Episode 7202

Kip Gamblin was grateful for the chance to be a part of the show's first three-hander.

On 18 August 2015, David Knox of TV Tonight reported that Neighbours would be airing their first three-hander – an episode that features just three characters – on 1 September.[1] The show's episodes usually feature an ensemble cast with multiple on-going storylines.[2] While Knox observed that it is uncommon for an Australian drama to focus on so few actors.[1] "Episode 7202" centres on the conclusion to a love-triangle storyline that has been running since 2013, with Brad Willis finally choosing Lauren Turner over his wife Terese.[1][2] The episode is set in just two houses on opposite sides of Ramsay Street, and the scenes deal with three of the five stages of grief: denial, anger and bargaining.[1]

The show's series producer Jason Herbison wrote the episode, and he hoped that it would be memorable for viewers in the future.[3] He admitted to being worried about how the actors would react to the script, explaining "I was a bit nervous when I broke the news of the episode to Kate, Kip and Rebekah. Filming an entire episode with no other cast is a big call in fast-moving serial television. However, all three embraced the challenge and delivered some of their best performances ever."[3]

Gamblin was grateful to the producers for trusting that he, Elmaloglou and Kendall could carry such an important episode. He told Sarah Ellis from Inside Soap "Usually we get three or four scenes, so to have a whole episode to ourselves was good – even though there were a lot of lines to learn!"[4] Kendall expressed her amazement that a three-hander had not been done before, but believed the love triangle was the perfect storyline to use the style. She felt excited about the script when she received it and branded the plot "really interesting".[5] Kendall told Carena Crawford of All About Soap that it was a challenge to find the much needed depth and subtlety for the scenes.[6] "Episode 7202" was preceded by an online bonus scene called "Before Dawn", which featured Brad and Lauren discussing their feelings for each other after they had sex.[7]

Gamblin admitted that he was not surprised to learn Brad and Lauren would finally give into their feelings for one another.[6] He believed many fans of the show had wanted Brad and Lauren to get together from the moment the Turner and Willis families arrived in 2013.[4] Ellis observed that it was "inevitable" that they would reunite at some point.[4] Brad and Terese's marriage was tested multiple times, but things came to a head when Terese's alcoholism and Brad's lack of sensitivity to her feelings began affecting their children.[4] After Brad and Lauren's one-night stand, Gamblin said Brad felt guilty, but he also wanted to be honest and tell Terese to "minimise the damage".[4] Elmaloglou thought the consequences of the episode would be felt for a long time afterwards, and that some "interesting dynamics" would also develop between the families.[6]

The episode was filmed in early June 2015.[8] Gamblin described the filming schedule as "pretty busy", while Elmaloglou called it "a real collaborative effort".[6] For the scene in which Terese throws a jam jar at Brad, Elmaloglou was told to aim for Gamblin's head and he would get out of the way. Gamblin said that if he had failed to duck in time, she would have hit him across the face.[4] The actors had two chances to get the take right as there were only two jam jars available for the scene.[9] Kendall told an Inside Soap columnist that the stunt where Terese pushes Lauren in the pool could only be shot once, as it would take too long to dry out their hair and clothes.[5] She explained "so we knew what the money shot was, and worked everything else up towards that."[5] Kendall and Elmaloglou were unable to hear Eames call out "cut", so they continued "really going at it" resulting in the final take.[5]