Blue Heelers (1994–2006)

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

Creators:

Hal McElroy, Tony Morphett

Stars:

Julie Nihill, John Wood, Martin Sacks

23 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Julie Nihill	...	Christine 'Chris' Reilly (489 episodes, 1994-2006)
John Wood	...	Sr. Sgt. Tom Croydon (489 episodes, 1994-2006)
Martin Sacks	...	Sr. Det. Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham (465 episodes, 1994-2005)
Lisa McCune	...	Const. Margaret 'Maggie' Doyle (255 episodes, 1994-2000)
Paul Bishop	...	Sr. Const. Benjamin 'Ben' Stewart (240 episodes, 1998-2004)
William McInnes	...	Sr. Const. Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz (210 episodes, 1994-2005)
Jane Allsop	...	Const. Joanna 'Jo' Parrish (196 episodes, 1997-2004)

Storyline

The most popular local production on Australian television, Blue Heelers is a weekly police drama based on a fictional bush town called Mount Thomas. Every week there is a different case for Sergeant Tom Croydon, Senior Constable Nick Schultz, Senior Detective PJ Hasham, and Constables Maggie Doyle, Dash McKinley and Adam Cooper to solve. Continuing storylines about the personal lives and relationships of these characters filter into each episode.

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Plot Keywords:

police | sergeant | color in title | woman in uniform | uniform

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 September 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Boys in Blue

Filming Locations:

Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Southern Star

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four of the actors who later got recurring roles as police officers first appeared in the series in one-off guest spots as civilians. Peta Doodson, who became Insp Monica Draper, appeared as the wife of a council alderman, Tasma Walton, who became Const Dash McKinley, appeared as a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Terry Serio, who became Sgt Mick Doyle, appeared as a club bouncer and Jane Allsop, who became Const Jo Parrish appeared as a girl involved in a matchmaking scam.

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Quotes

Constable Evan 'Jonesy' Jones: Don't call me pal, mate.
Calvin: Don't call me mate, pal.

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Connections

Referenced in Top Gear Australia: Episode #3.2 (2010)

User Reviews

Well-crafted and intriguing

Genuinely intriguing long-running series about a police station in a small country town. Consistently good writing and acting helped to make "Blue Heelers" one of the best and most-watched homegrown dramas on Australian television, arguably spawning other admirable programs such as "water Rats" and "Murder Call" (all three were and are made by Hal McElroy (spelling?) productions). "Blue Heelers" utilised the careers of well-established actors (John Woods and Martin Sachs) at the same time as providing a head start for less well-known but still talented actors (Grant Bowler, Lisa McCune, Tasma Walton etc.). Genuinely three dimensional character writing helped avoid the cliche saccharine nature too common to the genre, all of the characters can be seen to be realistic, they all have their faults and personal obstacles. Although it can be quite often seen to be a little unrealistic, why should a town as small as Mt. Thomas have so much crime and intrigue??, this is easily forgivable as the viewer gets immersed in the storyline. "Blue Heelers" utilises the continually evolving sub-plot to further distance itself from the routine one-case-an-episode formula. Will PJ and Maggie ever get together? What about Dash and her fight against breast cancer etc. The characters have also established themselves with the Australian public as a source of concern. The higher rating episodes have been those involving major life changes for the main characters, recently Maggie's struggle with her heroin addicted brother and Nick Schultz's departure from the show. I would argue, that, had the series not been so well-constructed, this phenomenon would not be in evidence.