Blue Heelers

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.