Spinal Destination - TV Series Review

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Tessa Rivers is a successful journalist with a husband and a daughter when a mysterious illness turns her life upside down. Suddenly paralysed from the waist down, she is transferred to Goldfield's Spinal Unit. Once there she is determined to walk again, whatever the cost.

Spinal Destination is a New Zealand comedy series written and directed by Paula Whetu Jones, who is herself paralysed due to a spinal injury. It stars Bree Peters (from Sweet Tooth ) as Tessa. John Landreth, an incomplete tetraplegic, plays the cranky, but kind-hearted John, another patient at the facility. Chealsea Pita, who plays Pearl, and many of the extras are also real wheelchair users .



This series is listed as a comedy, but it's a very dark one, because of the subject matter. The first scene in the bath, when Tessa almost drowns because she is suddenly unable to move, is actually pretty harrowing. The way her illness comes on so suddenly in an apparently healthy middle-aged woman serves as a reminder to the viewer that being able-bodied is a temporary state.



I don't want to make the show sound too grim, since there are still plenty of laughs to be had. There are also heartwarming moments, such as when Edward (played by Oscar Phillips) turns 18 alone in the spinal unit without any family visiting, and the other patients throw him an impromptu party.

Spinal Destination is a moving series with a dark sense of humour. It is currently streaming on SBS On Demand.


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