Another Rafter leaves the nest:

Channel Seven has confirmed that Angus McLaren, who plays the third Rafter sibling Nathan, will leave half way through the upcoming Packed to the Rafters series.

Jessica Marais, who played eldest daughter Rachel Rafter, left during the last season to pursue a Hollywood career and is now pregnant with her first child with fiance James Stewart who played her onscreen boyfriend Jake.

Hugh Sheridan, who plays Ben Rafter, will also reportedly exit the show sometime this series leaving only onscreen parents Gibney and Thompson and grandfather Caton left from the original family cast.

Baby Ruby Rafter will remain on the show but the plot developments for an infant are still rather limited.

Meanwhile, Nine's new family drama Tricky Business, which starts later this year, looks set to rival Rafters.

Like Rafters, it's a family drama but is said to have a bit more of an edge than the Seven series with the Christie family in the debt-collecting business.

Tricky Business also has an established cast with main characters played by Shane Bourne, Debra Byrne and Gigi Edgley.