- After finishing a rowing race, a winning team member dies after being thrown into Lake Wendouree during team celebrations.
- Things have changed for Doctor Lucien Blake. His co-conspirator Lawson has been sacked from Ballarat, and Blake's emotional embrace with Jean has changed life in the house. Doctor Blake finds his tenure under threat by a new arrival. But that's the least of his troubles when he uncovers a dark story behind his mother's death. In this eight-part series return, the wonderfully maverick Doctor Blake is pushed to his limits to find the truth behind a range of intriguing murders in 1950s rural Australia. They include the inexplicable death of a young champion rower; the murder of one of the town's elite who is found with a mysterious object in his stomach; the apparent trampling death by cattle of a well-loved farmer; and the murder of a respected surgeon whose bloodless body is discovered on the operating table. When a Ballarat College schoolboy-rower wins a race on Lake Wendouree, only to drown after being ceremonially tossed in the lake, his mother asks Doctor Blake to find the truth behind her son's death. But Blake discovers that the truth is murkier, and that the boy was not the small-town sporting hero everyone (his mother included) thinks he is.
- There are two boats in a rowing competition, with a crowd cheering them on, including Patrick Tyneman. The crowd cheers the winning pair of rowers, from the college; then the losers from the high school accuse Dennis of cheating. Arnie Ross and Dennis Goodman are tossed into the water as part of the celebration, and only one comes out. Per the autopsy, Dennis died with a lot of water in his lungs, indicating his larynx never closed, as it should have. Ashby gives Blake 24 hours to demonstrate this is a murder, not an accident, then ups the ante to suspending Blake if there is no quick decision. The boy's father Herbert hampers the investigation, telling no truth to the police. The father had been an Olympian. Dennis's girlfriend Rachel mentions how Dennis would not taste his lemonade because it was not yellow enough. Dennis took Rachel away from his rowing partner, Arnie. Mrs Monica Goodman, before she was married, was the first girl Blake ever courted, but then he left for school and the army. She has a second son, Lucas, considered academically gifted but working hard rowing, too. Beth Webb is the mother of Timmy Webb, on the losing team, and she trained Mattie. Charlie Davis dove into the lake, and found an item in the water; Arnie said he kicked Dennis under the water. Les Bates, one of the losing rowers, reveals that Herbert Goodman roughed up his son before each race, demonstrating on Blake. Tyneman switches from sponsoring Dennis Goodman, to Tim Webb. Dr Harvey finds that Dennis was injecting himself with testosterone, a performance enhancer. Rachel later says Dennis was seeing another girl, so she put vodka in his drink hoping he would be caught, as alcohol is forbidden. Arnie helped her spike the drink with vodka. Then the "yellow thing' is brought up, as Dennis kept saying things were not yellow enough. The other woman friend, Rachel's mother, reports Dennis was dizzy once, but something in his sports bag got him better. Digoxin, a medicine derived from the foxglove plant, makes things appear yellow; it is treatment for heart problems. That medicine is put in Blake's mind by seeing the phrase 'extract of foxglove' on his mother's records. Lucas confirms that his brother was taking something. Tim Webb switched the digoxin for diet medication; without the digoxin, Dennis's heart would stop in the cold water. Dennis's sports bag is finally found on the roof of the boathouse, complete with needles, testosterone and digoxin bottle. Tim had looked all this up once he found what medications Dennis has been taking. a month earlier. Without the digoxin, things that had looked yellow to Dennis, now looked the wrong color - the yellow thing. Tim's life is now changed totally, from that decision to switch the digoxin with pills that looked the same; he will be tried for murder. Dennis's father feels his son's death is his fault, for the inherited heart condition. His son is a boy who is not missed by many besides his parents. Ashby tells Blake he has many enemies, and Ashby is not one of them. From the newly found file, Blake learns his mother had a miscarriage when he was two years old, and she had been diabetic.
- There are two boats in a rowing competition, with a crowd cheering them on, including Patrick Tyneman. The crowd cheers the winning pair of rowers, from the college; then the losers from the high school accuse Dennis of cheating. Arnie Ross and Dennis Goodman are tossed into the water as part of the celebration, and only one comes out. Per the autopsy, Dennis died with a lot of water in his lungs, indicating his larynx never closed, as it should have. Ashby gives Blake 24 hours to demonstrate this is a murder, not an accident, then ups the ante to suspending Blake if there is no quick decision. The boy's father Herbert hampers the investigation, telling no truth to the police. The father had been an Olympian. Dennis's girlfriend Rachel mentions how Dennis would not taste his lemonade because it was not yellow enough. Dennis took Rachel away from his rowing partner, Arnie. Mrs Monica Goodman, before she was married, was the first girl Blake ever courted, but then he left for school and the army. She has a second son, Lucas, considered academically gifted but working hard rowing, too. Beth Webb is the mother of Timmy Webb, on the losing team, and she trained Mattie. Charlie Davis dove into the lake, and found an item in the water; Arnie said he kicked Dennis under the water. Les Bates, one of the losing rowers, reveals that Herbert Goodman roughed up his son before each race, demonstrating on Blake. Tyneman switches from sponsoring Dennis Goodman, to Tim Webb. Dr Harvey finds that Dennis was injecting himself with testosterone, a performance enhancer. Rachel later says Dennis was seeing another girl, so she put vodka in his drink hoping he would be caught, as alcohol is forbidden. Arnie helped her spike the drink with vodka. Then the "yellow thing' is brought up, as Dennis kept saying things were not yellow enough. The other woman friend, Rachel's mother, reports Dennis was dizzy once, but something in his sports bag got him better. Digoxin, a medicine derived from the foxglove plant, makes things appear yellow; it is treatment for heart problems. That medicine is put in Blake's mind by seeing the phrase 'extract of foxglove' on his mother's records. Lucas confirms that his brother was taking something. Tim Webb switched the digoxin for diet medication; without the digoxin, Dennis's heart would stop in the cold water. Dennis's sports bag is finally found on the roof of the boathouse, complete with needles, testosterone and digoxin bottle. Tim had looked all this up once he found what medications Dennis has been taking. a month earlier. Without the digoxin, things that had looked yellow to Dennis, now looked the wrong color - the yellow thing. Tim's life is now changed totally, from that decision to switch the digoxin with pills that looked the same; he will be tried for murder. Dennis's father feels his son's death is his fault, for the inherited heart condition. His son is a boy who is not missed by many besides his parents. Ashby tells Blake he has many enemies, and Ashby is not one of them. From the newly found file, Blake learns his mother had a miscarriage when he was two years old, and she had been diabetic.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content