Packed to the Rafters (season 5)

Julie receives a surprise invitation to become a writer for the local paper. Dave, after interviewing people for the sparky job, is shocked when an attractive woman, Frankie turns up and she gets the job. Coby returns home from overseas, and is shocked to discover Matt has moved in with Jake. Ted continues to bond with Cooper, however Cooper's sister, Elisha, tries to jeopardise the friendship and ultimately Ted's reputation. Emma moves to claim a bigger place in Ben's life and she's relieved when he takes off his wedding ring.

With Dave expanding his business and gaining a new premises and a new employee, he has high hopes, however what Dave considers chivalry is what Frankie considers sexism. Coby has a tough time adjusting to his new workmate, but his disapproval is actually masking his crush. The deadline for Julie's article is getting closer and she decides to procrastinate when she can't think of anything to write about. Ben has trouble asking Emma to stay the night, which is another bridge to cross in his grieving process. Retta implements a savings plan so she and Carbo can put a deposit down on a house. When Elisha begins blackmailing Ted, he turns to Donna for advice.

Matters of the heart are front and centre on Valentine's Day. Ben and Emma dodge the pressure by both doing a shift at the boat club. Donna has a crush on Ted and Julie is not impressed when Ben encourages Donna to ask Ted on a date. The date gets off to a rocky start when Ted arrives at the wrong venue, however Ben is to the rescue, which leaves Emma smitten. The pressure between Emma and Ben gets even worse when those three little words are muttered - and someone misses the moment to reciprocate. Matt decides to play a cruel joke on Coby and Jake by giving them both an anonymous Valentine's Day card.

It becomes quite obvious that Coby had a crush on Frankie despite his best efforts to hide his true feelings. Dave and Julie's marriage is at a tense time when Dave begins spending extra hours at work for a suspicious reason. Julie meets up with Adam after he says they need to discuss work, however she finds herself confiding in him about her personal problems and their relationships begins to move in a romantic direction. After a fight with Dave, Julie meets up with Adam to vent out her frustration and she quickly realises she may have feelings for Adam. Adam asks Julie if she'd like to cool off at his place and after accepting, Julie ends up staying the night...and someone is watching. Jake begins dating Coby's sister, Bree and Ben and Emma decide to go on a romantic date.

Jake's father, Jim, returns and throws Jake's world into a tailspin. Off this, Jake makes several poor judgements that threaten not only his job, but his relationship with Dave. Meanwhile, Dave notices how much Adam enjoys Julie's company, but he has a hard time accepting it when he becomes jealous. Retta discovers she's pregnant but convinced that Carbo is a child on the inside, she holds off telling him.

Dave struggles with his secret fear that his relationship with Jake is permanently damaged and that Julie's relationship with Adam might turn out to be more than just professional. Will Dave be able to rein in his fears before they cause him and his family even more heartache? A love-struck Coby completes a painting for Frankie. At first she's thrilled — until she learns how he really feels. When talking to Sian, Frankie admits the truth about who she is really trying to suppress her feelings for. Who does Frankie fancy, and could it make things even more awkward at work? Meanwhile, Ben's having issues. Carbo and Retta are filled with constant expressions of affection, permanently reminding him of Emma's unreturned 'I love you'. Should Ben return the sentiment — even if he isn't a hundred percent clear on his own feelings?

Ben is being driven quietly crazy by the baby-obsessed Carbo and Retta. Feeling edged out of the world they are creating, Emma suggests that the two of them get out of town for a few days, a large step forward in their relationship for Ben. But once you've found escape, the trouble comes returning from it. After being romantically shunned by Frankie, Coby does his best to avoid her at work. However, when the awkwardness becomes too much to bear, Frankie makes a proposal. Meanwhile, Julie begins life as the new kid at the local newspaper and her new lease on life inspires Dave to move forward with his own business plans, leading to frustrations between the couple. Will venturing into a new future drive a wedge between Dave and Julie?

Julie admits to Donna having had a recent raunchy dream about Adam, but denies nothing is wrong in her marriage. Questioned by Ted, Dave also comes to the same conclusion. But alone that night, Julie and Dave argue yet again, this time about who will baby-sit Ruby, as Julie has a movie premiere with Adam and Dave is taking his employees away to a seminar. When Julie can't go to the premiere, Adam drops by later that night and Julie is primed for some easy company after the tension with Dave. They chat for hours, discussing life's journeys and confiding a few secrets. Julie maintains it is all very innocent, so why does she feel so guilty? Dave too, is up for a big night, drinking until the small hours with his team. And then one brief moment threatens to destroy everything.

Following an awkward moment, Frankie announces she's going to quit but Dave convinces her not to make an rash decisions. With a niggling feeling of guilt, Julie tells Dave about Adam's visit for a late-night drink, stopping short of sharing her growing attraction to her boss. Confiding her crush to Donna, Julie is given further pause for concern when Donna warns her she could be moving into dangerous emotional territory. However, when Julie receives some shocking news from Dave, will she be forgiving, or be driven into the arms of her boss?

Tension remains high in the Rafter house as Julie and Dave struggle to forgive each other. Ted is caught in the middle and is feeling the strain. He's sick of having to hide the real reason behind their squabbles from Ben and implores them to move on before they have to explain everything to their son. But it is clear that letting go could be a long way off for our couple as they accept Bens invitation to a weekend in the country. Meanwhile, Carbo is also having trouble letting go of something - his beloved Charger. Having deemed it unsuitable for transporting babies. Retta decides they have to sell it. However, Carbo is outraged and is prepared to go to extreme lengths to protect his other baby.

Ben and Emma decide to get a loan from the bank to get their cottage, however when he goes to the hospital, he - and Emma - realise that he still isn't over Mel and they decide to break up. Julie and Dave struggle with his infidelity, however when they go out for dinner, they spent the rest of the night having sex. Donna, who is having trouble with Ben and Emma's news, urges Ted to have an Alzheimer's test, or at least tell Julie. Frankie and Coby bond over a football game and over a game of Jenga. Retta and Carbo, who attend a 12-week ultrasound, decide to tell their friends that they are pregnant, however Retta later suffers a miscarriage and breaks down in tears in Carbo's arms.

Nathan returns home with two secrets from his holiday around the world. After being greeted by his family and going out to lunch, the family finds out that Nathan has married his cougar, Saskia, whom he has known for three months. When the family goes out for dinner, the second secret is revealed: Saskia is pregnant with Nathan's baby. Julie has a hard time accepting this news, however she finally accepts it, and Saskia. Carbo and Retta have appeared to have moved on from their loss, however Retta informs Carbo that she doesn't want to go rushing back into having kids. She then gets Carbo his Charger back. Ted goes in for an exam to find out whether he has Alzheimer's and the symptoms aren't looking good. Ben decides that he needs to move on with his life and decides to take a trip around the world, first to New York to see Rachel and then to London.

Narrated by Julie Rafter

The cleanup after the fire begins and tension rises everywhere. Donna accidentally reveals Ted's secret tests to Julie and Dave when Ted decides he wants to go into residential aged care. Donna takes up pottery and begins flirting with Gary, a man from her OCD support group. Retta and Voula try to get Carbo to prove himself as a man when he refuses to have sex with Retta. volua decides to move out and the idea of having Emma move in is tossed up in the air. Dave is called to pick Alex up from a party when he gets stoned. Jake confronts Bryn about dealing to Alex and this causes Jake and Sian to have their first real fight, while sparks fly between Coby and Frankie.

Jake, Dave, Frankie and Matt worry about Coby and his disappearance. Jake promises his father Jim that he will be there when he dies. He turns up drunk and threatens Duncan, who calls the police. Jake catches Coby coming out of the house, but when Coby runs and Jake and Matt try to find him, Jim passes away. Coby decides to turn himself in after Jake tells him off and Frankie and him share a final goodbye. Ted takes Cooper and Julie to an aged care facility, where he plans to move into, but at the last minute he changes his mind. Julie gets a phone call from Nathan, who tells his mother that Saskia gave birth to a baby boy three weeks premature.

Narrated by Julie Rafter