“The Doona Moment” in Return to Paradise is when the crime is solved.
Every crime drama has its reveal scene, but as Celia Ireland explains it's approached a little differently in ABC drama.
Denouement is a French word that literally means the action of untying, and in the world of television crime dramas it is that scene where the hero unravels all the strands of the plot to reveal the killer.
But ask Celia Ireland from Return to Paradise and you’ll get a more down-to-earth interpretation.
“We call it the doona moment,” she tells TV Tonight.
“Because if you’re lying on bed watching telly, it’s when you pull the doona up. You’re just about turn the light out. It’s all wrapped up. That’s who did it, okay I’ll pull the doona up, and then you’re off to sleep.
“It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? Early on, a few of us couldn’t even really pronounce ‘denouement.’ It’s too hard. So we just caught it ‘the doona moment.’ It was an old mate of mine who told me that years ago. I thought, ‘I’m gonna steal that!’
“Theose scenes are amazing to film, because for Anna (Samson), it’s like a piece of theatre. It’s like she’s doing a monologue on stage, and they take pretty much all day to film, because it’s on her and then everybody’s reaction. Then, of course, the really dramatic moment when the person accused either tries to make a run for it, or collapses into a heap of tears or something. But, it’s a lot of fun to work on, because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
Ireland returns as Reggie Rocco, Dolphin Cove’s very own retiree turned VIP (Volunteer in Policing), on hand with local history and lashings of local support.
“I think she’s very much like me. She was an English teacher, and I trained as a primary school teacher 1000 years ago. I think she has a strong sense of civic duty and pride in her community. I think she is very fond of Mack… she’s dynamic, she’s funny, she’s probably a bit of a sticky beak, but she’s useful in the team, because she has got history in the town, having lived there for so long. So she’s quite insightful about the links the history of different relationships.”
VIPs assist with administrative tasks, victim support, community liaison, community policing initiatives, maintain local registers and more. Ireland admits she wasn’t sure if it was legitimate or created by scriptwriters.
“I thought, ‘Is that a made up thing?’ But apparently in smaller communities when the police force is a little bit thin on the ground they they can enlist the help of police-checked dutiful members of the community who are well-respected and who would like a bit of a job. So they just come along and help. I think for old Reggie, she’s never actually at the site of the murder. She’s never there when there’s a dead body lying on the ground or washed up on shore or whatever. So she kind of hangs out in the office and helps them piece it all together,” she explains.
“So it’s a real job. However, I think they’ve had a bit of dramatic licence in how much she does do. I’m pretty sure the real people don’t do that much. They’d probably just be in the office, fielding calls and doing the coffee runs. I haven’t ever met a VIP -volunteering policing- but I had to look it up because I thought that sounds like it’s made up.”
Well-known to fans of Wentworth, where she played Lizzie Birdsworth, and All Saints as Regina Butcher, the role of the benevolent, well-meaning character is not unfamiliar to her.
“I actually think that is a consistent thing in the work that I do. When I go right back to All Saints, Regina was the ward clerk, and I used to get feedback from people saying, ‘We love that character, because she’s not medical.’ So she reacts to the trauma and the medical stuff the way a normal person would in the hospital.
“And I think she thinks it’s a bit true for Lizzie in Wentworth, she wasn’t a hardened criminal. She sort of was a bit of a poor old soul who driving under the influence and running over her mother in law, which was slightly unfortunate. But she wasn’t, she wasn’t sort of a hardened criminal like Kris McQuade’s character, or even Nicole de Silva’s Frankie.”
Also returning to the series are Tai Hara, Lloyd Griffith, Catherine McClements, Celia Ireland, Andrea Demetriades, and Aaron McGrath as Constable Felix.
“There’s a lovely storyline between Reggie and Felix, which kind of goes all the way through. They’ve got such a sweet partnership and there’s a really lovely thing that culminates in the final episode for both of them.
“The dynamic within the cast is really lovely, too. As actors, we all get on really well. There’s a good work ethic. I think the guest cast collectively have quite enjoyed being on the show, so that’s a really nice thing. When you get that feedback around the traps afterwards, and people go, ‘I had such a good time on your show,’ there’s so many good guest stars.
“They’re all really lovely, actually, not, not a dud one. I can’t say nothing bad about no one. I hope it ends up being hugely successful, and I’ll be turning 70 by the time we finish!”
Return to Paradise screens 7:30pm Saturdays on ABC.
