Blue Heelers

Pretty good police procedural until it went down the tubes after the bobbing of the police station and the killings. After that it seemed the writing went down hill. All the characters started acting like idiots.

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.

The show was excellent for most of its run on Australian TV. It had great characters that you genuinely cared about, but it stayed real.

The death of the show wasn't Maggie's own death, but it went a long way towards it. The show had lost four core cast members in less than two years and it was never really able to survive that. The blowing up of the station took the unreality to the extreme (can anyone tell me the last time a police station was blown up in this country? Or any building for that matter?) and killed the show dead. Add to that, Tom completely changing and the show was over for me.

I'll always remember Blue Heelers for that little Aussie drama that I fell in love with as a kid, but thank God it went off the air before it could get worse.

I was born and raised in Melbourne. Only recently have I moved to the US to get an education and find work. One thing I have missed as a result of moving away is Blue Heelers. I have heard rumours that it is playing on some US Cable companies, but I do not know which ones and where. Anyway if anyone stumbles across the television show, just sit down, have a beer and relax while you watch it. I think it is a little off the realistic track when it comes to police violence, corruption, etc. But it does cover a lot of the boring mundane tasks that police often have to put up with, such as cold burgs, etc. Or perhaps I just miss it because it is Australian??

The fact that it was until recently the highest rating TV series in Australia (only brought down lately by 'Seachange' after a strong fight that lasted a couple of years) should speak volumes about the quality. Based in the small town of Mt. Thomas the Heelers must constantly solve crimes and keep the peace whilst at the same time deal with each other in their small, cooped up police station. The regular addition of new cast members has also helped keep the series fresh as well as add the interesting relationshiops that develop.

The big problem however that appears to be fast catching up with the series is that despite the constant cast changes keeping the storys fresh it has also wittled down the original cast which has kept the old flavour alive. Now with the departing of Maggie (Lisa McCune) only Tom 'Boss' Croydon, PJ, and Chris at the pub are left. I have a bad feeling as to what will happen if any of the last 3 leave.

Rumours are already abounding that John Wood (Croydon) intends to retire within the next year or so. If Martin Sacks (PJ) leaves as well I think the series will have lost too much that any new cast could make up for. Characters may come and go but Croydon has always run the place his way and PJ is, well, PJ, which has kept the old feeling alive. And Chris has always been the old reliable woman at the pub for a chat. Whilst McCune's leaving may have proved that the series could survive even without it's biggest star I think anymore losses in the original cast may give the series it's deathblow.