With so much cast uncertainty, the solution was a raft of fresh new faces to revamp the series once again; Max's city lawyer cousin, Jamie Newman (Scott McRae), joined the cast during the Mr Bad revenge plot, and soon after, Josephine Mitchell first appeared as fashion designer, Penny O'Brien, with her young daughter, Charlie (Prue Maguire). A former guest character, JoJo Adams (Kelly Abbey), returned to the series as a regular. A new and much vaunted bad-boy came next and he was revealed to be Reverend Bob Brown's long-lost gangster brother, Jack (Andrew Williams). Melissa Bell, who'd previously played a minor role as Janine in 1989, rejoined the cast as hippy Bonnie Tate, and, soap veteran Joanna Lockwood was cast as Ernie Patchett's new love interest, Sally McKinnon. These new characters were met with limited success, however; Penny was described as a clone of the departed character Alice Sullivan, and Jack Brown's clichéd gangster storylines were considered the low point of "E Street"s final few months- especially when Elly's former sister-in-law, Laura Fielding (Antoinette Byron), turned out to be a hit woman on a secret mission to kill Jack. Shortly after this, the much derided storyline of an elaborate practical joke that involved Max turning into a werewolf became the final turning point and tabloids totally mauled the writers for their outlandish audacity and claimed the series was now past its peak and showing no signs of improving. Actor Bruce Samazan, commented at the time about the werewolf storyline: