Fans bid farewell to much-loved Aussie medical drama All Saints in 2009. But when TV WEEK brought former co-stars and on-screen lovebirds Erik Thomson and Georgie Parker together for a reunion, it was like no time had passed.
As medical registrar Mitch Stevens and nurse Terri Sullivan, Erik and Georgie shared one of Australian TV’s great love stories.
But their fledging romance wasn’t without hiccups. And as much as the actors fought tirelessly for their relationship on-screen, so too did the show’s loyal fans.
“I loved Mitch and Terri’s relationship,” Georgie, 52, tells TV WEEK. “They had a huge history together and then ended up meeting again and finally got together. We had enormous fun playing them, because we trusted each other physically and we got along so well.”
All Saints launched in 1998, marking over 20 years since the Channel Seven drama began.
Mitch and Terri in All Saints.
(Supplied)For a long time, Mitch and Terri danced around a relationship. They certainly felt a frisson of excitement around each other. But she was a nun, and by the time she left the sisterhood, he was committed to Rose (Joy Smithers).
Fans desperately wanted them to be together – and so did their portrayers.
“We [Georgie and I] said to the writers, ‘It has to happen. We’ve stretched it out long enough – he has to get the girl. And they have to get married before it all goes pear-shaped,'” Erik says.
The couple did get together, but they didn’t get their happily ever after. Shortly after Mitch and Terri got engaged, they discovered Mitch had a brain tumour and was going to die.
The pair wed in a low-key ceremony in 2003 and Mitch died in the following episode. Fans were shattered.
Just like old times!
(AreMedia Syndication)“I get emotional thinking about it, because it was so powerful,” Erik says.
“I’m lying there [acting] dead, and Georgie is on me, crying. Her tears were falling on my face and I couldn’t flinch because I was [meant to be] dead. But it was so cathartic for both of us.”
Georgie also remembers how she felt filming the poignant scene.
“It was very sad,” she reveals. “[After filming finished] Erik just sort of opened his eyes and then he sat up and we just hugged. It was like, ‘Oh, my God – this is it.'”
Georgie admits the moment Mitch died was when she realised life on set was about to change.
Her character may have been grieving the loss of her husband, but Georgie had lost her real-life “partner in crime”.
Erik and Georgie would love to work together again.
(AreMedia Syndication)“It wasn’t the same for me after that,” Georgie admits matter-of-factly. “The bond between Terri and Mitch was the magical part of the show for me.
“Yes, Terri went on. And while I loved the relationships I had with all the other characters, the time I remember fondly was where Terri got to experience love, and that was with Erik.”
So, what about an All Saints reunion? Mitch can’t come back, but Terri could.
“I’d do it, absolutely,” Georgie declares. “Where do I sign up? I’d love to see what Terri is like now.”
