Blue Heelers S05E04

Moving House

Episode 5.04 (174)
March 11, 1998
Written by David Allen
Directed by Fiona Banks

A new resident, Bob Barker, comes in to the station to report a burglary. This seems normal enough until Maggie and PJ realise that Bob has had, not his contents, but his whole house stolen. They go out to investigate the property which Bob claims he hasn't seen for five years (since his aunt left it to him in her will) and find only the stumps on which the house sat. The Heelers tell Bob and his daughter Pippa that they will chase up the matter but it could be difficult, considering the theft could have occurred any time over the past five years. Financially strapped, Bob wonders where he can now spend the night but Chris agrees for him work a shift at the Imperial in return for a room.

PJ and Maggie get on the trail of the missing house but find every lead dead. The only local house moving company in town hasn't done that sort of business for years. The other avenues the Heelers pursue, such as crooks selling off the parts for money, are equally fruitless. The next day, PJ and Maggie are called out to a dispute at Bob's property. He and his daughter decided to camp there until their house was found but an elderly lady, Pamela Saunders, is determined to pull down the tent. She claims that the property is hers and that the man camping here lost it to her because he reneged on a loan. Bob vigorously denies this, and when he tells Pamela his name she becomes flustered. She loaned money to a Mr Smith, so who is Bob?

The Heelers do some background work on Bob and discover he is actually an ex-con who had done time for fraud. Is he up to his old tricks? Meanwhile, Tom has nervously asked Sally Downie to dinner. While Tom and Sally are enjoying each other's company, they are interrupted by an old friend of Sally's: her husband, Ray. The fact that she has a husband is news to Tom and presents a huge obstacle to their growing friendship.

Next, Maggie and PJ have a breakthrough on the trail of the missing house. It seems that an over eager worker at the house relocation company is behind it. They have also made headway in discovering the real owner of the land. It seems that Bob does have a claim and that Pamela has been conned out of tens of thousands of dollars. Maggie and PJ are now positive that fraud has been perpetrated, but not by Bob. They look into the whereabouts of the original land title and find that the lawyer who has been holding it is none other than Sally Downie. Tom attempts to remain unbiased as the investigation increasingly points towards Sally. He does, however, take control when PJ and Maggie discover that perhaps more than one house in Mt. Thomas has been sold under false pretences.

Faced with the mounting evidence Tom is forced to consider the idea that Sally may have committed fraud to supplement her income. The intrusion of her very suspicious husband only seems to compound the issue. Tom is faced with a dilemma: should he risk his bias and continue to try to prove her innocence, or leave it to Maggie and PJ in case his investigation reveals a side of Sally that he is unwilling to face?

Guest Starring: Catherine Wilkin as Sally Downie, Joseph Spano as Ray Downie, Bruce Alexander as Bob Barker, Renee Moullet as Pippa Barker, Michael O'Malley as John Yerbury, Norma Brown as Pamela Saunders, David McLean as Graham Foster, Helen Doig as Michelle Carmody, Annabel Mousney as Polly.

(encoded with Handbrake - Blue Heelers - from Complete Fifth Season DVD - the early years)

Duration: approximately 45 minutes
Aspect ratio: 4:3 standard
Audio: linear hi-fi/stereo
Size: 442MB
Video format: MPEG-4 (MP4)

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