A Country Practice ‘WE REALLY WERE ONE BIG FAMILY!'

Four decades since Australia fell in love with the soap, the magic lives on for the stars who made it great

Georgie Parker has been a welcome fixture on the small screen for the past 30 years, yet it’s her first big role on A Country Practice that changed her life after millions of Aussies fell in love with nurse Lucy Gardiner.

“I think Lucy resonated with the audience because she was open, friendly, energetic and honest,” explains Georgie, 56, who later played Terri Sullivan in All Saints and is now Roo Stewart in Home And Away.

Georgie has many happy memories of her time on ACP, revealing, “It still feels so fresh in my mind.”

When Georgie joined the ACP cast in 1989, the show set in the mythical tiny town of Wandin Valley was already a smash hit, boasting a who’s who cast of Aussie actors who became household names – and a wombat called Fatso!

ANIMAL ANTICS

“My least favourite cast member was Fatso,” reveals Michelle Pettigrove, 54, who played alternate medicine nursing sister Kate Bryant from 1991 to 1993.

“There was one afternoon when the episode was running too short and I had to make up some time doing a monologue to Fatso, spilling my heart out to him. He bit me a number of times and was generally pretty rude and non-responsive!”