''Division 4'' is an Australian
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
drama series made by
Crawford Productions
Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...
for the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes.
Synopsis
The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success of the earlier Crawford Productions crime show ''
Homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
'' and dealt with the wide variety of cases dealt with by police in the fictional
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
suburb of Yarra Central (modelled on
St Kilda).
Awards
The series was both popular - winning 10
Logie Awards, including two
Gold Logie
The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards.
The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...
awards (for Australia's most popular entertainer) for
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...
- who played Frank Banner, the series was critically acclaimed, winning a number of Penguin and Awgie awards for its scripts and actors.
In 1972 Frank Taylor received the
Penguin Award
The Penguin Award is an annual award given for excellence in broadcasting by the Television Society of Australia. It was founded in 1954. The award trophy depicts an ear listening to a television tube, but strongly resembles a penguin, hence the ...
for the Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.
After Kennedy decided to leave ''Division 4'', the Nine Network summarily cancelled the series; only one episode was made with his replacement
John Stanton.
Theme song
The opening theme
Power Drive by Johnny Pearson was sampled by
TISM
TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist Eug ...
in their 1998 single
Thunderbirds Are Coming Out
''www.tism.wanker.com'' is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock group TISM (This Is Serious Mum), released in June 1998. The album peaked at number 26 on the ARIA charts.
At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998, the album was nominat ...
.
Regular cast
Home media
As of February 2017, twelve volumes of this series have been released on DVD through Crawfords/WinTV, representing the entire series run (with the exception of episode 102A "Conspiracy", which exists as a partial episode only and was not included).
References
External links
''Division 4''at ''Classic Australian Television''
''Division 4''at ''Crawford Productions''
''Division 4''at the
National Film and Sound Archive
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
''Division 4'' - "Return of John Kelso"at
Australian Screen Online
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
{{Logie Award for Most Popular Drama Series on Australian Television
Nine Network original programming
1960s Australian drama television series
1960s Australian crime television series
1969 Australian television series debuts
1975 Australian television series endings
Television shows set in Victoria (Australia)
Black-and-white Australian television shows
Television series by Crawford Productions
1970s Australian drama television series
1970s Australian crime television series