"Blue Heelers" (1994) TV series 1994-2006

Creators:

Hal McElroy
Tony Morphett

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | unknown

Release Date:

7 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

For cops in Mt Thomas, life's about more than the badge.

Plot:

Australian series featuring the Mt. Thomas police station and the lives of its officers.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Sergeant | Color In Title | Woman In Uniform | Uniform

Awards:

23 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 7 of 705)

Julie Nihill	...	Christine 'Chris' Reilly / ... (272 episodes, 1994-2006)
John Wood	...	Sr. Sgt. Tom Croydon / ... (272 episodes, 1994-2006)
Martin Sacks	...	Sr. Det. Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham / ... (247 episodes, 1994-2005)
Axl Taylor	...	Len The Barman / ... (211 episodes, 1994-1998)
Lisa McCune	...	Sr. Const. Margaret 'Maggie' Doyle / ... (140 episodes, 1994-2004)
William McInnes	...	Sgt. Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz / ... (140 episodes, 1994-2005)
Ditch Davey	...	Const. Evan 'Jonesy' Jones / ... (133 episodes, 2001-2006)

Also Known As:

Boys in Blue (Australia) (working title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Southern Star

Trivia:

John Wood's (Tom Croydon) favorite line from all 500 episodes of the series is "You shot Doherty's dog?", shouted by him to Constables Maggie Doyle and Wayne Patterson in the pilot episode.

Quotes:

Susie Reynor: So it really looked like a flying saucer?
Const. Joanna 'Jo' Parrish: It was full on and I didn't even have the mushrooms.
Constable Evan 'Jonesy' Jones: This is when it pays to read your star signs. Will be abducted by aliens, so pack undies!
Susie Reynor: Wonder what Rochelle's was?
Const. Joanna 'Jo' Parrish: Yeah. Sag.
Constable Evan 'Jonesy' Jones: Here it is. Something new will happen in your life. Maybe a new man. Expect a trip to outerspace!Expect a bumpy ride!
PJ: You're all so hilarious.
Susie Reynor: So what did your star sign say yesterday PJ?
Const. Joanna 'Jo' Parrish: Expect a grumpy mood and closed mind.
PJ: All your minds are so open I can hear the wind just whistling through!
[...]

Wow, it grows on you!

BH is broadcast in Italy by a second-class network that airs every episode three times a day (at breakfast, lunch and in the night) to make the most of it, and which recently made news because of the high ratings of their "Bonanza" repeats (go figure!!).

So, at first I wasn't surprised to find a series like this on the channel, because when you first look at it it looks poor, drab, dreary and totally 80's styled, like a bad remainder from the bargain bin.

At the same time I became totally addicted with "Murder Call", to the point of waking at 6AM during weekends just to watch it, and when it dawned on me it was the same production company I simply had to find out what was causing this gap.

After careful study, I have to say that there is no real "gap": yes, you can see more money being thrown in MC, but at the same time the series have such different settings that BH is definitely making a choice, and their choice is to be real. Yes, a lot happens in Mt.Thomas for such a small place, but you also see the policemen spending most of their days networking in the community, accompanying witnesses home and filing, and this is very real. The actors look ordinary, but this just adds to the greatness of BH, because would you believe a model serving as a PC in Mt.Thomas?

And you can see no one was hired for their looks, but for their talent instead: all the actors manage to deliver a lot, from the divertissement episodes (ie: The beauty pageant) to the more dramatic ones. Not to mention the Maggie-PJ chemistry, where their performances are perfect beyond belief.

The writing in this show is great, and the dialogues are as real as you can get. Another great point is that every few episodes there's a very "pervy" storyline, like the ones you can experience in Murder Call, and they are always a work of convoluted genius.

Need I say I became addicted to this show as well? Definitely worth a try!