Home and Away begins tragic new Felicity storyline

Next week on Home and Away in the UK, Battle of the Bands takes a tragic turn as someone slips something into Felicity’s drink.

Lyrik is set to embark on an exciting new journey as Theo (Matt Evans), Kirby (Angelina Thomson), Remi (Adam Rowland), and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) compete in the Battle of the Bands.

Instead, it becomes one of the darkest days of their friend Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) life when she is viciously raped after her drink is drugged.

Wishing for the band to produce an album, as well as the opportunity to spend more time at home with girlfriend Bree (Juliet Godwin), Remi made the risky decision to cancel Lyrik’s planned away shows so that they could focus on entering Battle of the Bands and earning $20,000.

The rest of the band wasn’t thrilled with Remi’s decision, but they eventually came around. Remi decided to bring in an old friend, violinist extraordinaire Mercedes Da Silva (Amali Golden), to give Lyrik’s performance a unique edge after hearing some of the other bands competing.

Following their final rehearsal next week, lead singer Theo visits ‘band manager’ Justin (James Stewart) in the hospital and admits that he’s screwing up the contest. It’s a considerably larger crowd than he’s used to, and the stakes are much higher, given the sacrifices Lyrik has made to get there.

Justin does his best to reassure Theo that the band will be awesome, and that he shouldn’t worry about things he has no control over.

It’s of little help to Theo, though, for the band arrives at the downtown venue the next day, with Flick and Bree accompanying them for support. Overwhelmed by the number of people streaming in, Theo promptly pukes in a neighbouring plant pot.

As the band waits backstage, Theo remains exceedingly green around the gills (oh, wait, that’s just the lighting), and both Flick and Eden try to counsel him.

Meanwhile, Flick is overjoyed when she receives a phone call from husband Tane (Ethan Browne), who has just returned from a trip to New Zealand. As a result, she informs the band that she may have to leave them early.

Lyrik takes the stage for the first time, and they go down a storm. Bree and Flick give it their all as they cheer on their friends, knowing that if the audience creates enough noise, the band would have a better chance of making it to the final.

However, as the two are occupied, an unseen person slips a vial of liquid into one of their glasses… which is soon swigged down by an unsuspecting Flick.

Flick soon starts to feel woozy, so tells Bree she’s going to get some water.

As she makes her way to a back staircase at the venue, Flick’s vision begins to blur and she struggles to keep her balance.

Stumbling as she walks down the stairs, Flick makes it to the bottom before collapsing onto the ground, slipping into unconsciousness…

Lyrik are buzzing as they finish up their set, with Bree rushing backstage to congratulate them.

After Bree admits she’d simply gone to grab some water, the band wonders where Flick has gone, but Eden reminds them that Flick had warned them she may vanish to see Tane.

As everyone snaps a group selfie, none of them can conceive what has happened to Flick, who is unconscious in an adjacent vacant room.

Tane calls Eden to check on her after he can’t reach Flick. Eden reminds him of Flick; she’s probably out on the dancefloor, but she still tries to get a hold of Flick herself.

Meanwhile, Flick is confused when she finally comes round in a room that she has no memory of entering.

“At first, Flick has no idea what’s happened – she’s very groggy, has no voice and her limbs don’t work as they should,” Jacqui told Australian mag TV Week. “When she tries to sit up and realises her dress is ripped and her bra is showing, she suddenly suspects what has happened.”

as Lyrik learns that they have won the audience vote, they are overjoyed, but things quickly take a dramatic turn as Flick stumbles back into the room and collapses into Eden’s arms.

Bree examines Flick before transporting him to the safety of Lyrik’s van, asking Eden if there’s any chance she took something. But, as a distraught Flick fixes her slipping dress, Bree and Eden are horrified as the reality of what has happened to her dawns on them.

Bree and Eden rush Flick back to Northern Districts Hospital, while the rest of Lyrik agrees that the contest cannot be continued at this time.

At the hospital, Eden supports Flick as she tries to explain to Bree what she remembers, which unfortunately is very little—she just woke up in a room without any idea of how she got there.

“It’s torturous,” Jacqui continued. “She doesn’t want to believe it, but has to, unfortunately

Eden struggles to keep her composure as she supports her bestie, but once the longwinded process is over, she’s finally able to embrace Felicity who breaks down in her arms.

Tane had returned home blissfully oblivious of what has transpired, until Remi knocks on the door. Remi is obliged to convey the bad news to Tane, who is perplexed as to why he isn’t at the Battle of the Bands…

“I was so nervous and scared because it was a lot of pressure,” Jacqui told NZ publication Stuff, recalling the moment she heard of the upcoming storyline.

“I knew that if I was going to take this on, it would be a lot of hard work because I wanted it to be real. I wanted to do the men and women who have been through it justice.”

The plot hit near to home for Jacqui, who, happily, had not gone through such a harrowing event herself, but was able to get advice from two friends as she explored the subject.

“Unfortunately, I had a friend who had been drugged with GHB, so I approached him.” Another of my acquaintances, a woman, had been raped and boldly agreed to speak with me. That also helped.”

Flick has been through a lot since she first appeared on UK screens in September 2021, but Jacqui confesses that this plotline affected her far more than she expected, and it wasn’t just a case of switching off after the day’s filming was done.

“I thought I’d be fine. I’ve done heavy storylines before, including my short film on mental health and suicide, but it did affect me,” she continued.

“I was having to go to a really dark place every single day at work for a long time and I think I just got stuck. I did get a bit depressed for a while but, thankfully, I got help (in the form of) a professional to talk me through it.“

UK viewers will continue to see the huge impact the assault has on Felicity over the coming months, with further shocking twists and turns on the horizon.