Encore: Love, sex and the secret life of retirees

<p>Screenwriter Samantha Strauss on her grandmother's vibrant last years in a Gold Coast retirement home where love, sex and startlingly pragmatic conversations about dying were all part of daily life. (CW: not suitable for children) (R)</p><p>Samantha Strauss started dancing from the age of 2, and as she grew up, she became increasingly serious about it.</p><p>Sam was 18 when her budding ballet career was cut short by a shocking injury.</p><p>After a year on the couch recovering, she reinvented herself.</p><p>A few years later, inspired by the story of her own life in ballet, she co-created a TV series called Dance Academy.</p><p>Dance Academy went on to screen in 160 countries, with Sam as the head writer across the 65 episodes.</p><p>Sam's next show, The End, was set partly in a Gold Coast retirement village.</p><p>Samantha got the idea as she watched how her own Grandmother's life changed after moving into a similar place at the end of her life.</p><p>She expected to hate it, but ...