2012-11-04

4th November 2012 1 hour Season 2012 Episode 30

Kerri-Anne’s Most Emotional Interview Just when Kerri-Anne Kennerley had battled through the toughest year of her life, things got a whole lot worse. Already in the midst of her own battle with cancer, her world was turned upside down again; with the news her brother was to undergo radical brain surgery. Kerri-Anne’s brother Malcolm is a gentle giant, a tradie struck down with the incurable disease Essential Tremor. He struggles to hold a glass or use a knife and fork, trapped in a body he can’t control. Kerri-Anne is with her big brother every step of the way as he undergoes Deep Brain Stimulation therapy. It’s an emotional rollercoaster for the normally smiling TV queen. This week the pacemaker device connected to Malcolm’s brain was switched on. Sunday Night is there for the results in the most emotional interview that Kerri-Anne has ever done. Australia’s Adoption Shame 18-year-old George Dennehy was abandoned at birth. Born without arms, he was dumped at an orphanage in Romania. He was starving to death and not expected to live. That is until his name was added to a long list of children available for adoption. His desperate picture was on the very last page, but that didn’t stop an American couple with three children of their own from taking him home. Today, George is an all-American teenager who plays the guitar and can even drive a car – amazingly with his toes. His mum and dad have now adopted nine children from around the world. Their home is full of love, joy and laughter. However, this is where the story takes a dark turn. Here in Australia, though there are 32,000 children in state care, and tens of thousands of childless couples desperate for a family, less than 400 children from here and overseas were adopted last year. Alex Cullen meets one of a growing number of Australian couples forced to move overseas to achieve their dream of starting a family. Deborah Lee-Furness, who with husband Hugh Jackman was forced to adopt in America, tells how laws must be changed to give more disadvantaged kids a loving home. Sunday Night then travels to Canberra to ask Federal Minister Nicola Roxon why Australia, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, has such a poor rate of adoption. Susan Boyle Goes Gangnam She lives alone with her cat in a small council house in Scotland, but this middle-aged spinster in sensible shoes is credited with saving the world’s music industry. Susan Boyle may not look like your usual pop star, but since being discovered on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, SuBo has sold over 18 million albums and stormed to the top of the charts in over 30 countries. In this remarkable interview we discover the dark side to Susan Boyle and how she has fought to live with her sudden stardom. Ahead of the release of her fourth album, Standing Ovation, Rahni Sadler joins Susan as she hits the bright lights of Las Vegas. Growing up, the songstress never believed she’d meet her teenage idol Donny Osmond, let alone sing alongside him. And don’t miss Susan letting loose and getting down – Gangnam Style.

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Season 2012 · Episode 31

2012-11-11

Dawn French Dawn French is one of the most beloved women in comedy. Adored in Australia for French and Saunders and the Vicar of Dibley, she’s also just appeared in a supermarket campaign poking fun at her large frame. Dawn is a poster girl for curvy girls – and she’s not afraid to speak her mind about it. Ross Coulthart sat down with Dawn over High Tea at London’s Savoy Hotel where nothing was off limits. Behind the laughs Dawn talks about the suicide of her father, the breakdown of a 25-year marriage, and the endless criticism of the British press. This is a woman’s story to make you laugh and cry. Never Ending Appetite It’s the most baffling and bizarre medical syndrome known to science. Around 20 Australian babies are born with it every year, half a million live with it around the world. There is no test for it, and scientists do not know why it strikes. There is no cure and currently no answers – sufferers simply have a constant, total uncontrollable urge to eat. Imagine always being hungry and never feeling full? It’s called Prader Willi Syndrome – a random brain abnormality which causes many victims to literally eat themselves to death. They will eat anything they can, from the floor, from bins, anywhere. In this remarkable Tim Noonan investigation, meet the mother of James from Melbourne, who at 21, pleaded with his mother to allow him to escape his misery by committing death by food. There was nothing in Australia to help James. But there is hope. A place where PWS sufferers help each other. One success story is Laetitia, who was a staggering 203kgs, and needed 19 firemen to help her out of her house. Now, on the road to recovery, her transformation is extraordinary. Checking Out Susan Potts is incredibly fit for 89 years of age. A former model, her photos show a beautiful woman leading a full and colourful life. Married three times, Susan was eccentric and until just recently, still driving her vintage Rolls Royce around the Gold Coast. Her sister was the famous author Sarah Henderson, who died a lingering and painful death Susan witnessed first-hand. It’s not a path she wanted for herself. So, five weeks ago, Susan decided to ‘check out’, on her terms, to her own timetable. And she wanted her decision to be a lightning rod for the euthanasia debate. Two weeks ago she made a video interview, put her affairs in order, and then four days later – at home alone – she took her life. She didn’t tell her friends or family. Susan’s remarkable interview will polarise views about the right to choose your demise, particularly for people who are fit and healthy. Doctor Death Philip Nitschke, who met Susan, denies the death of a perfectly fit and healthy person is a step too far. Indeed Nitschke believes the age at which someone can decide to legally take their own life should be set at 50. This controversial and confronting story will spark reaction and debate, and is not to be missed.

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