"Sea Patrol" (2007) TV series

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Creators:

Di McElroy
Hal McElroy

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Bare Chested Male

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

John Batchelor	...	Chief Petty Officer Andy 'Charge' Thorpe (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Saskia Burmeister	...	Lieutenant Nikki Caetano / ... (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Matthew Holmes	...	Chief Petty Officer Chris 'Swain' Blake (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
David Lyons	...	Leading Seaman Josh 'ET' Holiday (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Lisa McCune	...	Lieutenant Kate McGregor / ... (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Jay Ryan	...	Able Seaman Billy 'Spider' Webb (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Kristian Schmid	...	Able Seaman Robert J. 'RO' Dixon (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Ian Stenlake	...	Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn / ... (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor	...	Petty Officer Pete 'Buffer' Tomashevski (33 episodes, 2007-2009)
Steve Bisley	...	CMDR Steve Marshall (22 episodes, 2007-2009)
Kirsty Lee Allan	...	Chef Rebecca 'Bomber' Brown (20 episodes, 2008-2009)

Also Known As:

"Sea Patrol II: The Coup" (Australia) (second season title)
"Sea Patrol III: Red Gold" (Australia) (third season title)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

Two Royal Australian Navy Fremante class patrol boats were used to portray the fictional HMAS Hammersley. HMAS Wollongong was used for filming in Sydney and HMAS Ipswich was used for filming off Queensland.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Australia Unites: The Victorian Bushfire Appeal (2009) (TV)

Why Nine? Why?

This is just an appalling piece of television. The Nine Network spent some ridiculous amount of money on it too. The premise is great; the adventures of a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat and its crew as they protect Australia's north. How they could get it so wrong is anybody's guess.

The writing is despicable. It is hackneyed and trite and the dialogue is so forced and banal. It is as subtle as a brick to the head (which would be more pleasant than watching this), and lacks any wit or sparkle. Story lines go overboard at a rate of knots. There is absolutely no suspense AT ALL, which is no mean feat. The acting is just deplorable. Lisa McCune heads the team, a woman so wooden the Tasmanians want to pulp her. She did her best work on the Coles ads. The rest are just shocking. The editing is non existent and the cinematography is as basic as I Love Lucy. The music is sickeningly cheap. It is worse than the 1960s Star Trek Original Series fare. And the sound effects, oh my lord!

It is a worrying indictment on the sorry state of affairs at the Nine Network. I have read that only 1 person in the executive team has any TV experience, and it is minimal at that. It shows.

What is perhaps more worrying is that this reprehensible creation has been sold to many other countries! This is not an image we want to send out. It has also been renewed for a 2nd season! God help us!

For an example of pure excellence in Australian TV, the equal of any American or British production, see Seven's City Homicide.