Lockie Leonard

Lockie Leonard, surf-rat, arrives in Angelus with his family to discover they're to live in a house that's slowly sinking into a swamp. Then Lockie meets the locals. There's a weird kid called Egg from the bogan tribe. And then there's Vicki Streeton. The first girl he's ever met who causes him to forget how to speak. If it weren't for the great waves, life in Angelus would be looking pretty scary..

It's Lockie's first day of high school and things don't go exactly to plan. After making an enemy of resident bully Boof and his gang out on the waves, Lockie is an immediate target for all kinds of special treatment at school. But with the help of Egg, Lockie deals with his newfound attention in a creative way, winning the respect of his classmates. Even Vicki Streeton is impressed with his unique tactics. Meanwhile, it's Sarge's first day at work, where he unveils his poetic approach to policing to an unsuspecting staff. As the day comes to an end, Lockie discovers Sarge has brought home a new addition to the family.

When Lockie accidentily mouths-off in maths class, Mum is called into Old Squasher's office. As usual, Mum blames herself. A guilty Lockie vows to make it up to her. At home, Lockie can't help but wonder if life would be easier for Mum if he and Phillip were born girls. For starters, everyone knows girls are better with numbers... When Lockie and Egg discover the answers to an important upcoming maths test, a quick fix to Lockie's problems stare him in the face. But can Lockie bring himself to cheat? Meanwhile, Sarge busies himself launching a war against sarcasm.

Lockie questions why Sarge insists on being so "different". He must do it on purpose - if he doesn't, then it's way too scary to think about. It's hard enough fitting into a new town without Sarge drawing attention to the family - like insisting the thing they need is a pet sheep. Named Cyril. Mum would rather a new washing machine, while Phillip would've preferred anything else after becoming the subject of Cyril's terror campaign. Has Sarge completely lost it this time? Or will Cyril, as Sarge predicts, reveal a trick or two up his fleece?

Puberty is like one of those garden make-over shows: you get a lawn where there wasn't one before. And then, just for fun, they throw in a new water feature. Now Phillip isn't the only one wetting his bed - but perhaps the worst thing about puberty is hormones. And Lockie's have arrived in a big way. First, he speaks his mind to his visiting grandparents and then makes a fool of himself in front of Vicki Streeton. All up, puberty is looking to be a bumpy ride for Lockie.

After five weeks in Angelus, Lockie is still an "Outsider", which is weird because Lockie isn't a rebel, he'd like nothing better than to be one of the gang. John East suggests Lockie join the school football team, a certain passport to social acceptance. Maybe footy could also be the path that leads to winning Vicki Streeton's heart? Meanwhile, Mum struggles to fit in with Nan and Pop, who are more interested in golf than their daughter. Lockie manages to convince his grandparents to spend some quality time with Mum at the golf course, where Mum finds an unexpected ally in Vicki Streeton.

Lockie Leonard is officially a teenager. But, hold on, do things feel any different? Try: everything! And that morning, after a near-death wetsuit experience, everything changes again. Vicki Streeton kisses Lockie, promising to sort out "The Details" later. The more Lockie absorbs what being in a relationship involves, the more he feels out of his depth. And then he meets Mystery Girl, a wicked surfer who - unlike Vicki - comes without any "Details" - Could Lockie and Vicki be over before they've even begun?

After his disaster with Vicki, Lockie hibernates in his room for days. His family have had enough - poor Phillip has even broken into a rash. Sarge comes up with a unique, and typically embarrassing, solution to the problem. Lockie wonder why his family insists on being so weird? It's only a matter of time before the Leonard weird genes kick in and Lockie's done for. Meanwhile, Vicki and her family are shooting a television commercial at her Dad's car yard, where Egg is busted sitting in Mr Streeton's prized vintage convertible - it's not the first time either! Later, when said car disappears from the car yard, Egg becomes the prime suspect.

Suffering from Easter holidays boredom, Lockie decides it's time to teach Egg how to swim. However, the boys get more than they bargained for when they discover the local river is polluted. Lockie and Egg turn to John East for help, where Lockie discovers Mystery Girl's true identity...

Thanks to Phillip, breaking news about Lockie and Dot is spreading across Angelus like wildfire: Lockie's kissing Dot. At the wind farm. At five o'clock. Lockie is mortified - and just a little bit scared. He can't kiss a girl for the first time in front of the whole town! Lockie tries to take his mind off it by stepping up his and Egg's quest to save the river but it doesn't work. Then, just when Lockie decides its time to face his fears and kiss Dot, Boof throws a spanner in the works, leaving Lockie in an awkward position - literally.

Lockie and Egg prepare for their public meeting to help save the river. At first, Lockie's committed to the cause - until Dot asks him to surf, that is. With his mind switched to Dot, Lockie neglects his responsibilities and lets everyone down. It's official: Lockie Leonard has turned into a right dog, winding up in the Dog House, where he belongs. And there's only one person who can bail Lockie out: himself. Can Lockie make it up to his nearest and dearest and escape a life sentence in the Dog House?

Lockie has some problems. First, he's decided to break up with Dot. It's just figuring out how that's tricky. Meanwhile, Mum is acting weird. She's been staring at the TV for days, when it's not even tuned to a channel. Phillip's not impressed he's missing his favourite superhero cartoon, Captain Chicken. And to top things off, Egg and Lockie's quest to save the river is going nowhere. Lockie has got some serious work to do. And he's going to have to find his inner Captain Chicken to sort it all out.

Just when life is finally uncomplicated, Lockie falls for Vicki Streeton all over again - and it's driving him to distraction. John East suggests Lockie create a Board Riders Association to take his mind off girls. Unfortunately, Boof not only joins the group but sets his sights on the presidency as well. Lockie isn't thrilled but at least he knows where he stands with Boof. No complications there. Unlike Vicki. One minute, he breaks her toe, forcing her out of the lead role in the upcoming ballet. And the next? She's helping him. Will Lockie ever understand girls! Maybe it's time for Lockie to take a leaf out of Sarge's book and learn to understand the ultimate language of romance: poetry.

Lockie and Vicki are back on. And unlike before, Lockie takes the public attention in his stride. However, along with his newfound popularity comes new pressure: everyone is wondering what step Lockie and Vicki are up to on the "Ladder of Love". Lockie questions why things can't stay the same but Phillip warns that he has to keep things moving, or the relationship will sour and the romance will die. Lockie consults Mum's Little Green Book, which seems to start at Step 23 and shoot off in to the stratosphere! This is serious stuff. Is Lockie ready to climb further up "The Ladder of Love"?

Now he's popular, Lockie's getting a big head. And a short fuse. When the dancing challenged Lockie realises he's expected to bust some moves at the upcoming Blue Light Disco, he takes his insecurities out on Phillip, who's been busy engineering a night to remember for he and Lisa. On the night, it's not only nerves that send Lockie's belly into a tangle, which causes him more than a little attention on the dance-floor. Phillip learns a few hard truths, forcing Lockie to realise how important his brother really is to him.

Lockie is invited to go water skiing with Vicki and her parents, and assures Vicki he's a good skier. In reality, he's never skied before. Ever. However, since this is a chance to spend more time with Vicki and impress her parents, Lockie feels he has little choice but to pretend. Besides, skiing's just like surfing, right? How hard can it be? At the river, Lockie meets Vicki's friends who now go to boarding school in the city, discovering a side of Vicki he didn't know existed. Maybe Lockie doesn't know Vicki as well as he though he did.

After a misunderstanding with Vicki, Lockie is thrust into a looming altercation with an older bogan. Mum also faces her fears when Mrs Eggleston asks her to pose for a sculpture. In the nude. Waking up with a temperature the day of his scheduled fight, Lockie has to decide whether to use his sickness as an excuse not to show up and face public ridicule, or face his fears and go ahead with it.

Lockie is stressed out . Out the three hundred and sixty five days in the year, why did Vicki and Phillip have to be born on the exact same day? Sometimes things just happen that are out of your control. Like Mum's battle with her new bread-maker. Or a misunderstanding that sees Lockie arrive inappropriately dressed for Vicki's birthday party. How will Lockie get out of this one without ruining Vicki's big day?

Lockie and a bunch of kids from school are off to John East's Camp Find Yourself. It's supposed to be a fun weekend of canoeing and ping pong but instead, Lockie is forced to make some tough decisions. Vicki is keen to spend as much quality, couple time with Lockie as possible but when Egg reveals his parents are separating and he may be moving to the city with his mum, Lockie's priorities are tested. While Lockie doesn't want to let Vicki down, he can't sit back and let his best friend march out of Angelus without a fight. Could Lockie's loyalty to Egg put his relationship with Vicki under serious threat?

Mum is having one of Polka Dot days. Like Freda the Volvo, sometimes Mum needs a bit of a tune-up. Usually, one day in bed does the job. But it's been three days already and Mum's not getting any better. And the Leonard men are starting to worry. Phillip has been wetting the bed, Sarge is putting on a brave face but Lockie can tell he's concerned and Lockie himself has come over all mature and responsible, taking on the housework and cooking duties. With so much going on at home, Lockie has decided to also be mature and responsible about his and Vicki's break-up - if he can just get his head around the definition of those two words. As the pressure gets too much for Lockie, he feels compelled to do something totally irresponsible and immature. Can he resist the bone-crunching allure of skate-boarding down notorious Zig Zag Hill?

Mum's still in hospital and it's really starting to take its toll on Phillip: his bedwetting has been getting worse. Lockie takes it upon himself to cheer his little brother up, entering them in the Annual Angelus Fishing Competition. Out in the boat, things soon go awry when the boys find themselves stranded. The stressful situation forces Phillip to reveal what really is worrying him, paving the way for Lockie to cushion Phillip's pain - with the help of Vicki Streeton, luck, and an unlikely guardian angel.

With not much else going on in Angelus, the poor, motherless Loopy Leonards have become the preferred conversation topic. It seems everyone's talking about how the Leonards have fallen in a hole since Mum went into hospital. Now, to make matters worse, they've become the recipients of charity from do-gooders: casseroles, working bees - even random people are folding Lockie's underwear! And Lockie thinks he knows who's to blame for it all: Vicki Streeton. Is Lockie right? Or is it about time he learnt the whole world doesn't necessarily revolve around him?

Nan and Pop arrive to help out the Leonards but with Nan's cooking filling the family's stomach with stinky hot gas and Pop's dangerous driving, the grandparents are more of a hindrance. Meanwhile, Mr Streeton's blowing a lot of hot air about the place too, on the campaign trail to be re-elected as mayor. Vicki preferred things they way they were, before he donned the mayoral robes - back when he used to be home for dinner. But with no-one standing against him, what can you do? Find someone to stand against him, perhaps? But who?

Lockie's ponders the notion of the domino effect: how one small event can trigger a series of other smaller events, leading to big, potentially life-changing results. After suffering at the hands of the domino effect himself, Lockie decides to put the theory to positive use, attempting to change Vicki and Egg's home lives for the better. Meanwhile, Phillip, too, is working hard to effect change, becoming obsessed with feng shui. With mixed results.

It's the last day of school and Vicki drops a bombshell: she won't be coming back to Angelus High next year. In fact, she's leaving Angelus altogether to go to boarding school. Now her family is back together, Mr. Streeton wasn't what's best for everybody. Lockie wonders how sending Vicki away is good for the family let alone him. At home, still reeling from Vicki's news, Sarge informs Lockie their family may not be together in time for Christmas Day. While Mum's getting better, she may not be ready to come home, just yet. So, the status report: no Vicki, no Mum. This is shaping up to be best the best Christmas ever. Not.