Home Alone

## Plot

Tee and Carmen want to go to a party hosted by a year 12 boy, but Gina says no. Johnny unearths a locked chest from the back garden. Mike heads off on his holidays; he begs the children not to wind up the relief care worker, and then reminds Gina to talk to Elektra. Elektra overhears their conversation and wants to know what it is about. Gina offers an explanation once she has hung the washing out. The chest Johnny found is opened. The residents are shocked to find it contains grenades. Harry pulls the tag from one, unaware of the danger. Faith Davis throws the live grenade outside, where it ricochets off Gina and explodes. Gina is injured and taken to hospital. A bomb squad officer mistakes Faith for a care worker and advises she keeps a tighter rein on the children. Carmel thinks she and Tee should go to the party now that Gina is in hospital as it will cheer them up. Harry wants to play spies with Faith. Elektra tries breaking into Mike's computer so that she can find out what it is Gina needs to talk to her about. She is convinced it is going to be bad news. Commotion arises in the care home, until Lydia Dillon, the relief care worker, arrives. She upsets the children with her strict rules, so Faith intervenes and claims she's been double-booked, and that she is actually the relief worker. Lydia leaves. Carmen phones Lily and invites her around, as well as to the party. Lily heads over with henna dye for their hair. Frank and Rick clash over their choices of music. Gus tries calling Mike to let him know what is happening. Elektra unplugs the phone cable before he can connect to Mike. Jody and Tyler steal Gina's hidden box of chocolates to binge on. Frank turns his music up to an unreasonable level in order to drown out Rick's music. It overwhelms Gus. Faith walks in on Jody and Tyler scoffing the chocolates. She tells them they look pale and sweaty and pretends they have "anti-hypoglycaemia". She advises they work the sugar out of their system by playing spies with Harry, and nicks the chocolates in the process. Jody and Tyler realise they've been fooled and so plot revenge on Faith. Johnny wants Gus to help him write up a cleaning rota, but Gus can't because of the noise. Jody finds Tee, Carmen and Lily in the bathroom and recites a story about how it once stained her mum's clothing. The trio go to get changed; Jody takes the bowl of freshly-made henna once they're out of the room and she and Tyler rest it over Faith's bedroom door so that it will fall on her as she opens it. Frank and Rick's feud over the music continues. Frank turns the hoover on to drown out Rick's music. Rick turns his speakers up but they break. They argue and Johnny tries to calm them down. Gus goes to see Faith and the henna falls on him. He screams loudly, silencing the home. Elektra manages to get into Mike's computer and learns that a social worker is visiting her about her future beyond Elm Tree House. She is disappointed, thinking Mike is giving up on her, and plans to run away. Faith tries to calm Elektra down. Gus pulls a grenade from his pocket and releases the tag from it, desperate for someone to listen to him. The residents finally listen to him. Ricky tries disarming the grenade from Gus but it falls out his hand. Faith throws it into the cellar but it doesn't go off, so the bomb squad officer and his team return to detonate it. After a hectic day, Tee, Carmen and Lily decide to spend the night in instead. Rick and Frank make amends. Frank replaces Rick's speakers with a spare pair of his. Johnny ensures everyone has a proper supper to keep Gus calm. Gus wants them to get a proper relief care worker in, but the others are against the idea, thinking Faith should stay in charge. Faith agrees to keep control. Gus goes for a bath after his meal. With no one having told him that the henna dye stains, he is unaware that his skin and hair are now orange. When he checks himself out in the bathroom mirror, he is mortified.

## Cast

* Gina - Kay Purcell
* Tee - Mia McKenna-Bruce
* Carmel - Amy-Leigh Hickman
* Harry - Philip Graham Scott
* Johnny - Joe Maw
* Jody - Kia Pegg
* Frank - Chris Slater
* Rick - Daniel Pearson
* Tyler - Miles Butler-Hughton
* Mike - Connor Byrne
* Gus - Noah Marullo
* Elektra - Jessica Revell
* Faith - Leanne Dunstan
* Bomb Squad Officer - Craig Conway
* Mrs Dillon - Jacqueline Phillips
* Lily - Jessie Williams

## Illustrations

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## Trivia

* This episode marks the first appearance of both the show and Faith Davis.
* In the original broadcast of this episode, two scenes were deleted. The first scene was of Tee, Carmen and Lily wanting to attend a Year 12 party, and the second was when the the residents of Elm Tree House handed Gus Carmichael his belongings prior to him entering the bathroom. This is the only episode to have had footage cut from the original broadcast.
* In the shooting script for this episode, when Gus said "I'm orange!", Johnny would say "We forgot to cover the mirror."
* This episode shares its name with the title of a well-known film, *Home Alone*, which revolves around a young boy who gets left at home when the rest of his family went on holiday.
* In *Tracy Beaker Returns*, a trainee replacement - Melanie for Tracy is present in the final episode. However, she does not appear in this series, and her whereabouts are not mentioned in dialogue. The reason she did not return was because the actor had retired from acting, and the casting team did not want to recast the part to avoid confusion.

## Memorable Quotes

Faith Davis (to Elektra Perkins): "If you always believe that things are going to be bad, you start to predict your own future."

Elektra Perkins: "Did you get that from a Christmas Cracker?"