Sam

They all came back after 4 months or so and live in Kent

oliverandlisa

Glad im not there anymore then! LOL

Lisa.xx

beckywinsper

Does anyone know when they are gonna show the update ' A new life down under, 1 year on' again

Sue McK

Hi
If you go to 4 ondemand you can download the episodes that have been shown.
sue

Iolair

'Fraid I have to disagree with you Moneypen on Mandy Skeggs... no amount of editing, good or bad, could have portrayed that creature as anything but a complete cow. She made it plainly obvious every time she opened her mouth that she hated Australia. Of course, that is what the producers concentrated on but they would have not been able to portray that attitude in her unless her underlying feeling for Australia was negative in the first place. On the subject of the 'white hearses' and Mandy Skeggs reaction to it... it displayed simply how uneducated she is and I hope she's made the effort now to find out why certain things are sometimes different in Australia before condemning them out of hand. Perth funeral homes cater for the Chinese and Vietnamese communities there in placing white hearses at their disposal - black having unpropitious connotations in Buddhism. She plainly said "Australian's have no style." Was it skillfull editing? I don't think so. Her constant moaning and complaining must have had the shows producers rubbing their hands in glee.

My heart goes out to Lorraine Singleton though - if there was a 'star' of the show, it was her and I'm glad to know that she is still in Australia and doing the job she loves in working with animals.

Does anyone know if the show was ever shown in Australia?

chmaiden

well i have just finished watching the series - my thoughts - the russells - Michael was not the nicest of blokes but was clearly facing an uphill battle - Rachel russell - well it may have been edited that way, but she definitely came across as an incredibly selfish individual, who didnt discipline the brats and who didnt really respect her bloke. Esme - i thinkwas all that was bad with english kids and the total lack of respect that she had for anyone. the fact that it was always her and the kids vs him tells you something - he didnt stand a chance. The singleton lady - just a bizarre set up - it was explained that she was running away form her hubby, then it turns out he was aussie and her sponsor and then they split up - anyone else pick up that she had that row when she had been out drinking and then drove to a hotel - nice - says more about the woman than any words - the fact that she is willing to drink drive with her kids. the scraggs - she just didnt stop moaning and comparing - felt sorry for the bloke who was trying to give it a go. the taffs in melbourne - fair shout - it was a massive adventure and they were living it to the max. the family in sydney - zena - she was a bit selfish when she was going on about going home then the follow up said she was really enjoying it, but someone said that they have come hom - shame really.

i dont understand why people would want to put themselves under the microscope like that and then moan continually!

fnord

Yes. Mandy Skeggs got hate mail and abusive phone calls from Aussies after it was shown. Take a look here for a transcript of an interview she did later on ABC.

chmaiden

i would never wish that on anyone - and i know that its editing, but no amount of editing can disguise what has been actually said to camera!!! (unless you are talking about the classic SMith and Jones sketch with teh copper and crim that had been spliced together!)

fnord

Not disguise what was said, no, but I think it can disguise who the person really is.

My view is that Mandy had a good line in put-downs and producers decided that made for better TV, so they focused on it. Which would have been more likely to have been picked for the programme?:
"Hmm, what a lovely, sunny day"
or
"I could knit a sweater waiting for these lights to change"

Now, if you follow someone like that for 2 weeks or so then edit that down to about 30 minutes of the most "interesting" stuff they said, the result will most certainly be a caricature, and not the complete person. A negative caricature in this case.

Basically, I couldn't say "She's a moaner" based on this TV program. Maybe she is, but I couldn't say so unless I actually knew her.

Oh, and I forgot to add this interview

sean marie

yes 22nd of july

beckywinsper

Cheers

Dom the Pom

oh yeh. 4 husbands? she was certainly that.

emmyjc1

She's on 5 last count!

Dom the Pom

Of course they did, but Rachel Russell and her ***** ***** of a daughter still did and said the things millions of viewers saw. I've just read the hard cow's attempt to try and make herself look better, but despite mischievous editing the camera never lies.

If editing was solely to blame for Rachel/Esmie Russell and Mandy Skegg's portrayal, why were the other families not portrayed as such hard, loud obnoxious pigs?

Pollyana

Can I remind posters on this thread that they are talking about real people, some of whom are members of this forum. Personal abuse of the kind in the last few posts will not be tolerated.
If you wish to continue discussing the programme please do it without the insults, otherwise I shall have no option but to close the thread.