“It felt like I had grown up.”

On her way to the quiet country town of Augusta in Western Australia, where the second season of Scrublands was filmed, Sarah Roberts devoured the world she was about to inhabit by reading the novels and filming script. But perhaps a little too much.

“I felt like the accommodation I was staying in was haunted!” Sarah, 40, 
tells TV WEEK with a laugh. “I arrived in town very late the day before we started filming. I turned on the bathroom taps and bright red water came gushing out. I had just read the scripts, so I had murder in my mind, but it was just red dirt in the pipes because the house hadn’t been used in a long time.”
Sarah is thrilled to return to the dark noir genre: “It’s such an intelligent drama,” she says. (Credit: Stan)
Sarah jokingly adds that “no acting was required” on set, due to that eerie encounter, but it also made for a great ice-breaker with the cast. “Luke Carroll [who plays Scotty] walked me home from the pub every night. It brought me a lot closer to the cast and, when you’re on location, it’s nice to have that.”

In Scrublands: Silver, the actress reprises her role as journalist Beth Ramachandran. Beth is lured to the country town to help her friend and colleague, Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold), investigate the murder of his childhood friend – and exonerate his partner Mandy (Bella Heathcote), who’s seen as the prime suspect.

“The relationships are fleshed out more this season,” Sarah says. “Martin and Beth had great banter in season one and that continues in Silver. She is intelligent and quick-witted and they’re both cut-throat in the way they go after stories.”
Beth returns to help Martin (Luke Arnold) solve a murder in Scrublands: Silver. (Credit: David Dare Parker)
Having played only a small part in the first season, all of which she filmed solo to portray phone calls between Beth and Martin, Sarah is thrilled to be in the thick of the action.

“I attended the wrap party after season one, but hadn’t actually filmed anything,” she recalls.

“Some of the crew were like, ‘who are you?’ They thought I was the accountant!” she laughs. “It was a surreal experience but it’s nice to now be acting opposite people.”

Scrublands marks quite the departure from Sarah’s breakout role on Home and Away, where she played Willow Harris from 2017 to 2021. But her legacy hasn’t been forgotten – even by people on the other side of the world.
Bella and Sarah developed a strong friendship throughout filming. (Credit: David Dare Parker)
“I did a Home and Away Q&A panel in Belgium recently and it was so cool to meet all the fans. They still had so much interest in Willow,” she says. “I didn’t think my character would 
still be resonating.”

With the door left open, Sarah could make a return to the show one day. But, for now, she’s happy to explore different sides of the job.

“I feel like I’ve grown up in a way,” Sarah says of the differences between Scrublands and H&A. “It’s such an intelligent drama and I loved flexing different acting muscles.

“I’d always consider returning. When I first left [H&A], I was devastated. But now I love what
I’m doing and the projects I’m on.”
Willow and Colby (Tim Franklin) had a complicated friendship in Home and Away. (Credit: Channel Seven)
It’s that mindset that Sarah has carried into her 40th year, a milestone she celebrated at the end of 2024. After a few tough years, including the tragic death of her brother and her divorce from Home and Away co-star James Stewart, Sarah is determined to make the most of life – including work projects such as Scrublands, Colin From Accounts and upcoming documentary Make It Look Real.

“Turning 40 was important for me,” she says. “I’ve had a tough five years 
or so and losing my brother when he was 45 has become a marker for me. If I only have a few more years, how do 
I want to spend them? I don’t hate getting older: it’s a privilege.

“Sometimes I wish difficult situations hadn’t happened but, as long as you can grow, that’s life, isn’t it? I’m excited every day to see what happens next.”