Back to the Rafters
Back to the Rafters is an Australian drama series and a revival of the family drama Packed to the Rafters, released as a six-episode Amazon Original on Amazon Prime Video on 17 September 2021.1 • 2 Written by Bevan Lee, creator of the original series, it reunites the Rafter family several years after they left Australian screens and follows the parents' midlife questions about marriage, aging parents, and adult children.2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Six episodes of about 50 minutes each; drama series2 |
| Production | Completed 2020; produced by Seven Studios on behalf of Amazon Studios2 • 3 |
| Premiere | 17 September 2021 on Amazon Prime Video1 |
| Writers | Bevan Lee (also episodes 1, 2, and 6), Margaret Wilson, Trent Atkinson, Katherine Thomson2 • 4 |
| Directors | Jeremy Sims, Lynn Hegarty, Catherine Millar2 |
| Lead cast | Rebecca Gibney (Julie), Erik Thomson (Dave), Hugh Sheridan (Ben), Angus McLaren (Nathan), Michael Caton (Ted), Georgina Haig, George Houvardas2 |
| Continuation | Amazon announced in October 2021 that no further episodes would be commissioned5 |
Spoilers
Premise
The series opens after Dave (Erik Thomson) and Julie (Rebecca Gibney) have spent years traveling Australia. Their campervan breaks down outside the small fictional town of Buradeena, and they decide, with their now 10-year-old daughter Ruby (Willow Speers), to settle there.6 Julie is torn between the rural life and a wish to return to Sydney, while Dave enjoys his new freedom.7
The adult children face their own turning points. Ben (Hugh Sheridan), after losing his first wife, has remarried; he and his wife Cassie (HaiHa Le) run a café and have tried and failed to have a child through IVF. Nathan (Angus McLaren) moves in with them with his young son after his apartment becomes uninhabitable. Rachel (Georgina Haig) has long lived in the United States and keeps a secret that unravels during a work trip. Grandpa Ted (Michael Caton) lives in a care home with severe dementia, a storyline the cast and reviewers noted for its emotional weight.8
Across the six episodes the drama engages with contemporary Australian issues, including country versus city life, Ruby's concern about climate change, and homelessness.6 The episode titles are "Kung Pao Chicken", "Cross Currents", "Issues Management", "The Most Together One In The Family", "Pounded", and "Pinch Me Linda".9
Background
The predecessor series, Packed to the Rafters, aired for 122 episodes across six seasons on the Seven Network from 2008 to 2013.6 It ended with Dave and Julie Rafter leaving Sydney with their young daughter Ruby to travel around Australia in a campervan.6 The revival was announced as a scripted Australian Amazon Original, produced by Seven Studios on behalf of Amazon Studios, and the deal also brought the library of the original 122 episodes to Prime Video.3 • 5
Bevan Lee's return. Lee, an inductee of the Australian drama Hall of Fame, initially did not see a way to continue the story, having deliberately set the characters aside after the original ended. He plotted all six episodes and wrote the first, second, and sixth himself, with Margaret Wilson, Trent Atkinson, and Catherine Thomson writing the others.4 He described the central story as personal: what happens when two people who love each other reach a point where they cannot fulfill themselves within the relationship. He linked this to the changed position of women in the eight years since the original ended, with Julie no longer willing to simply follow Dave's wishes.4
Release and cancellation
The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 17 September 2021.1 In late October 2021, TV Tonight reported that Amazon Prime Video would not commission further episodes. An Amazon spokesperson called it "a well-rounded six-part season" and said the final episode left the family "in a happy space".5
A DVD release of the season was classified PG by the Australian Classification Board on 16 May 2022, with a total duration of 266 minutes and consumer advice of mild themes, sexual references, and coarse language.10
Reception
Reviewers responded to the revival's willingness to age its characters and its subject matter. Daryl Sparkes, a senior lecturer in media studies and production at the University of Southern Queensland, wrote in The Conversation that the writers avoided what he calls "Zombie TV", revivals that act as if nothing has changed, and instead built the drama around issues relevant to 2021. He noted that the series, like its predecessor, takes ordinary family life and makes it a little more extraordinary on screen, with the multigenerational cast appealing to a broad audience.6 A review in Others magazine described the series as timely and believable, holding serious issues alongside humor, and noted that each character's unravelling leads back to the family.8
References
- Back to the Rafters: Season 1 Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
- Back to the Rafters, Screen Australia Screen Guide
- Streaming industry submission to the Australian Government, infrastructure.gov.au
- Back to the Rafters: Creator Bevan Lee on the dilemma facing Dave & Julie Rafter, Mediaweek
- Axed: Back to the Rafters ends at Amazon Prime Video, TV Tonight
- Back to the Rafters review: series reboot is full of heart and reflects changing times, Daryl Sparkes, The Conversation
- Back To The Rafters: Original stars Rebecca Gibney and George Houvardas reveal what's in store, 7NEWS
- Review: Back to the Rafters, Jessica Morris, Others magazine
- Back to the Rafters, Komparify
- BACK TO THE RAFTERS, Australian Classification
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Reboots, revivals, and spin-off series
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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