A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Blue Heelers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Boys in Blue (working title) |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | |
| Starring | |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 13 |
| No. of episodes | 510 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Riccardo Pellizzeri |
| Camera setup | |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies | Southern Star 7 Network |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network |
| Release | 18 January 1994 – 4 June 2006 |
Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the everyday lives and relationships of the residents of Mount Thomas, a fictional small town in Victoria.
The series was one of the highest-rated and most-awarded programs in the history of Australian television, having won 25 Logie awards, and having equal standing with The Don Lane Show as the most awarded show in the history of the Logies (with five wins). It is also noted for its two main stars Lisa McCune, a four-time recipient of the Gold Logie, and John Wood, who also won Gold.
Overview
Blue Heelers was first aired on 10 September 1993[citation needed], with the episode "A Woman's Place". The last episode, episode #510 titled "One More Day" aired on 4 June 2006. The series was produced by Southern Star Group for the Seven Network. During its 13-season run it won a total of 32 awards and was nominated for a further 50.[1] This included 25 Logie Awards, five of which were the Gold Logie, the most coveted television award in Australia.[2]
As well as everyday policing matters, the series deals with many controversial and "touchy" subjects. The series was the first to examine the stressful world of young police officers who are "thrown into the deep end where they are left to sink or swim".[3]
Police procedurals were enormously popular in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, but by the 1980s they had been replaced by home-grown soap operas and mini-series, like Neighbours and Home and Away.
Blue Heelers, however, was Australia's most popular television drama while it lasted. The series drew more than 2.5 million viewers every week at its peak.[2] Along with the long-running Crawford Productions series Homicide, Blue Heelers holds the Australian record for most episodes produced of a weekly prime-time drama. It was also nearly the longest-running series,[4][5] but Homicide lasted one calendar month longer and, due to five feature-length episodes, had more time on air.
Blue Heelers was sold to 108 territories and gained international recognition in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and other countries.[6]
The series launched the careers of many Australian actors, such as Lisa McCune, Grant Bowler, Ditch Davey, Rachel Gordon, Tasma Walton, Charlie Clausen and Jane Allsop. While many of these actors are still best known for their work on Blue Heelers, some have gone on to bigger roles. Many other actors of today also appeared in guest roles, including Hugh Jackman, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Peter O'Brien, John Howard and Robert Rabiah.
John Wood, alongside Julie Nihill remained the only actors with Blue Heelers to remain during its entire 12-year run, portraying Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon and publican Chris Riley respectively.
Plot
The series primarily focuses on the daily lives of police officers working at a police station in the fictional small town of Mount Thomas in the Australian state of Victoria. Each episode is presented from the perspective of the officers. This was a specific technique that creator Hal McElroy chose to employ.[7]
The police officers, commonly referred to as "Heelers", are always active sorting out the town's many problems. These problems range from trivial complaints such as land and fencing disputes to more serious offences, such as homicides and assaults. The small town is also faced with many other significant occurrences including bank robberies, escaped criminals, police shootings, kidnappings and the acts of deluded criminals. Of these, one of the more significant events is the bombing of the police station during the show's eleventh season.
Whenever overwhelmed, the Heelers call on the assistance of the police in the larger town of St Davids, home of the resident police inspector Russell Falcon-Price. An antagonist in the series, Falcon-Price often tries to terminate the employment of the Mount Thomas sergeant or to close the entire station, which in reality would be almost entirely out of his control.
Along with their police work, aspects of the Heelers' personal lives are regularly featured, notably the relationship between Maggie and PJ, which ends with Maggie's death in one of the most watched moments on Australian television.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 45 | 10 September 1993 | 22 November 1994 | |
| 2 | 41 | 21 February 1995 | 21 November 1995 | |
| 3 | 42 | 12 February 1996 | 26 November 1996 | |
| 4 | 42 | 10 February 1997 | 25 November 1997 | |
| 5 | 41 | 24 February 1998 | 25 November 1998 | |
| 6 | 42 | 10 February 1999 | 24 November 1999 | |
| 7 | 41 | 9 February 2000 | 22 November 2000 | |
| 8 | 42 | 21 February 2001 | 28 November 2001 | |
| 9 | 40 | 13 February 2002 | 20 November 2002 | |
| 10 | 42 | 12 February 2003 | 26 November 2003 | |
| 11 | 39 | 4 February 2004 | 5 November 2004 | |
| 12 | 42 | 2 February 2005 | 26 November 2005 | |
| 13 | 11 | 1 April 2006 | 4 June 2006 | |
Cast
Main
| Actor | Character | Episode count | Season | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| John Wood | Tom Croydon | 510 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Julie Nihill | Chris Riley | 510 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Martin Sacks | P.J. Hasham | 484 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lisa McCune | Maggie Doyle | 255 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| William McInnes | Nick Schultz | 214 | Main | Guest | Guest | |||||||||||||||||||
| Grant Bowler | Wayne Patterson | 96 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ann Burbrook | Roz Patterson | 31 | Main | Guest | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Damian Walshe-Howling | Adam Cooper | 178 | Main | Guest | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tasma Walton | Dash McKinley | 128 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Bishop | Ben Stewart | 253 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rupert Reid | Jack Lawson | 102 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jane Allsop | Jo Parrish | 202 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Caroline Craig | Tess Gallagher | 139 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ditch Davey | Evan Jones | 193 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Simone McAullay | Susie Raynor | 99 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rachel Gordon | Amy Fox | 70 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Samantha Tolj | Kelly O'Rourke | 69 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Danny Raco | Joss Peroni | 68 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Geoff Morrell | Mark Jacobs | 59 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Charlie Clausen | Alex Kirby | 50 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt Holmes | Matt Graham | 20 | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
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