As Home and Away’s final UK episode for 2023 airs on 5STAR, we take a look at what’s in store when we return to Summer Bay in January 2024.
Tonight sees the Home and Away UK season finale air as part of 5STAR’s “first look”, before airing on Channel 5 tomorrow. The dramatic episodes saw Justin (James Stewart) and Leah (Ada Nicodemou) left for dead in a warehouse after being tricked by Vita Nova into thinking they’d won a luxury getaway for two.
The pair face a fight to survive, and you’ll have to wait until next year to find out their fate… or, alternatively, keep reading and find out what’s in store on Home and Away in 2024, including whether Justin and Leah survive.
When does Home and Away return in 2024?
Channel 5 hasn’t yet announced when Home and Away will return to UK screens in 2024.
However, in 2023 the show returned to Channel 5 on Monday 2nd January, and the first look aired on 5STAR on Friday 30th December 2022.
Thus, if the network sticks to its current schedule, Channel 5 will make a comeback on Monday, January 1, with 5STAR offering a sneak peek at the season premiere on Friday, December 29, 2023. Although the weekday afternoon episodes of Home and Away have been running at 1pm for the past several weeks, Channel 5 has already announced that the show will resume at its customary time slot of 1:45pm in the upcoming year.
What’s coming up on Home and Away in the UK in 2024?
We already know what’s in store for the first two months when we return to Summer Bay early next year, with Australian broadcasts taking place approximately seven weeks ahead of UK screenings with the show scheduled to run down under for a few more weeks.
Do Leah and Justin survive?
Naturally, they do. After all, what would Home and Away be if a potentially fatal problem wasn’t handled in a matter of hours?
It actually takes a little longer this time around, though. Leah tries desperately to free them, but she has better luck than Justin, who was unable to flee the warehouse when the metal structure he was climbing collapsed on top of him.
She succeeds in escaping the isolated warehouse by scaling what’s left of the building.
She quickly learns, though, that they are in the middle of nowhere with no one in sight for miles. She ultimately wakes up after collapsing and passing out and seeing a vision of Justin, who tells her to keep fighting.
After walking for miles, she eventually spots a bystander, who sounds the alarm.
Justin is rescued and rushed to Northern Districts Hospital – because where else? – where Bree (Juliet Godwin) – because who else? – takes charge.
Bree soon discovers that Justin has broken ribs and a punctured lung, and his condition is bad enough that surgery to repair the damage would be too risky.
When his condition deteriorates further, Bree has no choice but to operate anyway, but Justin is left suffering from cardiac failure.
As Justin’s health continues to deteriorate, Bree advises Leah to brace herself for the worst.
Justin, who is still unconscious, gets a vision of his own funeral in which Leah is seated on a church pew and Theo (Matt Evans) is playing music. This vision occurs as Leah and Theo come to terms with Justin’s imminent death.
The vision is enough to wake him from his coma, and he’s finally through the worst of it… well, after one more attempt on his life from a Vita Nova member posing as a hotel orderly, who tries to smother him.
After that, he makes a remarkably quick recovery.
Leah, however…
Leah’s Nightmares
While Leah may have seemingly got off lightly physically, the ordeal takes its toll on her mentally. She becomes haunted by nightmares of Justin trapped in the factory and soon struggles to sleep, fearing more nightmares.
The connection between her and Justin suffers as a result. Following Leah’s proposal in the factory, the couple quickly started organizing their wedding; however, Leah ultimately calls it off, saying Justin she needs to work through her problems before she can ever consider getting married.
Will Leah ever be ready to wed Justin, having sworn off getting married again after three unsuccessful marriages?
Zara desires Mali’s return.
fresh arrival When Zara (Matilda Brown) came in Summer Bay last week, she created quite a commotion.
She is Kyle Shilling’s (Mali’s) ex-girlfriend as well as his “promised wife,” and both of their families are hoping that they would get back together and get married in the future.
Mali was eager to clarify to Luke Van Os’s character and Kirsty Marillier’s character that his family does not, in fact, adhere to the “promised wife” tradition, but it quickly becomes apparent that Zara (Matilda Brown) believes otherwise.
She admits that she and Mali broke up when she moved to college to pursue her legal studies, and she expects him to honor his commitment to get back together after she graduates!
It appears that Victoria, Mali’s mother (Ursula Yovich), is also in favor of Zara and Mali being together, as she was not happy to learn that Rose was a police officer.
However, Zara soon reveals that she has another reason for wanting to get back with Mali – she’s dropped out of uni and hasn’t yet told her parents. She’s hoping that by returning to Mantaray Bay with him in tow, her family will be overjoyed and quickly forget about her failed studies.
Will Mali choose Zara or Rose?
Keep reading for more spoilers, or subscribe to our newsletter before to be the first to know what else is in store…
Kirby vs Forrest as she re-joins Lyrik
Kirby’s (Angelina Thomson) indecisiveness proves costly when Home and Away returns, as she faces the consequences of her decision to end her fledgling solo career.
Less than two months ago, she made the big decision to abandon her lengthy stint as Lyrik’s keyboardist and chief songwriter after music producer Forrest Duke (Elijah Williams) offered to manage her – and only her.
To the dismay of friends and bandmates Remi (Adam Rowland) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo), she left the band a few days after accepting Forrest’s offer and went off to negotiate deals and write songs on her own. But after landing a work in the city to start her solo career, she realized that being independent wasn’t for her.
Kirby quickly learns that she is bound by a contract when we return to Summer Bay the following year, and Forrest makes it very obvious that he won’t be releasing her out of it because the record company has invested thousands of dollars in her and wants to see a return on their investment.
Then there’s Remi, who isn’t exactly thrilled when Kirby says she wants to rejoin the band. Eden and Theo are ecstatic, but Remi is worried that Kirby may simply leave them again because she changed her mind so quickly.
After a while, he changes his mind and chooses to support Kirby in her battle to break free from her contract with the merciless music producer. Can they make it?
Irene’s Courtroom Presence
Though it appears as though Irene couldn’t care less, Harper (Jessica Redmayne) and Irene (Lynne McGranger) are both awaiting trial for their roles in keeping Dana Matheson (Ally Harris) hidden from the authorities.
Irene has been putting off seeing her lawyer, Greta Hunt (Amanda McGregor), despite John’s (Shane Withington) best efforts. Instead, she has given up and accepted that she is going down.
It makes little difference that Will Madden, a dishonest city detective, and Dana’s ex-boyfriend Olly set her up (Jonny Pasvolsky). Due to her past convictions, Irene is certain that she will spend a significant amount of time behind bars.
Irene is eventually persuaded to change her mind, and her court date comes. Greta tells her that the prosecution is asking for the maximum sentence, and the judge is a stickler for the law, so it will be a difficult battle!
Greta becomes concerned when the judge seems uncaring about Irene’s situation and informs the court that Irene would like to make a statement. However, it’s a bit of a bet as to whether it will help given Irene’s past performance.
Irene, despite her fear, talks honestly when she explains why she decided to assist Dana.
Irene, in tears, comes to court the following day, eager to hear her decision.
Parents of Remi
Mali’s mother Vicky and sister Elandra (Rärriwuy Hick), Rose’s biological father Samuel (Bert LaBonté), and Peter Phelps’ roles as Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) foster father Gary Morrow are just a few of the Summer Bay relatives we’ve seen recently.
We’re going to get to know each other even better now that Remi and Bree are leaving Summer Bay to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Remi’s parents.
Remi’s affluent parents are Nicola Carter (Kate Raison) and Graham (Brian Meegan), two well-known classical musicians who play in a metropolitan orchestra.
Bree is slightly overwhelmed when she and Remi pull up at the Carters’ gigantic mansion, complete with a gated driveway and private chef.
Everything goes well, with Remi’s father commending him on his life choices and both parents enamoured by Bree, the first girl he’s ever brought back to meet them.
But when Bree and Remi are asked how they met, by Graham and Nicola, things go south.
Bree starts, “Well obviously things were a little complicated, with me being with my husband,” and it quickly transpires that Remi has never disclosed to his parents the difficulties he and Bree encountered when they initially started dating.
Bree seeks an explanation since she finds it surprising that Remi has never told his parents about what she went through.
The dissolution of Tane and Felicity’s marriage
Flick became worried when Tane (Ethan Browne) came back from New Zealand a few weeks ago and began bragging about all of his baby cousins, believing he was wanting to create a family of his own.
Tane quickly confessed that all he wanted was to return to his native country and advised them to purchase a piece of land where they could eventually erect a house. But when he later brought up the subject of kids, it was obvious that it wasn’t enough to satisfy his itch.
Tane had previously acknowledged that Felicity’s insistence on not wanting children wouldn’t end their relationship, but he was now unsure if she would change her mind about it, just as she did about marriage.
Despite having previously informed Tane that she would never reconsider her decision to have no children because of her own challenging childhood, Flick quickly saw how much it was affecting him. After giving in, she informed him that she had changed her mind and was now prepared to begin a family!
“I know how much you want to be a dad,” she told a stunned Tane. “So let’s have a family.”
Despite this rapid and unlikely change of heart, Tane doesn’t question it, and immediately starts putting plans in place for their new family – plus, of course, lots of bedroom liaisons with Flick to make it a reality.
“Felicity giving [Tane] the green light to start a family is everything he could have asked for,” Ethan told TV Week. “He’s just over the moon.”
Yet things aren’t that simply. Felicity only said yes to make her husband happy, but it hasn’t changed her real feelings, as she reminds Tane that they may not get pregnant for months, if at all. Then, we see her sneak into the back room at Salt, where she’s keeping a stash of contraceptive pills, which she’s still taking!
After eventually realizing Felicity’s dishonesty, Mackenzie (Emily Weir) issues an ultimatum to her: either Flick informs Tane, or she will.
However, Tane senses something is off when she notices Mac and Flick acting strangely. Felicity is forced to tell him the truth when he commands her to dump the contents of her handbag.
Will their union withstand this most recent scandal?
Job at Surf Club at peril for John
What occurs in the new year when John’s loyalty card for “unlimited coffees” expires is something no one could have expected.
John won the card, which gives him free coffee at the Pier Diner and the Coffee Cart, at last year’s golf tournament. Valid for one year, Irene and Maz are delighted when it finally expires in upcoming episodes.
After a year of drinking for free, John decides he’s giving up caffeine and refuses to pay the diner’s outrageous pricing!
Regretfully, John has to teach a surf lifesavers course, and his shortage of flat whites makes his already antiquated teaching style even worse as he vents his frustration on the students.
When a new recruit by the name of Banjo rocks up late, John is quick to berate him. “Man bun,” as John calls him, attempts to defend himself, but John is having none of it.
Afterwards, John is horrified to hear that Banjo has reported him for his aggressive actions, and Alf (Ray Meagher) insists he provide an apology. After Harper treats him to coffee, John surprisingly caves and contacts Banjo to diffuse the situation.
Yet that’s not the end of the story. It transpires that Banjo’s father just so happens to be the owner of Yabbie Creek Real Estate, one of the Surf Club’s major sponsors, and he wants John gone.
Despite Alf’s best efforts to defend the club manager to the committee, John is in deep trouble, and an emergency meeting will decide his fate…
Is this the end of John’s time at Summer Bay Surf Life Saving Club?
Mackenzie’s heart attack
As if Mackenzie hadn’t been through enough in the past few years, she has another major drama heading her way as she suffers a heart attack.
Felicity launches an attack in the midst of a serve because she’s upset that she let Tane stay at the farmhouse following their separation. When Flick finds out that her estranged husband has already started having affairs, she places the blame squarely on Mackenzie because she feels that Mac has chosen Tane above her.
Flick yells obscenities at Mackenzie, who puts her palm to her chest and says she’s having trouble breathing. Until Mac doubles over and falls to the ground, Felicity dismisses it as her attempt to end the conversation.
Thankfully Cash and Xander are on hand to help, grabbing the defibrillator and performing CPR until the ambulance arrives.
Will Mackenzie be okay?
The arrival of Dr Levi Fowler
Yet another Summer Bay sibling is on their way, as Dr Levi Fowler (Tristan Gorey) arrives. He’s introduced as the cardiothoracic surgeon (aka a heart specialist) shipped in to consult on Mackenzie’s case, but it’s soon revealed that he’s also Eden’s brother!
Since Eden first appeared on film last year, not much has been stated about her family; up until now, her siblings have not been mentioned. In fact, Eden’s boyfriend Cash is shocked to learn that he even exists when he shows up!
The plot is straightforward: Eden moved in with her mother after Levi’s father cheated on her, and Eden went to live with her father. She severed her communication with Levi, viewing his acts as a betrayal of their family; they have been apart ever since.
While everyone else in Levi’s orbit seems to be enamoured by the new doctor, Eden refuses to see his good side. Can he win her over?
Read more on Levi’s arrival.
Home and Away returns to Channel 5 in 2024.
