Packed to the Rafters is an Australian television dramedy series, which first screened on the Seven Network in 2008. It currently airs on Tuesdays at 8:30pm..

Premise

The series centres around Dave and Julie Rafter and their three children Rachel, Ben and Nathan. On the eve of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary the couple thinks that they are finally about to have the house to themselves. But home is a very welcome refuge for their children and when unforeseen problems loom, they return like a boomerang. After Dave faces unemployment, Julie's father suffers a panic attack, son Nathan and daughter-in-law Sammy need to a place to stay, daughter Rachel leaves her abusive boyfriend Daniel, and son Ben moves next door but continues to drop in, the household is packed to the rafters.

Cast

Main

• Rebecca Gibney as Julie Rafter
• Erik Thomson as Dave Rafter
• Jessica McNamee as Sammy Rafter
• Angus McLaren as Nathan Rafter
• Jessica Marais as Rachel Rafter
• Hugh Sheridan as Ben Rafter
• Michael Caton as Ted Taylor

Recurring

• Zoe Ventoura as Melissa Bannon
• George Houvardas as Nick 'Carbo' Karandonis
• Caroline Brazier as Chrissy Merchant

Supporting

• Luke Pegler as Daniel Griggs
• Roy Billing as Ray Barrett
• Justin Rosniak as Warney
• Jeremy Ehlers as Anthony Westaway
• Sarah Chadwick as Trish Westaway
• Tony Chu as Kenny

Production

The producer is Jo Porter, who alongside series creator Bevan Lee and writer Antony Ellis are part of the same team responsible for the critically acclaimed series Always Greener, which also set similar ratings records.

The exterior shots of the Rafter house are filmed in Riverview Street, Concord. Most of the other exterior shots are filmed at locations in Southern Sydney including establishing shots at Oatley shopping centre and the Captain Cook Bridge. The dinner venue in episode 1 was filmed at the St George Motor Boat Club at Sans Souci but the indoor scenes in the Chinese Restaurant were a set. The cricket match in episode 2 was filmed at Carss Park, as were the shopping centre, beach and park scenes in episode 5.

The promotional song used with the first series is I'm Yours by Jason Mraz.

Episodes

Episode ratings

Episode #	Title	Airdate	Ratings (5 capital cities)	Timeslot rank	Overall weekly rank
1.01	"Pilot"	26 August 2008	1,945,000	1st	2nd
1.02	"Playing a Googly"	2 September 2008	2,045,000	1st	1st
1.03	"She Ain't Heavy"	9 September 2008	1,960,000	1st	1st
1.04	"How Did We Get Here?"	16 September 2008	1,895,000	1st	1st
1.05	"Lines of Communication"	23 September 2008	1,945,000	1st	5th
1.06	"Facing Demons"	30 September 2008	1,836,000	1st	1st
1.07	"Self-made Man"	7 October 2008	1,979,000	1st

References

External links

• Packed to the Rafters - Official Seven Network website
• Australian Television: Packed to the Rafters