View Full Version : Wild at heart Series 7
Wild At Heart
Episode: 1 of 10
Sunday, 8 January 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
After the devastating loss of Leopard’s Den, the family are split across continents. Caroline, Liv and a heavily pregnant Alice are in the UK, while Danny and Du Plessis have remained in South Africa, trying to raise enough money to buy a new reserve and make a fresh start.
Times are hard however, and when we first join Danny and Du Plessis they are working at the Big Five Animal Park in less than ideal circumstances. Du Plessis works in the gift shop whilst Danny works as a jobbing vet. However Danny finds it difficult to get on with his boss, Ed Lynch (played by new arrival Robert Bathurst), as the two of them constantly clash over veterinary decisions, particularly over an elephant that keeps trying to escape.
On playing Ed Lynch, Robert commented: “Lynch has been a great character to play; he’s certainly not straight forward. He doesn’t try too hard to please and always speaks his mind. He is a man more inclined towards solitude; he’s convinced himself he’s happiest in his own company. He is oblivious to when he’s upsetting people, not that he’s insensitive he just doesn’t beat around the bush so to speak”.
When Danny and Du Plessis find an injured tiger in a deserted house, Ed overrules Danny and insists on taking the lead on the animal's treatment. Danny receives a further kick when
Christian Peeters (their old enemy since his mining company’s compulsory purchase of Leopard’s Den) reveals that Danny has been unsuccessful in his application for a top job at the National Park. Danny is gutted as he’d been hoping this job would free him from the Big Five.
To add to the pressure that Danny is under, Alice arrives without any warning. He and Du Plessis have let her believe that they are actually running the Big Five themselves, so she is shocked when Ed reveals that he is in fact the boss. After Alice leaves for a B & B in town, furious that they’ve been lying to her, things go from bad to worse for Danny when Du Plessis admits to Peeters that he’s been trespassing on Leopard's Den. Peeters brands him a common criminal and Danny, overwhelmed by recent events, punches Peeters and refuses to apologise.
Du Plessis tricks the increasingly perturbed Danny into visiting the abandoned house again and astonishes Danny with the revelation that he has purchased the dilapidated place. He sees its potential as a new home for them, a new future. With the confrontation with Peeters fresh in his mind, Danny surprises Du Plessis when he decides to steal the roof tiles from Leopard's Den to renovate their newly acquired house.
Later that evening Du Plessis wakes to find Danny missing and thinks he has gone back to Leopard's Den. Du Plessis goes there to look for Danny, but is horrified to discover blood on the verandah. He follows the trail to the pool, where he finds Peeters face down in the water, dead. Du Plessis fears that Danny has taken their argument with Peeters too far. After much deliberation, he decides to cover Danny’s crime and buries Peeters' body in the bush.
Meanwhile, without Ed’s knowledge, Danny is operating on the injured tiger they rescued earlier and calls Alice, who reluctantly comes to help. As they work together, Alice asks him to leave his job at Big Five, as she can see that it’s destroying him. Danny agrees, but there’s something he has to do first. To Ed’s anger and disbelief, Danny releases the troubled elephant to freedom in the National Park, swimming with it across a river on the final part of its journey. Ed tells Danny he’s fired and threatens him with arrest, but Danny couldn’t care less, he’s got a chance at a new life with Alice and doesn’t look back.
Meanwhile Fatani receives some terrible news from the UK. Alice’s brother, Rowan, has been in a car accident and is in intensive care. Alice decides to return immediately and Danny insists on accompanying her. However Du Plessis is certain that his friend is fleeing the country because he murdered Peeters.
Episode: 2 of 10
Sunday, 15 January 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Danny returns to South Africa with Caroline, Liv and Charlotte. They are all excited to be back and are looking forward to seeing their new home, Clearwater Farm. However their excitement turns to dismay when they discover that Du Plessis hasn’t lifted a finger since Danny left, and the place is falling apart. Liv is delighted to see Thabo again, but the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual, since Thabo is very awkward around her.
Du Plessis, meanwhile, has been in turmoil, convinced that Danny murdered their old enemy, Christian Peeters. Du Plessis feels increasingly haunted when a vulture starts to follow him around. The family notice that Du Plessis is acting strangely, but think that it’s because he’s missing their old home.
Shortly after the family arrive back, they receive a visit from Thabiso Mabaso, the Head of Internal Affairs for Afrispec. He questions Danny and Du Plessis on the disappearance of Peeters since they are reported to have been among the last people to see him. Du Plessis can’t believe that Danny is acting so calmly, and Danny can’t understand why Du Plessis is getting so flustered.
After Mabaso has gone, Du Plessis finally confronts Danny, telling him that he knows that he killed Peeters and that he has covered up for him by burying Peeters’ body. Danny is utterly shocked and hurt, and vehemently denies Du Plessis' allegations. Furthermore Danny has an alibi, he was operating on the tiger the whole night. It gradually dawns on Du Plessis that he has made the biggest mistake of his life. Danny thinks that they should go straight to the police, but Du Plessis fears that the finger of suspicion will point straight at him. When Mabaso returns, telling them that Peeters’ disappearance is now a police matter, Danny covers for Du Plessis. But he’s immediately furious, both with himself and with Du Plessis, and insists that he won’t keep lying for Du Plessis.
Du Plessis continues to feel haunted by what he’s done. He has recurrent dreams of Peeters and when he hears noises in the night, he fears that it’s Peeters’ ghost. But when the noises wake the entire family, they discover that it’s actually Fatani, who has been creeping in to sleep on the sofa as Buhle threw him out. Danny recognises that Du Plessis is in a terrible state, and when he breaks down at Peeters’ grave site, telling Danny that he buried him for the sake of their friendship, Danny realises that he has to keep Du Plessis’ secret.
Meanwhile, as they search for the lone vulture’s group in the hope that they can reunite it, they come across a number of lethargic and dead vultures which Danny takes for testing. He soon discovers that the vultures are not the only animals suffering on the reserve, their new giraffe also has a mysterious illness. When Liv becomes ill after swimming in the river, it slowly becomes apparent that they’ve got a big problem on their hands. Du Plessis and Fatani investigate further and find an illegal landfill poisoning the water. The family’s hopes for a new beginning are shattered when Danny realises that it will take decades for the contamination to clear – there is no way that they can keep animals on the land, so it’s not a viable place to pursue their dreams.
Liv gets increasingly suspicious of Thabo’s behaviour and he finally breaks and reveals that while they were away, he took a job with Afrispec. Liv is really upset, and can’t believe that he’s working for the company that evicted them. However Thabo later brings some good news when he announces that the mining company’s plans have been abandoned and Leopard's Den is back on the market. The family are elated, they have a chance to buy back their old home and escape the poisoned land. Danny and Du Plessis are worried though, knowing that there’s a dead body buried at Leopard’s Den. Danny decides that if they get Leopard’s Den back, they’ll have to keep it quiet forever.
However they are all devastated when Mabaso discloses that Mara and Leopard's Den are to be sold as a joint lot. They simply cannot afford to buy both properties. Their future now looks more uncertain than ever.
paulineh
01-01-2012, 19:23
Great looking forward to it starting next week
Wild At Heart
Episode: 3 of 10
Sunday, 22 January 2012, 8:20PM - 9:20PM
Danny has been preparing his pitch for an Endangered Species Project. JLW, a pharmaceutical company, are looking to fund an environmental project and the family hope that this grant money will enable them to buy Leopard’s Den and Mara. However the morning of the meeting lurches from crisis to disaster when Danny and Du Plessis crash their jeep on their way back from collecting a troublesome lion. Caroline has been frantically preparing their business plan and she’s desperately worried when Danny and Du Plessis don’t return in time.
Covered in mud, late and with the lion in tow, Danny, Du Plessis and Caroline finally make it to their all important meeting. On arrival they are surprised to see Ed Lynch, Danny’s old boss from the Big Five, who explains that he too is pitching for the grant in order to create an elephant sanctuary. Danny and Du Plessis are highly cynical about Ed’s project, believing that it sounds more focused on money than on animal welfare.
During their meeting, the JLW board quiz them on their finances, but the family’s responses become increasingly erratic when they see through the window that their lion is causing a stir in the car park. When Ed bursts in to tell them that their lion is in distress, Du Plessis suspects him of purposefully disrupting their meeting. The board members go out with them, intrigued as to what’s happening, and witness Danny and Ed coming to a conclusion together about the lion’s problem. Ed offers Danny the Big Five’s facilities to treat the lion, and Danny has no choice but to accept.
Meanwhile Fatani has been feeling down ever since Buhle left him, but Liv is determined to cheer him up and takes him into town. Whilst they’re there, Fatani notices Thabo being over-friendly with a mystery girl, and Fatani's attempts to distract Liv fail. When Thabo later tries to explain, Liv interrupts and admits to cheating on Thabo when she was in England. Thabo is crushed, especially since the girl was merely an old friend from foster care. Fatani comforts her, and realises that he cares for Liv more than just as a friend.
Caroline is upset after their disastrous meeting and convinced that all hope is gone for reclaiming Leopard’s Den. However Du Plessis is determined not to give up and resolves to sabotage the open day for the properties, to buy them more time to raise the money.
As Danny and Ed operate on the lion, Ed receives a call from JLW asking for him to meet with the board again tomorrow. Danny feels utterly deflated, until he learns that JLW would like to meet with them too. Furthermore they want to hold the meeting at Leopard’s Den. Neither Danny nor Ed can understand what’s going on until JLW explain that they want Danny’s project, but they also want Ed’s business acumen. If Danny and Ed consider pitching together, then the grant is as good as theirs. As the two men consider this surprising turn of events, Du Plessis, unaware of this recent development, releases their lions into Mara in an attempt to deter potential buyers. Little does he know that JLW want to see where the project will take place, and are on their way to Mara at that very moment…
Danny and Ed can’t believe their eyes when they arrive at Mara to find lions roaming around the house. The estate agent threatens to have the animals shot, but Danny and Ed promise to deal with them. However after a close encounter with one of the lions, the two of them realise that they’ve both darted it, and have given it a potentially fatal overdose.
After emergency surgery in which they have to improvise with what they’ve got, Ed agrees to become Danny’s business partner on one condition…that Du Plessis does not have any share in the venture. Realising that Du Plessis was responsible for the lion stunt, Ed thinks he’s a loose cannon and doesn’t want him in the partnership. Danny initially rejects Ed’s offer but Du Plessis persuades him to accept, much to Caroline's anger and frustration. They’ve got their home back, but at what cost?
Wild At Heart
Episode: 4 of 10
Sunday, 29 January 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Danny and Ed release two cheetah brothers together – a symbol of their new partnership – but not all of the family are happy about this new start…
Caroline is still furious at what she sees as Danny’s betrayal of Du Plessis, and is completely opposed to working with Ed. She wants Du Plessis restored to his rightful place in the business and, unbeknownst to Danny, has asked Rosie to come and help, hoping that she’ll be able to talk some sense into her dad. Meanwhile Danny and Du Plessis are still harbouring the dark secret of Peeters’ body, which is buried on Leopard’s Den.
Danny is delighted to see Rosie again, but Rosie is dismayed at all the tension in the family. She initially bristles at Ed’s abrasive manner, but soon realises that he’s not as bad as Caroline has been making out.
However things go from bad to worse when Du Plessis finds a hyena digging at the grave site, and Ed decides that it’d be the perfect place for their new quarantine pens. Du Plessis is terrified that if any excavation work happens, Peeters’ body will be discovered. He and Danny try to change Ed’s mind, but he’s adamant. When Caroline overhears Danny telling Du Plessis to oversee every minute of the build, she becomes even more angry, thinking that Danny is treating his friend appallingly.
Danny tries to get Ed and Du Plessis to work together on essential firebreaking of Mara land, but the fire goes wildly out of control. One of the cheetah they released earlier panics and runs into the fire, and Ed goes after it. Du Plessis charges in after him, and Caroline is horrified when she learns that the two men are missing. Having lost her daughter in a bush fire, she fears that history is repeating itself. When Du Plessis emerges, alive but with a severely burnt arm, Caroline turns on Danny, blaming him for the disaster.
Danny, Rosie and Ed track the cheetah and find that it has injured its leg. Ed takes it back to the clinic for surgery while Danny and Rosie check that no other animals have been injured as a result of the fire. Ed discovers that the cheetah’s leg is too badly damaged to save. He decides to amputate, and the only person available to assist is Caroline, who is forced to grit her teeth and work alongside the man she despises.
During the operation, Caroline develops a grudging respect for Ed, and convinces him that Du Plessis deserves more respect. As a conciliatory gesture, Ed puts Du Plessis in charge of the quarantine pens’ build, but insists that it goes ahead at the agreed site.
However Du Plessis has no choice but to disobey, and face the consequences. Ed is livid when he discovers that the site has been moved, but it’s too late to do anything about it. Danny is forced to side with Ed for the sake of the partnership, and Caroline can’t understand why Danny doesn’t defend Du Plessis. It’s the final straw for her. She decides that she and Du Plessis can no longer live and work with Danny. The whole family are devastated, and Danny and Du Plessis can’t believe that the situation has spiralled out of control. Seeing her family in crisis, Rosie decides to stay for longer to try to put the pieces back together. But as Caroline and Du Plessis move back to Clearwater, the family’s divisions seem to be irreversible.
Wild At Heart
Episode: 5 of 10
Sunday, 5 February 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
The family are still estranged following Caroline’s decision to move back to the decrepit Clearwater house with Du Plessis. Rosie is determined to reunite everyone, and plans a civilised dinner as a step towards reconciliation.
Du Plessis’ is horrified when he sees Peeters in town. He can’t believe his eyes – he knows Peeters is dead and buried because he buried him! When he looks again the figure is gone. Du Plessis hopes that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but when he sees Peeters again in the bar, he starts to think he’s being haunted and stricken, he goes to find Danny.
However Ed has found out about a small private zoo that is closing down and needs to get rid of its remaining animals, a leopard and an ocelot. Danny is alarmed to learn that they need to take the cats immediately, which doesn’t give them time to get the required permits, so they’d be moving the animals illegally. But Ed insists that it’s a one off for the sake of the animals, and Danny reluctantly agrees.
Rosie’s dinner turns to disaster when everyone is left waiting for Du Plessis. Little do they know that he’s at Peeters’ grave in a state of turmoil. When he finally arrives, the family are shocked to see him covered in mud and rambling incoherently. He starts an argument with Ed and Danny takes him aside and demands to know what’s going on. Du Plessis blurts out that Peeters’ ghost has been following him, Danny worries that his friend is having a nervous breakdown.
On their way home, Du Plessis breaks down and confesses to Caroline that he buried Peeters. Her incredulity turns to repulsion when she realises that he’s telling the truth. She decides to investigate the “ghost”, and discovers that it’s actually Peeters’ brother, Luke, who has been looking for Peeters hoping to get a slice of the money that his brother is supposed to have stolen. He’s a horrible, lecherous man, and though Caroline intended to tell him what happened to Peeters, she finds herself holding back.
The leopard gets really sick with a mysterious illness, so Rosie wants to send bloods off to the lab. Danny and Ed have to admit that they can’t do that, because they got the animals illegally. Rosie is upset that her dad lied to her and Danny starts to question what he’s become.
Danny and Ed return to the private zoo to investigate further, and discover that the cats were being fed only fish, which has caused a potentially fatal Vitamin B deficiency. When they return they discover that it’s too late for the leopard, but though the ocelot has a seizure they manage to save it.
Caroline eventually finds Du Plessis and tells him about Luke, reassuring him that he’s not losing his mind. She thinks they should keep it a secret but Du Plessis sees that it’s been slowly destroying them, and resolves to come clean to Luke and the police. Danny agrees to tell the family.
Du Plessis makes a full confession to Luke, who to Du Plessis’ disgust wants to know what he’ll pay him to keep quiet. Du Plessis refuses to be blackmailed and returns to say goodbye to the family before handing himself into the police.
However, to everyone’s shock and disbelief, when the police arrive at Leopard’s Den they arrest Danny on suspicion of murder. Danny is cuffed and led away, protesting his innocence. Du Plessis is horrified – what has he done?
Sunday, 12 February 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Danny is in prison, accused of murdering Peeters, but Du Plessis is determined to prove his friend’s innocence by any means he can. Du Plessis’ first attempt backfires disastrously when he harangues a police officer and ends up in a cell next to Danny. However he’s not deterred, and promises Danny that he’ll get him out. Upon his release Du Plessis enlists Fatani in his investigation. They hope that the CCTV at the Big Five will show that Danny had an alibi for the night that Peeters was killed, but this turns out to be futile. However they are taken aback when the CCTV reveals Ed sneaking off into the night. Did Ed kill Peeters?
When Du Plessis questions Ed about what he was doing that night, and Ed says he was fast asleep, Du Plessis knows he’s lying. His suspicions grow when Ed gets a mysterious call, so Du Plessis follows him, while Fatani searches Ed’s room at Mara. Ed realises that Du Plessis has been trailing him and confronts him with a gun. Du Plessis is terrified that Ed is going to shoot him but instead he shoots a snake that was about to bite him. At Mara, Fatani finds more evidence against Ed – a letter of termination from the Big Five, signed by Peeters himself. When Ed returns to Mara, Du Plessis and Fatani have to hide and they overhear him having a highly dubious conversation.
Meanwhile, because Ed and Du Plessis have both been so preoccupied, Rosie is left to manage everything herself, to her increasing frustration. She’s due to visit Danny in prison, but when the ailing three legged cheetah runs off, there is no-one else around to go after it, so she sets off into the bush. Finally she manages to catch up with it, and discovers that it went to find its brother. However the wild cheetah turns on Rosie and savages her leg, leaving her unable to move. Danny waits in his cell, getting more and more worried. He calls Caroline, who can’t find Rosie anywhere and raises the alarm. The concerned family form search parties and begin looking for her.
Caroline meanwhile has managed to secure an emergency hearing for Danny. After some tense moments in court, the judge grants bail.
Having searched all night long, Du Plessis and Ed finally find Rosie. She’s lost a lot of blood and is in a bad way, so Ed talks to her to keep her conscious while he carries her to the jeep. Seeing Ed with Rosie, Du Plessis starts to think he was wrong about him.
Danny hurries home to his injured daughter. He’s relieved to see Rosie, but angry with both Ed and Du Plessis for letting her get into danger.
Fatani finds cash and a flight ticket, which seems to confirm their earlier suspicions of Ed. Du Plessis tries to outline their theory to Danny, but he doesn’t want to hear it, so Du Plessis confronts Ed, accusing him of murder. An astounded Ed, furious at the accusations, explains that all the secrecy was because he was trying to move a rhino to Leopard’s Den. Du Plessis is stymied and Danny turns on him, telling him that this whole mess is his fault.
Danny and Ed head off to collect the rhino, but on their return the road is blocked by poachers. Ed urges caution, but Danny doesn’t want to comply. However when the poachers force him to hand over the keys, they discover that instead of a rhino in the truck, there’s merely a cow. Danny can’t believe that Ed didn’t trust him enough to tell him that they were a decoy.
Meanwhile a downcast Du Plessis is buoyed when Rosie and Fatani tell him not to give up trying to prove Danny’s innocence. He re-enacts Peeters’ last moments with Fatani, and they discover a deadly snake near the verandah. Du Plessis realises that Peeters died after he was bitten by a snake. He takes it to the police station and shows the officer the “killer”.
Danny and Ed return, having made up their differences over the release of the rhino. The family are delighted to tell Danny what Du Plessis discovered – it looks like Danny will be able to fly home for the birth of his baby after all. Danny apologises to Du Plessis and thanks him profusely.
As the family wave Danny off, Danny urges Du Plessis to make an effort with Ed, but Ed is clearly not relishing the prospect of working with the man who called him a murderer. It looks like fireworks are in store…
Sunday, 19 February 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
With Danny away, and Du Plessis undertaking an ignominious stretch of community service, Ed is left in charge of running the Endangered Species Project. After chasing a warthog around the clinic, Ed is embarrassed to find a beautiful stranger watching him with amusement. She introduces herself as Kim Ferreira. Kim explains that she’s looking to register with a vet as she’s just moved to the area. Ed is impressed when he learns about a lioness that Kim rescued, and even more impressed when she tells him that she has a lion that carries the Barbary gene.
Kim asks Ed to go for a drink with her, but he’s flustered and turns her down, immediately regretting his hasty refusal. However Ed gets a second chance when Kim returns, worried about her lioness. Du Plessis arrives in time to hear Ed ask Kim out, and is incredulous when she accepts. Ed is furious when Du Plessis says that Kim must have an ulterior motive.
While Rosie tries to work out what’s wrong with the lioness, Du Plessis, fresh from his duties digging a sewer trench, spies on Ed and Kim at the bar. Kim invites Ed to come and see her Barbary lion and, to Du Plessis’ disbelief, kisses Ed goodbye.
The following day, Ed visits Kim and, tempted by her offer of a dinner date, decides to buy the lion with the Barbary gene. Du Plessis is horrified when Ed discloses how much he paid for the lion and is convinced that Ed is being taken for a ride. When Kim’s lioness takes a turn for the worse, Ed and Rosie try desperately to save it, but their attempts are futile. Ed is worried how Kim will react, but she understands that he did everything he could, and takes the lioness home to bury it.
Meanwhile, Fatani attempts to help Liv and Thabo with the animal census, but he’s woefully bad at it. After zebras escape and Fatani flies headfirst off a quad bike he gives up, frustrated. Liv can’t understand why he’s getting so upset until he reveals that it’s because he loves her. Liv is left reeling.
While Ed prepares a romantic meal, Du Plessis and Rosie receive a gene report showing that the “Barbary” lion is just a normal lion. It’s definitive proof that Ed has been conned. Du Plessis goes to find Kim and discovers Ed, drunk and upset because Kim has stood him up. He expects Du Plessis to gloat but to his surprise Du Plessis tells him they’ll sort it out, together.
Meanwhile, Liv makes a decision that shocks and delights Fatani: she tells him that she’s split up with Thabo, and kisses him.
The next day, Du Plessis and Ed pay Kim a visit. She says that she’s cremated the lioness but the two men sneak round the back of the house and find the carcass. They steal the body and take it back for a post mortem. When Ed uncovers that it was killed by a rare co-infection, he realises that the animal came from the Serengeti: Kim is an animal smuggler.
Du Plessis forges a plan to recover their money so that Danny doesn’t have to find out about Ed’s mess. He pretends to be dodgy, sells Kim a lioness from Leopard’s Den to replace her one that died, and plants a tracking device in her vehicle so they can follow her.
However when Danny returns he suspects that something is going on, and makes Rosie spill the beans. Danny is dismayed, particularly when they learn that Kim is heading for an airfield with their lioness. Du Plessis and Ed are in pursuit, but realise there’s nothing they can do when they see Kim joined by men with guns. Just as all hope is lost, the police arrive, alerted by Danny, and Kim is arrested.
Du Plessis’ new bond with Ed is shortlived when he cons Ed into doing his community service for him. However when Danny finds out, they are both horrified when he makes them finish the trench together.
Sunday 26th February
Danny and Ed are anxiously preparing for a review with JLW, the pharmaceutical company that fund their Endangered Species Project. They are desperate for it to go smoothly, and as a result are driving the rest of the family mad. Whilst they are doing final checks on the animals, Ed and Rosie discover two dead wildebeest calves, and Ed asks Rosie to do a post mortem.
Liv has been keeping her relationship with Fatani a secret, to Fatani’s frustration, but Liv promises him that she’ll tell Danny soon.
The review is a success: their funding will continue and JLW even want to hold a PR event to hand over the next cheque. However when Danny and Ed tell Rosie the good news, they notice she’s distracted, and Ed is angry when he spots that she’s made a big mistake on the post mortem.
When Ed goes to apologise to an upset Rosie, she confesses that she’s failed her pathology exam, and is worried she won’t qualify. Ed offers to tutor her, and suggests they keep it a secret from Danny. Du Plessis comes to tell them that a ballsy woman has arrived, asking for Ed, but walks in on a grateful Rosie kissing Ed on the cheek.
The family are shocked when the mystery woman reveals that she is Fiona Lynch – Ed’s wife. They didn’t even know he had a wife! An awkward Ed explains that they separated after she cheated on him. Fiona has now left the man she had an affair with, and has come seeking reconciliation, but Ed isn’t interested in anything she has to say.
Rosie sympathises with Ed, she’s going through a divorce with her husband so knows how difficult it can be. Fiona walks in on Ed comforting Rosie and misconstrues the situation. She confides to a disbelieving Caroline that she thinks Ed and Rosie are together. Caroline doesn’t think it can be true, but when she discusses it with Du Plessis he tells her that he saw them in Rosie’s bedroom that morning. They confront Rosie about her “secret” with Ed, but Rosie assumes they’re talking about Ed secretly tutoring her, and furthers the misunderstanding by asking them not to tell Danny.
Danny is incredulous when Du Plessis insists that Ed and Rosie are an item. A comedy of errors ensues when Danny asks Ed what’s going on, until finally the misunderstanding is exposed. Ed is left reeling that the family believed Fiona, and suspects her of stirring deliberately.
Spurred by Danny’s reaction to Rosie and Ed’s “affair”, Liv finally plucks up the courage to tell Danny that she and Fatani are a couple, but they learn to their surprise that Danny knew all along.
The animal problem escalates when a lioness gives birth to two dead cubs. Fiona, a research pharmacologist, offers to help run tests. Rosie isn’t keen to work with her after all the trouble she’s caused, but is grudgingly impressed by her expertise. Together, the two women discover that the mothers of the dead animals had raised oestrogen levels in their blood. They are horrified to find that the drug responsible is made by JLW. Furthermore, they’ve given it to their pregnant elephant.
While Danny and Du Plessis desperately track the elephant, Ed and Fiona go to JLW. Their suspicions are confirmed when the laboratory director is cagey and refuses to help them. The family are devastated when Danny and Du Plessis find that the elephant calf is dead. They decide that they can’t continue to accept funding from JLW, but this leaves them facing an uncertain future. Meanwhile Fiona is determined not to give up on Ed without a fight.
Episode: 9 of 10
Sunday, 4 March 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Drama
Following the loss of their funding, the family are in dire financial straits. Danny and Ed attempt to get an extension on their mortgage but are refused. They need to come up with a solution, fast. Fiona spurs Ed on, telling him that the man she used to know would have a plan for survival, which gets him thinking. He’s triumphant when he manages to arrange an interview with Sienna, the owner of rich breeding stables – if they can secure the vet contract with her, it will help them out of their hole. As a trial, Sienna asks them to treat one of her horses, so they bring it back to Leopard’s Den, but when the horse kicks out, badly damaging Danny’s fingers, it’s an inauspicious start.
Meanwhile Alice and the kids are due to return soon. Danny can’t wait, and has been excitedly painting the cot for his new baby. However when he calls Alice, he’s stricken when she reveals that she doesn’t want to come back, but he decides to hide the news from the family, hoping he can change Alice’s mind.
Sienna is impressed at Ed’s professionalism when she comes to collect her horse. She awards them the contract and Ed is delighted when the bank grant them a month’s grace on the basis of this. Fiona is happy to see the old Ed returning, and a buoyed Ed offers her a room at Mara until she leaves. However Fiona pushes it too far when she offers her own money to help them for a few more months. Du Plessis can’t believe it when he overhears Ed refusing the money, but Ed is adamant that he won’t be bought.
Whilst out tracking the mother of two abandoned leopard cubs, Danny confides in Rosie that he’s in turmoil. Alice wants him to go and live in the UK with her, and with their affairs in such a shambles it’s going to be difficult to change her mind. Rosie persuades him that he’s got to try.
However disaster strikes when the horse they treated develops African Horse Sickness – a horrific disease with a high mortality rate. Sienna fears that she’ll lose all her horses and blames Danny and Ed since she saw that they had a zebra in the pen next to her horse, and zebras are known carriers of the disease. If it is their fault, she’s determined to take them for everything they’ve got.
Danny and Du Plessis track the zebra while Fiona sets up a makeshift lab ready to perform blood tests. Caroline finds a downcast Ed going through the accounts and encourages him to talk to Fiona before she leaves.
Rosie becomes worried about the mother leopard, and Danny realises that the animal needs an urgent operation, but he can’t perform it with his injured hand. He can’t get hold of Ed, so sends Du Plessis to look for him. Ed meanwhile is in the Mara clinic, and as he and Fiona get drunk together they finally start talking about their past, and their inability to have children which drove them apart. Du Plessis bursts in, ruining the moment, only to discover that Ed is far too inebriated to operate. It’s all down to Rosie.
With Danny’s guidance, Rosie embarks on the intricate surgery, and after some tense moments manages to save the animal. It confirms to Danny that he can leave Leopard’s Den safe in the knowledge that it’ll be in good hands.
Brighter news comes the following morning when Fiona’s tests prove that the disease didn’t come from their zebra. Ed is overjoyed and decides to accept Fiona’s money. Furthermore, he invites her to stay longer with him. Fiona is delighted but Rosie becomes concerned when she hears how indebted they will be to Fiona.
Danny finally breaks the news to Du Plessis that he’s going to go and live in the UK, leaving Du Plessis devastated. As Rosie and Caroline try to cheer Du Plessis up, Rosie has to hide her own misgivings about the future…
paulineh
20-02-2012, 16:52
I hope this is not the end I love the program and do not want it to finish
Wild at Heart's ratings have fallen and the show may be axed, according to tabloid reports.
The long-running ITV1 drama series about vet Danny Trevanion (Stephen Tompkinson) in South Africa has fallen to under 6 million in Sunday night's ratings, a considerable drop-off for a show which has previously attracted over 10 million.
A slump in Dancing on Ice ratings on Sunday nights and the success of Call the Midwife on BBC One appear to have affected the series.
"Everyone involved knows it's expensive to make and it's not as popular as it used to be so it's not rocket science," a source told The Mirror.
"The cast and crew love making it, but all good things come to an end and we've had a good run."
An ITV spokesperson insisted that any talks about the show's future were "pure speculation" and that Wild At Heart was still doing "good business" for the broadcaster.
Wild At Heart
Episode: 10 of 10
Sunday, 11 March 2012, 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Drama
Strange things are happening at Leopard’s Den. The family awake to find frogs everywhere, seemingly having rained down overnight; the giraffe refuses to budge from the front gate and the cheetah is off its food. As Fatani says, portentously, it’s almost as if the animals don’t want Danny to leave… However leave he must, and Du Plessis has promised Caroline that he’ll hide his true feelings from his friend, so as not to make the situation any more difficult than it already is.
When a request for help comes from the National Park, Danny jumps at the chance for one last adventure. A lioness has attacked a tourist, so Danny, Ed and Du Plessis decide to track it. However Du Plessis is alarmed to discover that Ed is in negotiations to merge Leopard’s Den and Mara with the National Park – but hasn’t said a word to any of them about his plans. Du Plessis confronts Ed, and isn’t convinced by his explanation, but can’t share his concerns with Danny.
As they track the lioness, Ed accidentally darts Du Plessis in the backside. He races to get the antidote in time to save Du Plessis while Danny tries to ward off the lioness. As the drug starts to take effect, Du Plessis realises that he has to tell Danny about Ed’s duplicity. He tells Danny that Ed has gone behind their backs with the National Park, and begs Danny to stay. Du Plessis passes out, leaving Danny reeling.
Meanwhile, Rosie discovers that Fiona has got a lawyer to examine the agreement between them and Ed. When Danny and Ed return with the unconscious Du Plessis and the darted lioness, Rosie and Caroline confront Ed about Fiona’s dealings with the lawyer. An increasingly shocked Danny throws Ed out of the clinic.
Danny returns the treated lioness to the park, while Ed demands to know what Fiona has been playing at. He is taken aback when she explains her plan to build a research facility for farm animals.
Tensions are running high between the three men when the National Park call them back: the released lioness is again encroaching on the tourist area. The rangers want to shoot it, so Du Plessis and Ed lead them on a wild goose chase while Danny tries to get to the lioness first. Everything goes horribly wrong when Danny ends up trapped between the lioness and a river, and he has no choice but to swim for his life, the lioness in close pursuit. An exhausted Danny has a face off with the lioness, but instead of attacking him she turns away. However the rangers have caught up with them, and one of them shoots her.
As Danny and Ed try desperately to save the lioness, Ed discloses Fiona’s plans for the research facility and they have a furious argument. Meanwhile Du Plessis has found traces of meat in the tourist camp – evidence that the lions were being lured there deliberately by the rangers. It’s the final straw for Danny – he decides he can’t leave, as he fears Ed and Fiona will destroy Leopard’s Den in his absence. However Du Plessis sees that this decision is tearing his friend apart.
The following morning, the family are flabbergasted to find an elephant in the kitchen. The mystery of the animals’ strange behaviour is solved when Fatani confesses he arranged all these stunts to stop Danny leaving, because he feared that Liv would leave with him.
Ed and Fiona arrive as the family get the elephant out of the kitchen, and it confirms to Fiona that they’re all mad. She gives Ed an ultimatum – her or the Trevanions, but Ed chooses the Trevanions. With Fiona out of the way, Du Plessis persuades Danny that he should leave, knowing it’s for the best that Danny is with his family.
Du Plessis’ heart breaks as he says goodbye to Danny. It’s too late for Danny to make it to his farewell party, so Du Plessis gives a speech in Danny’s place. When a taxi pulls up, Du Plessis hopes that Danny has returned, but it’s Fiona. She convinces Ed that she’s prepared to change, but Du Plessis doesn’t trust her. They need to get Danny back, but it may be too late…
I love Wild at Heart thats what mu username stands for It just can't be over can it?
Former EastEnders star Jill Halfpenny has revealed that she still receives letters from fans.
The 36-year-old actress, who played Kate Mitchell in the Albert Square serial between 2002 and 2005, said that her character is well-known worldwide.
"With all these new TV channels now, they get shown in lots of countries," she told STV. "And I know that British soaps are massive in Australia as well.
"I still get letters from people who are years behind on EastEnders saying, 'I can't believe Kate is sleeping with Phil', and I'm like, 'What?'"
Her character was originally an undercover police officer manipulating Phil, but quit the force after she developed feelings for the Walford gangster.
Halfpenny, who has previously starred in Coronation Street and Waterloo Road, now appears in ITV1's Wild at Heart.
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