rainbow's End is her home and that she doesn't want to leave. More confident and daring, Louisa also declares her feelings for her neighbour and childhood friend Nick (Jay Laga’aia), the Roos assistant coach and local mechanic. But Louisa has a talent for complication and nothing's ever going to go that smoothly in her life. Not until she figures out who she really is, as well as how to deal with her sensitive, eco-conscious daughter and her previously bolshy mother who worryingly is beginning to feel and show her age - and a Mr Right who's proving not so easy to wrangle - or for Louisa to figure out how she really feels about him.

Season 2 of Bed of Roses is the story of a woman's search - and a community's search - for a workable identity in the 21st Century. It is also a love story. Because whether you're 80, 50 or 17, none of us is immune to that totally infuriating, confusing, heating, frighteningly vulnerable sensation that renders us smiling, crying, despairing, and hopeful, all in the same breath. Particularly when you're not sure which man you're in love with. (Source: Film Victoria)

Season 2 of Bed of Roses was filmed over five months in regional Victoria (South Gippsland), Melbourne and in the ABC TV studios, Ripponlea.

SEASON 2 EPISODES (Source ABC.com.au)
1. The Cockatoo Has Landed (aired on 13 February 2010)
Louisa and Holly return to Rainbows End, with Louisa determined to make some significant changes in her life and pursue her dream to become a photographer, only to see none of her plans go quite as she hoped. Read more

2. Rainbow Warriors (aired on 20 February 2010)
With her fortune whittled away, Louisa asks Gavin for help getting a job at the at the new, improved Rainbow Echo, Holly becomes involved in an environmental protest that advances further than she ever could have initially expected. Read more

3. The Front Page (aired on 27 February 2010)
Louisa and Holly decide to become more assertive in their respective love lives. Louisa and her colleague agree to disagree about what the future holds in store for The Echo. Marg's dinner ith Tim is not as successful as she had hoped. Meanwhile Louisa publishes her first edition as editor of The Echo, with disastrous consequences. Read more

4. Gaa-aarth (aired on 6 March 2010) 
Despite Tim's efforts to smooth over his Sean Smithwick article, Louisa remains indignant about The Echo's content and her role as an editor. Owen begins a campaign of intimidation against Minna. With Deb marriage on the rocks, Louisa, Marg and Gemma swing into action to look after the wildlife shelter while Deb and Trev go on a long postponed romantic evening. Read more

5. Goddess of the Rainbow (aired on 13 March 2010) 
Gemma and Pat's ongoing intimacy issues reach a disturbing point, forcing Gemma to confront her own fear of ageing. Lines blur in Louisa's work relationship with Tim. Read more

6. Green Versus Gold (aired on 20 March 2010) 
The Community Gardens are threatened by the arrival of a large mining corporation. Minna and Sandy's 'perfume' business seems to be an elaborate cover for something far more mysterious, which confronts Louisa with a difficult truth. Read more

7. Two Bulls in the Paddock (aired on 27 March 2010) 
Tim and Nick’s rivalry for Louisa’s affection is reaching boiling point and when Nick finds Tim broken down at the side of the road he seizes the opportunity to show Tim some of the ‘local sights’... Read more

8. Raucous Angel (aired on 3rd April 2010)   Watch online
With her career and personal life at the crossroads, Louisa has to make a major life decision. Read more

SYNOPSIS of Season 1 (first aired May-Jun 2008 and repeated in Jan-Feb 2010 on ABC TV)
Louisa Atherton (Kerry Armstrong) is 49-years-old and to date has lived a privileged and superficial life. When her wealthy husband Jack drops dead in the arms of another woman, Louisa thinks things can't get worse - until she discovers that he's left her bankrupt. Louisa is forced to go back to her tiny home town, Rainbow's End, the only asset a ramshackle old cottage on a large block that her father left in his will. As she re-negotiates her relationships with her two recalcitrant kids, 16yo Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) and 24yo Shannon (Dave Thornton) and her prickly mother Minna (Julia Blake) - who is everything Louisa is not - she learns to understand herself for the first time in her life. Louisa also comes to realise that her small town's history will play a vital role in her future.
Detailed Synopsis of Season 1 (plus a contribution by the writers on how the series came to life).
Watch a 5-mins trailer for Season 1.

SEASON 1 EPISODES (hyperlinked to the ABC Summary page)
1. Not Worth a Cent (aired on 10 May 2008 & 2nd January 2010)
2. Reality Check (aired on 17 May 2008 & 9 January 2010)
3. Things Can Only Get Better (aired on 24 May 2008 & 16 January 2010)
4. A Friend in Need (aired on 31 May 2008 & 23 January 2010)
5. The Truth Will Set You Free (aired on 7 June 2008 & 30 January 2010)
6. Over the Rainbow (aired on 14 June 2008 & 6 February 2010)

Season 1 of Bed of Roses was nominated in Australia for "Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series" and for "Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama" (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence).

All photos on this page are © ABC Television