Delightful balm for the soul

Delightful balm for the soul

Review: Rosehaven

Starring: Celia Pacquola, Luke McGregor, Susie Yousef, Kris McQuade

Over its five series, Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor have crafted tv that has been a regular balm for the soul. A TV series that doesn’t try to be anything other the sum of its quirky, delightfully daft parts.

Based in fictional Rosehaven in Tasmania, this bucolic community where everyone knows your name at the pub, began with Emma Dawes (Pacquola) getting married on the mainland and her good friend Daniel McCallum (McGregor) travelling back to Rosehaven to help out at McCallum Real Estate with his mum Barbara (Kris McQuade).

The shorthand, even from the first episode in the relationship between Emma and Daniel is reflected in the real life friendship of Pacquola and McGregor and has always been the shows heart and soul.

So it was with great sadness that Rosehaven fans have had to say goodbye to Daniel, Emma, Barbara and Mrs Marsh as it’s final (fifth) series has aired on the ABC.

Rosehaven has always been one of those tv experiences that has put a smile on our collective faces as the community of Rosehaven has dealt with everything from runaway pigs, dodgy locksmiths, real estate competition, healthy menu options at the pub, recalcitrant renters and in a personal favourite, an episode entirely devoted to swooping magpies.

It has been quintessential Australian television – on what other tv series could you in fact devote an entire hilarious episode to the headware required to fend off territorial swooping magpies.

If there has been a series arc, it is the fabulous friendship between Emma and Daniel and the orbits of those close to them, like Barbara’s decision to retire and leave the real estate agency to Daniel and Daniel’s relationship with Grace ( Katie Robertson) the local GP. In its fifth and final series, Daniel grapples with an important relationship and Emma regularly fends off suitors and nemeses.

With its regular cast members like Susie Yousef’s Gez and Kim Knuckey’s Sergeant Greg it has always showcased some of Australia’s great talent in its low key, endearing way.

If Rosehaven has been about anything (although did we need it to be?) it has been about community and family and the fact that even if you’re a recalcitrant renter, you can rest assured that Emma and Daniel will make you feel better even after they enlist the entire town to evict you!

While it’s sad to see Rosehaven go, series one to four are streaming now on Amazon Prime, with the final series five available on ABC iView – all the better to revel in its delightfully quirky glory.

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