The third season of the Australian police-drama '' Blue Heelers'' premiered on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on 12 February 1996 and aired on Monday nights, and later Tuesday nights, at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 26 November 1996. All main cast members from the previous season returned. Tasma Walton was introduced in episode 107 as Dash McKinley.

Casting

Main cast for this season consisted of: * John Wood as

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Tom Croydon Thomas Arthur "Tom" Croydon is a fictional character in the long-running Australian police drama ''Blue Heelers'', portrayed by John Wood. A long-serving member of the police force, Tom has decades of experience of being a police officer in a sma ...

'full season''*

Julie Nihill Julie Nihill (born 1957 in Melbourne) is an Australian actress, best known for her 13-year role as Chris Riley on the police drama ''Blue Heelers'' (1994–2006). Biography Nihill made her television debut in ''I Can Jump Puddles'' (1981) an ...

as Christine 'Chris' Riley 'full season''*

Martin Sacks Martin Colin Sacks (born 16 October 1959) is an Australian actor who is chiefly known for his 12-year role on ''Blue Heelers'' from 1993 to 2005. Life and career Sacks was born in Sydney. He got into acting after a bit part in an episode of ' ...

as Senior

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham 'full season''* Lisa McCune as

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Margaret 'Maggie' Doyle 'full season''* William McInnes as Senior Constable Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz 'full season''*

Grant Bowler Grant Bowler (born 18 July 1968) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre. He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne ...

as Constable

Wayne Patterson Wayne George Patterson was a fictional character on the long-running Australian police drama Blue Heelers, played by actor Grant Bowler. He starred in the show from its beginning until he was hit by a car and killed in episode 96 in 1996. Wayn ...

'until episode 96''*

Damian Walshe-Howling Damian Walshe-Howling (born 22 January 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian actor, well known for his role as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in the Australian underworld drama, ''Underbelly'', for which he won the Best Supporting or Guest Ac ...

as Constable Adam Cooper 'full season''*

Tasma Walton Tasma Walton (born 19 August 1973) is an Australian television and film actress. Acting career Walton joined local radio station 6GE and trained as a production assistant and copy writer in her home town. She was accepted into the National Ins ...

as Probationary Constable Deirdre 'Dash' McKinley 'episode 107+'' Semi-regular cast members for this season include: *

Peta Doodson Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

as Senior Sergeant Monica Draper *

Beth Buchanan Beth Christine Buchanan (born 10 March 1972) is an Australian actress and Social Worker. She is best known for the television roles in sitcom ''Hey Dad!'', Gemma Ramsay in ''Neighbours'', and Susan Croydon in ''Blue Heelers''. She was also a l ...

as Susan Croydon *

Michael Isaacs Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Clancy Freeman This is a list of all recurring/semi-regular cast members over the Australian television programme ''Blue Heelers'' 13 season run between 1994–2006. A Clive Adamson Chief Superintendent Clive Adamson was a fictional character in the lo ...

Axl Taylor Axl may refer to: People * Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses * Axl Rotten, ring name for former professional wrestler Brian Knighton (1971–2016) * Axl Hazarika, an Indian musician * Axl Beats, a British drill music producer Fictional char ...

as Len the barman *

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...

as Ex-Sergeant Pat Doyle *

Nick Waters Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Places ...

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Ted Faulkner * Helen Trenos as Celia Donald * Stuart Baker as "Richo" * Reg Evans as Keith Purvis *

Terry Gill Terry Gill (25 October 1939 – 25 February 2015) was an English Australian actor, theatre owner, producer, director and writer. A character actor, he carved a niche in Australian television playing police officers. He appeared in over 26 Austral ...

as Chief Superintendent Clive Adamson * Karen Davitt as Dr. Zoe Hamilton *

Rachel Blakely Rachel Leigh Blakely (born 28 July 1968) is a Malaysian-born Australian-American actress. Her works include films such as ''Love Until'', ''Young Hercules'' and ''Counterstrike'', as well as guest appearances on television shows such as '' Xena ...

as Gina Belfanti * Beverley Evans as Harriet Keppel *

Alexandra Sangster Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "pro ...

as Anna Croydon * Don Bridges as Charlie Clarke * Marie Trevor as Lelia Clegg * Pauline Terry-Bietz as Beth McKinley * Frankie J. Holden as Senior Detective Jack Woodley Notable guest stars included

Frances O'Connor Frances Ann O'Connor (born 12 June 1967) is a British–born Australian actress and director. She is known for her roles in the films ''Mansfield Park'' (1999), '' Bedazzled'' (2000), ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (2001), ''The Importance of ...

, Marg Downey,

Lee Kernaghan Lee Kernaghan OAM (born 15 April 1964) is an Australian country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. Kernaghan has won four ARIA Awards and three APRA Awards, and has sold over two million albums, and as of 2021, has won 38 Golden Guitars at ...

Radha Mitchell Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell is an Australian actress. She started her career with various appearances on Australian television, including a regular role as Catherine O'Brien in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' (1996–97). Mitchell la ...

, Raelee Hill,

Louise Siversen Louise Siversen is an Australian actress. She is known for her television roles, including Lou Kelly in ''Prisoner'' (1984–1986), Debbie in ''The Flying Doctors'' (1986–1990), and 2012-2017 Heather Looby in '' House Husbands''. She has al ...

Rhys Muldoon Rhys Muldoon (born 17 October 1965) is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, music, theatre and radio. Since 2012 he has starred as Mark Oliver in ''House Husbands''. Career Television Muldoon ...

, David Wenham,

Norman Yemm Norman Yemm (23 March 1933 – 3 February 2015) was an Australian actor, opera singer and sportsman. Screen career (Film and TV) Yemm's film roles include ''Night of Fear'' and ''The Fourth Wish'' On the small screen he may be best remembe ...

, Andrew Blackman, Frankie J. Holden, Anne Phelan,

Annie Jones Ann Jones (or similar) may refer to: Writers *Ann Jones (author) (born 1937), American writer on women's issues * Anne Jones (writer) (born 1955), Australian editor and administrator * Anna Jones (food writer), columnist and cookbook author * Ca ...

, Asher Keddie, and Andrew McKaige. With

's exit from the show,

Ann Burbrook Ann Burbrook, sometimes credited as Annie Burbrook, (born 23 November 1965 in Jesselton, Sabah, Malaysia), is an Australian actress. Early life Burbrook trained at the Australian Ballet School and the WA Academy of Performing Arts before da ...

also returned to ''Blue Heelers'' to temporarily reprise her role as

Roz Patterson Roz Patterson (nee McGregor), was a fictional character in the Australian police drama series ‘Blue Heelers’. She was a starring character in the series from the beginning; but was the first character to leave the series, staying not even a y ...

Awards

Episodes

DVD release

References

;General * Zuk, T
Blue Heelers: 1996 episode guide
Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 1 August 2007. * TV.com editors

TV.com. Retrieved 1 August 2007. ;Specific Blue Heelers seasons 1996 Australian television seasons {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Heelers Season 03