Episode 8000

Episode 8000 of the Australian television soap opera Home and Away was first broadcast on Seven Network on 27 March 2023. The episode was written by Louise Bowes and directed by Arnie Custo. The plot mainly focuses on the wedding between Tane Parata (Ethan Browne) and Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis). It also briefly touches on the topic of abortion, as Bree Cameron (Juliet Godwin) terminates her pregnancy with the support of Remi Carter (Adam Rowland). The end of the episode begins a new storyline for Felicity's brother Cash Newman (Nicholas Cartwright), as he believes he has proposed to his girlfriend Eden Fowler (Stephanie Panozzo) while drunk.

The episode coincided with two weeks of "blockbuster" storylines for the show. Actress Ada Nicodemou (who plays Leah Patterson) praised the decision to make Tane and Felicity's wedding the focus of the 8000th episode, describing it as "a nice payoff for the audience."^[1] She also thought that it was important for the show to focus on sensitive issues like abortion, as it would start discussions and also help viewers in similar situations. Despite being told by the scriptwriters that the characters would get their happy ending, Purvis admitted that she still had some doubts that Tane and Felicity would marry right up until filming. She found that the set had a different feeling about it, as everyone involved seemed to know that they were creating something exciting. The wedding scenes were filmed at a faster pace than normal because of incoming bad weather, which only allowed for a few takes in which to get everything right.

The ceremony incorporates several Māori traditions, as Tane is from New Zealand. Purvis performed her character's vows in te reo Māori, which she found to be one of the hardest things she has ever had to do. She worked with a dialect coach in order to get the language right, as she did not want to disrespect the Māori culture. Due to the incoming rain, Purvis had limited time to get the vows right and she admittedly made some mistakes during the first take. Members of the Sydney Māori community were asked to help make the wedding as authentically New Zealand as possible, while Browne worked with the scriptwriters to include some personal touches, such as the wearing of traditional Korowai cloaks. Critics called Episode 8000 "unmissable" and a "landmark episode".^[1] Many pointed out that the wedding was long-awaited, while Georgie Kearney from 7News said it would "go down in Summer Bay history."^[2] The editor of TV Week branded Felicity and Tane's nuptials "the TV wedding of the year".^[3]