Farewell Packed to the Rafters - we'll miss you!

We bid a sad farewell to Packed to the Rafters last night in a brillant double-episode that didn't wrap up until almost 11pm - and it still wasn't enough.

And we're desperately hoping Channel 7 didn't just say it was planning a spin-off show to stop us crying too hard, because we were devastated during last night's finale.

So much happened. Where do we begin?

The only disappointment for us here at iVilliage is that Ben didn't get back together with Emma, although we do like Buzz. And it seems Ben has finally managed to make peace with the loss of his first wife, Mel.

Here are the highlights...

Nathan and Sammy are back together and Edward (named after Ted, his grandfather) will remain in his custody after his ex said she's happy for the baby to be with him, as long as she gets to see him from time to time.

Rachel and Jake got engaged. Yay!

Reta and Carbo are expecting a baby and the pregnancy is going well, this time.

Coby and Frankie finallly got together and sealed their love with a beautiful tattoo.

Ted's dementia is worse but he has times of happiness in his new home.

The rumour is the show will return in 12 months time and either follow the lives of Ben and Nathan or it might track Dave and Julie's road trip. Who knows?

All we know is that we've loved being part of the Rafters family for the past six years. It's been a huge success for Channel Seven and ended on a high. It managed to maintain it's Tuesday night timeslot for the entire duration - a feat not many shows achieve these days.

As Aussie dramas go, this one was always going to be a winner with a brilliant cast made up of Hugh Sheridan (Ben), Jessica Marais (Rachel), Ryan Corr (Coby), Jessica McNamee (Sammy), Michael Caton (Ted), Erik Thompson (Dave), Angus McLaren (Nathan), Zoe Ventura Mel), George Houvardas (Carbo) and the gorgeous and talented Rebecca Gibney (Julie), along with plenty more amazingly talented veteran actors like John Howard and budding stars such as Brenna Harding.

A Channel Seven spokesperson told The Age, "The series is expected to end in July and a new storyline nutted out, with no production expected to take place for at least a year. The actors will be given a prolonged break to pursue other projects."

^{Images courtesy of Channel Seven}