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''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian
police drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years 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 ...
, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the everyday lives and relationships of the residents of
Mount Thomas Mount Thomas is the fictional town featured in the long-running Australian police procedural drama ''Blue Heelers'', which ran from 1994 up until its cancelation in 2006. The program was filmed in Victorian suburbs of Werribee, Williamstown ...
, a fictional small town in Victoria. The series was one of the highest-rated and most-awarded programs in the history of Australian television, having won 25 Logie awards, it is equal as the most awarded show in Logies history with '' The Don Lane Show''. It is also noted for its two main stars Lisa McCune, a four-time recipient of the Gold Logie, and John Wood, who also won Gold.


Overview

''Blue Heelers'' was first aired on 10 September 1993, with the episode "A Woman's Place". The last episode, aired on 4 June 2006, was the 510th episode, "One Day More". It was produced by Southern Star for 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 ...
. During its 13-season run it won a total of 32 awards and was nominated for a further 50.Zuk, Tim
Blue Heelers Awards
Australian Television Information Archive.
This included 25 Logie Awards, five of which were the Gold Logie, the most coveted television award in Australia.Idato, Michael
"Final Farewell"
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 29 May 2006.
As well as everyday policing matters, the series deals with many controversial and "touchy" subjects. The series was the first to examine the stressful world of young police officers who are "thrown into the deep end where they are left to sink or swim". Police procedurals were enormously popular in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, but by the 1980s they had been replaced by home-grown soap operas and mini-series. ''Blue Heelers'', however, was Australia's most popular television drama while it lasted. The series drew more than 2.5 million viewers every week at its peak. Along with ''Homicide'', ''Blue Heelers'' holds the Australian record for most episodes produced of a weekly prime-time drama. It was also nearly the longest-running series,"''Blue Heelers'' Axed, and AFL the Main Suspect"
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 14 January 2004.
but ''Homicide'' lasted one calendar month longer and, due to five feature-length episodes, had more time on air. ''Blue Heelers'' has also gained recognition in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and other countries. It has been sold to 108 territories."Blue Heelers Final Episodes to Air in 2006"
Southern Star Group, 13 January 2006.
''Blue Heelers'' launched the careers of many Australian actors, such as Lisa McCune,
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 ...
,
Ditch Davey Kristian "Ditch" Davey is an Australian actor known for his role as Evan Jones in the Seven Network's ''Blue Heelers'' from 2001 to 2006, and for playing the lead role of Julius Caesar in Netflix Season 2: Master of Rome ''Roman Empire'' in 201 ...
,
Rachel Gordon Rachel Gordon (born 10 May 1976) is an Australian actress. Early life Gordon was born in Brisbane, Australia, the daughter of Donna Gordon. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, and her great-grandmother was Dame Enid Lyons, ...
,
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 ...
, Charlie Clausen and
Jane Allsop Jane Claire Allsop is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Jo Parrish on ''Blue Heelers''. Personal life Allsop was born in the United Kingdom, and only a few months after her birth moved to the United States with her father, Joh ...
. While many of these actors are still best known for their work on ''Blue Heelers'', some have gone on to bigger roles. Many other actors of today also appeared in guest roles, including Hugh Jackman, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Peter O'Brien and
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
. John Wood and
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 ...
remained with ''Blue Heelers'' during its entire 12-year run, portraying Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon and the publican Chris Riley respectively.


Plot

The series primarily focuses on the daily lives of police officers working at a police station in the fictional small town of Mount Thomas in the Australian state of Victoria. Each episode is presented from the perspective of the officers. This was a specific technique that creator
Hal McElroy Hal and James "Jim" McElroy (born 6 April 1946) are Australian twin film and television producers. They are best known for three films they produced jointly in the 1970s, all directed by Peter Weir at the start of his career: ''The Cars That A ...
chose to employ.Government of the Commonwealth of Australia
Small Screen, Big Picture, Big Future
, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, July 2000.
The police officers, commonly referred to as "Heelers", are always active sorting out the town's many problems. These problems range from trivial complaints such as land and fencing disputes to more serious offences, such as homicides and assaults. The small town is also faced with many other significant occurrences including bank robberies, escaped criminals, police shootings, kidnappings and the acts of deluded criminals. Of these, one of the more significant events is the bombing of the police station during the show's eleventh season. Whenever overwhelmed, the Heelers call on the assistance of the police in the larger town of St Davids, home of the resident police inspector Russell Falcon-Price. An antagonist in the series, Falcon-Price often tries to terminate the employment of the Mount Thomas sergeant or to close the entire station, which in reality would be almost entirely out of his control. Along with their police work, aspects of the Heelers' personal lives are regularly featured, notably the relationship between
Maggie Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
and PJ, which ends with Maggie's death in one of the most watched moments on Australian television.


Episodes


Cast


Main


Recurring

Each episode featured a range of guest cast members, and over the run of the series hundreds of actors featured in these roles.James, Carol
Heelers hit 150
TV Week, 5 July 1997. Retrieved fro
LisaMcCune.net
on 13 August 2008.
As well as the main (regular) cast members, a number of well-known Australian actors frequently appeared as either recurring or semi-regular characters. These included
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 Superintendent Clive Adamson, Neil Pigot as
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 ...
Russel Falcon-Price,
Jeremy Kewley Jeremy Leo Kewley (born 16 August 1960) is an Australian actor, writer, producer and convicted child sex offender. He made his professional acting debut as an adolescent in the feature film '' The Devil's Playground'' (1976). Early life Kew ...
as Mt Thomas journalist
Tony Timms 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 ...
, Frankie J. Holden as Snr. Det. Jack Woodley,
Catherine Wilkin Catherine Wilkin (born October 1950) is a New Zealand actor who has worked in New Zealand and Australia. Career Wilkin has acted in many Australian television shows, with a mix of guest and multi-episode recurring roles. She played the recur ...
,
Debra Lawrance Debra Lawrance (born 1 January 1957) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role on '' Home and Away'', as Pippa Ross, which she played from 1990 to 1998, and has made a number of return appearances as the character, the most re ...
,
Emily Browning Emily Jane Browning
. Celebritywonder, retrieved 30 June 2011
(born 7 December 1988
, Josh Lawson, along with Suzi Dougherty as Dr. Mel Carter,
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 Inspector 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 ...
as Clancy Freeman, and the late Reg Evans as Keith Purvis. Many other notable actors also had one-off or recurring guest roles in ''Blue Heelers'' including Shane Bourne, Hugh Jackman, Gerard Kennedy, David Wenham,
Marcus Graham Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian film, television (including both serials and mini-series) and stage actor and director, with roles including ''Mulholland Drive'' and '' Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob i ...
, Peter O'Brien, Gary Sweet, Vince Colosimo,
Alan Cinis Alan Cinis (born 10 August 1960 in Orange, New South Wales), an Australian politician and actor, has served as a Councillor on Leichhardt Council, Sydney, New South Wales, representing the NSW Greens since 2008. As an actor, Cinis has starred ...
and
Alan Dale Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequentl ...
. John Stanton, Terry Norris,
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 ...
, Terence Donovan,
Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated in 1978. There he was a fellow student of actor Mel Gibson. Grubb played the role of Dr. Geoffrey St ...
,
Ernie Dingo Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born ...
, and Brett Climo, were also recurring guest stars.


Production

On average, 42 episodes of ''Blue Heelers'' were broadcast per year on Australian television, with each episode comprising fifty scenes. One episode was made every week. The scripts were written to a formula which allowed one day for rehearsal, two days on location and two days in the studio. Episodes were shot eight to ten weeks ahead of their scheduled broadcast date.Blue Heelers in town
Bendigo Advertiser, 8 April 2005. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
There were 16 episodes in various stages of production at any one time (from the conception of new storylines to post-production). In addition, there were always seven complete episodes waiting to go to air. Apart from the regular cast members, the show employed 4,300 guest actors annually, plus 30 extras every week. A total of 150 people were involved in some way with the show's production each week, including cast members, crew, wardrobe, publicists and writers.


Conception and development

''Blue Heelers'' creator/producer,
Hal McElroy Hal and James "Jim" McElroy (born 6 April 1946) are Australian twin film and television producers. They are best known for three films they produced jointly in the 1970s, all directed by Peter Weir at the start of his career: ''The Cars That A ...
, conceived the idea of ''Blue Heelers'' when he heard that an eighteen-year-old friend was planning to become a police officer. Intrigued, he inquired as to why this young boy, fresh out of school, would want to become a police officer, as opposed to the many other opportunities he had open to him. McElroy soon discovered that, at the time, a staggering 60% of Australian police officers were under the age of 26.Farmer, Monique
"Bush Bobbies"
''Sydney Morning Herald'' 17 January 1994
This, coupled with McElroy's desire to create a country cop show, formed the basis of the programme. When this same young officer left the force only a year later due to the shooting death of his colleague, McElroy was even more intrigued to learn about the very fickle, yet rewarding job of policing the community. McElroy continued his quest by asking ex-police officer Michael Winter to write down what it was like to be a city cop who transferred to a country town. These became the ideas that ''Blue Heelers'' was based around.Schembri, Jim

''The Age'', 14 January 1994
Michael Winter also conceived the name of the programme by recounting the common names for a country police officer: "tyre-biters"—referring to the fact that country cops are often involved in car chases—and "blue heelers"—referring to their blue uniforms and overall similar appearance and persona to a Blue Heeler dog, a protective and intuitive breed of Australian dog. From the time that McElroy's idea was initially conceived, to the time the programme was ready to air, three years passed. During the early development of ''Blue Heelers'' two completely different pilots were shot: one depicting the story from the perspective of a police officer and the other from the perspective of a criminal. When these were presented to the Seven Network, the network committed to 13 episodes of the first pilot. The pilot went on to become the official first episode of ''Blue Heelers'', telling the story of a new cop in town, Maggie Doyle, and her beginnings in Mount Thomas. Hal McElroy chose to discard the second pilot, realising it was a fatal mistake to be "with the criminals as they plotted the crime". He also conceived his rule that the producers of the show "couldn't have a camera in a room unless there was a copper there as well" (a rule shared by long-running UK Police drama ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...
''). Hence, the basis of the show being from a police officer's perspective became a firm reality. (The only bending of this rule was with scenes featuring publican Chris; as she was billed with the main cast, she was given the same on-screen "rules" as the officers. In early episodes, before she worked at the station, this "rule" also applied to Wayne Patterson's wife Roz). Hal McElroy gives his police adviser's opinion: By creating the programme, McElroy and Morphett hoped to close the gap between to police and the public. They hoped to show the human side of the policing and that, like other citizens, police officers have feelings, regrets, aspirations and fears.Hallett,Bryc
"Bush coppers show mettle"
''The Australian'', 18 January 1994.
They also hoped that the show would act as a tribute to the courage of police officers, who risk their lives everyday, never knowing if they would return home at the end of the day.


Filming locations

Only about half of the footage for each episode was shot on location. Most of the scenes, including scenes in the police station and pub, were filmed at the Seven Network studios in Melbourne.Webster, Di

Who Weekly, 10 February 1997. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
Much of the filming on location was carried out in towns such as Williamstown, and the more established parts of
Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...
.Webb, Caroline; Idato, Michael
"Axe falls on ''Blue Heelers''"
The Age, 14 January 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
The scenes of the outside of the Mount Thomas police station were actually filmed at the old, disused Williamstown police station, which was then a private residence. Scenes at Mount Thomas High School were filmed at Williamstown High School. The town of
Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...
was most often used as the backdrop for Mount Thomas, seen in almost every episode.Castlemaine, Australia
Australia eguide. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
Victorian Government


Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Retrieved 3 May 2008.
Although the Blue Heelers' pilot was shot in Castlemaine, the cast and crew very rarely returned there to shoot further episodes; images of Castlemaine were usually just establishing shots. Chris Riley's fictional Imperial Hotel, for example, was actually the real Imperial Hotel in Castlemaine. Mount Thomas' fictional Commercial Hotel was filmed at the Willy Tavern in Williamstown. The second Mount Thomas police station, adopted during the programme's reform of 2004, was filmed at Newport Railway workshops. The Mount Thomas Hospital was filmed at the Werribee Mercy Hospital. Sunbury railway station was commonly used as the Mount Thomas railway station. Hobson's Bay, and Wyndham, Victoria were also locations used in Blue Heelers.


2004 revamp: the station bombing

After low ratings in 2003 and 2004, the producers and executives of ''Blue Heelers'' realised that there were apparent problems which could potentially lead to the series's downfall. In 2004 ''Blue Heelers'' lost the top ratings spot to '' McLeod's Daughters''.Miller, Kylie
Investing in Blue Heelers' future
The Age, 7 July 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
During 2003 and 2004, Australian television drama was also at its "lowest point in a decade" and many popular shows were cancelled. As the show remained basically unchanged from its debut, ten years earlier, the production team decided that a revamp was in order. At the beginning of season 11, the revamp began with new, more modern opening credits, using an electric guitar, rather than an acoustic. Later in that season, a live episode, "Reasonable Doubt", was broadcast in hope of offering a short-term ratings boost and encourage more long-term viewers. Although an immediate success, the live episode did not bring about a sustained increase in ratings. Producers also hoped that a shift in direction, a change of mood and setting, and the addition of four cast members would cement ''Blue Heelers long-term future. They also wanted the show to remain relevant and more accurately reflect today's modern world:Fidgeon, Robert

The Herald Sun, 14 July 2004. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
The main plot, setting and character changes started in July 2004, with the airing of the episode "End of Innocence". In this episode, the main storyline was the bombing of the Mount Thomas police station. The blast killed popular main character Snr. Const. Jo Parrish (Jane Allsop) and recurring cast member Clancy Freeman, and injured the show's main protagonist,Dennehy, Luk

The Herald Sun, 29 April 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
Senior Sergeant Croydon. After the bombing it was revealed that Croydon's wife, the Reverend Curtis, was missing. It was later revealed she had been brutally raped and murdered. These events brought about sweeping changes to the mood of not only Croydon, but also the mood of the entire show.
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
television writer Marcus Casey commented, "Mount Thomas has become a darker, grittier place, the people and cops in it transformed by an invasion of evil".Casey, Marcus
The Force Is With Them
The Daily Telegraph, 25 August 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
Consequently, the story changed its focus from the old Mount Thomas police station to the new one that was used until the show's cancellation in 2006. The Seven Network feared that in the modern post-
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
world, a show about country police was no longer what audiences wanted. Storylines of the proceeding five episodes focused on the bombing of the station and the 4 new main characters: Rachel Gordon as Amy Fox, Geoff Morrell as Mark Jacobs, Samantha Tolj as Kelly O'Rourke and Danny Raco as Joss Peroni. Popular former cast member William McInnes also returned to the show, temporarily reprising his role as Nick Schultz. Producers hoped the new tone of the series, the new younger actors, and McInnes's role reprisal would lure back viewers who had stopped watching the programme. This new style of programme that ''Blue Heelers'' was embracing was a sign of the show trying to keep up with other larger television shows, particularly the ''CSI'' franchise. The revamp of the series resulted in a 25% ratings increase, bringing the series's weekly viewership to 1.6 million people. Critical response after the event was reassuring, and it appeared that critics were approving of the drastic moves by Seven and Southern Star:


Cancellation

In the hope that viewing would increase, an 11-episode season in 2006 was commissioned by the Seven Network. However, the ratings spike begun in 2004 was not sufficient for the Seven Network to commit to continuing to produce the show. In January 2006, Seven officially announced that they had cancelled ''Blue Heelers'', but would air a final shortened season of 11 episodes in mid-2006. At the time the show was still drawing 1.2 million viewers per week on average, down from the 3.5 million it was drawing at its peak. The announcement was front-page news on nearly all of Australia's major newspapers including
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney),
The Melbourne Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald Sun ...
, The Melbourne Age and Brisbane's Courier Mail. Two different endings were shot for the final episode, which finished filming on 20 December 2005. The first ending wrapped up all the show's storylines, while the second left the show open for another season; the second version was used. For ''Blue Heelers final season in 2006, it was moved from its primetime Wednesday-night timeslot, to a lower rating Saturday-night timeslot.''Blue Heelers'' Returns For Final Season
Seven Network, 13 March 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
In the Saturday timeslot ''Blue Heelers'' competed with ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...
'', a British police drama which had become quite popular in Australia on the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
and Saturday Night AFL Coverage on
Fox Footy Channel The Fox Footy Channel was a channel exclusively dedicated to Australian rules football. It was owned by Foxtel and operated out of their Melbourne based studios. From 2002 - 2006 it was available on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television, TransTV ...
and
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
. This move was slammed by leading cast member, John Wood. ''Blue Heelers'' cancellation may also be related to Seven's
AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
broadcast, which saw Seven invest $780m for the 5-year broadcasting rights of the game.


Broadcast


Australia

''Blue Heelers'' originally aired on Tuesday nights at 7:30 pm on the Seven Network, thus it was limited to a PG content level restriction. When the series was hailed as a success it began the transition from this timeslot to the 8:30 pm timeslot on the same day. After the move, writers could explore more diverse storylines, as the show was restricted to an M rating. The third and fourth season premiers aired on Monday nights during the 8:30 pm timeslot, but the show moved back to its original slot before the next episode. In its fifth season, ''Blue Heelers'' moved to the Wednesday night 8:30 pm timeslot, which it occupied for most of its run, until the end of its twelfth season. This move was made to make way for hospital drama '' All Saints''. Starting in 2004, the Seven Network aired ''Blue Heelers'' weekdays at 2:00 pm. All episodes aired with the final episode airing in 2007. This made way for the broadcast of early episodes of ''All Saints''. Seasons generally ran in Australia from early February to late November. Each season generally consisted of 41 to 42 episodes. The eleventh season however, only consisted of 39 episodes, as the Seven Network had gained the rights to televise the
2004 Athens Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. In total, 510 episodes were aired: 509-hour-long standard episodes and one live episode. The live episode, titled "Reasonable Doubts", was filmed to celebrate ''Blue Heelers'' 10th year on the air. To prepare, the cast was given six days to memorise their lines. The final episode of the 13th season aired as a 2-hour tribute. It opened with an introduction from John Wood and concluded with a
compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...
of ''Blue Heelers'' moments from over its 13-season run. Australian television quiz-show, ''
The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
'', hosted by
Cornelia Frances Cornelia Frances Zulver, OAM (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her ...
, also aired a ''Blue Heelers'' special episode on 9 August 2001. Cast members John Wood, Neil Pigot, Ditch Davey, Jeremy Kewley, Jane Allsop, Suzi Dougherty, Paul Bishop, Caroline Craig and Peta Doodson took part in this special event. In February 2014, repeats of series 12 started airing and in May 2014, repeats of series 13 aired on 7TWO. ''Blue Heelers'' has also screened on Hallmark Channel in Australia in various timeslots.


International

''Blue Heelers'' had a strong following not only in Australia, but also worldwide; it has been sold to 108 territories and is shown in over 70 countries.


New Zealand

In New Zealand ''Blue Heelers'' screened on TV One in a popular timeslot. However, following the on-screen death of
Maggie Doyle Maggie Doyle is a fictional character in the long-running Australian police drama ''Blue Heelers'', portrayed by Lisa McCune. A feisty young constable from a policing family, Maggie arrived in Mount Thomas during the first episode, which follow ...
, ratings fell, and the show was moved to a 9:30 pm slot on Friday. Following that, the show moved to a late night Thursday slot where the rest of the episodes played out, with the show beginning anywhere between 11:30 pm and midnight. It aired its final episode on TV One on 20 March 2008.


Ireland

Debuted on
RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
on 15 September 1995 and continued every Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm. In 1998, the show moved to Thursday's around 1.00am on RTE 2. In September 2001, season 5 debuted airing weekday mornings at 10:30 am on RTE 1. The 5 episode per week output meant the show quickly caught up with the Australian broadcast, and in 2004, RTÉ dropped back to single weekly episodes airing late night Thursday's, typically around 1 am. RTÉ began airing the final season on 30 May 2008 in a late night Saturday timeslot, and the final episode screened on 30 November 2008. RTÉ began re-airing Blue Heelers weekly from episode one, commencing on 24 June 2009, usually around 4 am Sunday mornings. RTÉ screened all episodes in their original unedited state. The drama proved very popular in Ireland and rated very well.


United States

''Blue Heelers'' aired briefly in the United States of America in the early 2000s on the short-lived cable channel Trio (carried primarily by
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
). No episode after number 76 was ever shown in the United States, and when Trio changed their programming in 2004, ''Blue Heelers'' was dropped from the schedule. The series returned to US airwaves in September 2021 on the new digital networ
DigiTV
a channel devoted mainly to imported British and Australian series.


Canada

''Blue Heelers'' was broadcast on Showcase in Canada, last airing on 15 May 1998.


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the series was broadcast on most stations on the
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
Network. Many companies tended to screen the show as hour-long episodes in the afternoon (occasionally with necessary edits to suit the time slot, usually regarding
profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
). Carlton Television and
Westcountry Television ITV Westcountry, formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry, was the ITV franchise holder for the south west of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset. The com ...
were the first to aired Blue Heelers in half-hour episodes originally on Mondays to Wednesdays, starting from 3 January 1995, however the series then switched to airing hour-long episodes. Central Television started in February 1995 with a late night 23.40 slot on Tuesdays before following other regions with a typically 14.20 slot. Central were one of the most consistent ITV regions to broadcast ''Blue Heelers'', completing series 6 by early 2002.
When the three Carlton owner station stated a uniformed schedule during 2002 Blue Heelers reverted to two-part half-hour episodes; with the final batch of episodes shown in the regions were from Season 7 finishing on Wednesday 20 November 2002. ''Blue Heelers'' also aired on Anglia Television, Meridian Television and Channel Television, typically Mondays at 2:20 pm, during the summer school holidays it was broadcast daily in a morning slot, until late 1998. Granada and border also screened the series from 1995 in the hour long format but by 1998 dropped the series. Ulster Television (UTV) began airing ''Blue Heelers'' in early 1995. The show initially screened 3 times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons at 1:50 pm. They then moved it to the 2:20 pm slot later in the series. A few episodes also ran at 11:40 pm on Thursday nights, as they were considered unsuitable for daytime viewing. UTV cancelled ''Blue Heelers'' in 1998.
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
began aired hour-long episodes from 1995, airing on Fridays, and then later on Tuesdays from mid 1996, until episode 106, when the series was replaced by Murder She Wrote. The series then reappear on most Saturday afternoon during 1998 until 19 December. During 1999 From April until early August the series was broadcast at 04.30am most weekday morning before being dropped completely. HTV, Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television all chose not to import the show. When the English
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
contractors reformatted as one company in late 2002, regionally-run programmes such as ''Blue Heelers'' (which were at different points of the series in each region) disappeared from screens. No ITV region ever screened the series in full. The show also aired on UK cable channel
Carlton Select Carlton Select was a British digital television channel, owned by Carlton Television. It was originally launched in June 1995 as SelecTV, by the independent production company of the same name, before being purchased by Carlton in 1997 who rela ...
in the late 1990s, first screening the early episodes daily and then in a weekly slot Fridays at 20.00 as episodes became more recent. Episodes to the later part of the 1997 season were shown before the series was dropped.


Home media


Home media overview

* 2005-2011: Paramount Pictures released each season of ''Blue Heelers'' on DVD. * July 2013: The production company, Endemol Australia formerly Southern Star Productions stated there are no plans at this stage to re-release. * November 2015: Channel 7 said that there are still no plans to re-release ''Blue Heelers'' on DVD or Blu-ray. * May 2017: Via Vision Entertainment stated they would be re-releasing ''Blue Heelers'' on DVD. * 2017-2018: Via Vision Entertainment released four collection boxset sets of ''Blue Heelers'' which featured all 510 episodes. * 2018: Via Vision Entertainment released ''Blue Heelers: The Complete Collection''. * August 2018: 7PLUS (Channel 7 Streaming Service) starting releasing all episodes.


VHS releases


DVD releases


Streaming


Reception


Critical response

Described by critics before its launch as "''
A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...
'' meets '' Cop Shop''", and as "the contemporary cousin of British cop show, ''
Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...
''", ''Blue Heelers'' was not anticipated by critics to become a hugely popular programme.


Viewership

It became a hit TV show soon after it began airing. During most of its broadcast, ''Blue Heelers'' was very popular in Australia, regularly attracting up to 2.5 million viewers, and up to 3.5 million viewers at its peak. Throughout the show's broadcast it continually drew a strong audience, regularly appearing among the top-rating prime time programmes on Australian television. Viewership of Blue Heelers never dropped below 1 million viewers. The episodes "Gold" and "Fool's Gold" (episodes 140 and 141), which aired during the programme's fourth season, were two of the most popular ''Blue Heelers'' episodes. Each drew 2.5 million viewers, considered a huge achievement in 1997. ''Blue Heelers''' executive producer, Gus Howard believed the show's popularity was due mainly to the quality of the cast. Much of the show's sixth season, as well as the first 10 episodes of its seventh season, were the most watched episodes of the series. These episodes focus of the death of Maggie Doyle (played by Lisa McCune). Maggie's being shot and left for dead during episode 255, "One More Day", was ranked by TV Week as the third most memorable moment of a drama series on Australian television.TV Week
50 most memorable TV moments
Retrieved 8 September 2008.


Awards and nominations

In terms of awards, Blue Heelers is regarded as one of the most successful programmes on Australian television. ''Blue Heelers'' has been the recipient of many awards, including 25 Logie Awards, five of which are the prestigious Gold Logie, 3 AFI Television Awards, 3
People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
, and 1
AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...
.Australian Television: Blue Heelers: awards & nominations
/ref> ''Blue Heelers'' was nominated for a further twelve Gold Logies. ''Blue Heelers'' has also won multiple Silver Logies, including numerous Most Popular Actor, Most Popular Actress and Most Popular Programme awards, as well as many Outstanding Awards. Many ''Blue Heelers'' cast members have also presented awards at the Logies. In the 2005
50 Years 50 Shows ''50 Years 50 Shows'' is a television special that marked 50 years of television in Australia. Broadcast on Sunday 25 September 2005 on the Nine Network and hosted by Eddie McGuire, the special counted down the top 50 greatest Australian telev ...
poll, ''Blue Heelers'' was voted 37th greatest show on Australian television and ranked within the top ten dramas.


Merchandise

A CD Album titled "Music From Blue Heelers" was released in 1995. It included the Blue Heelers theme music, plus other songs related to the program, many of them Country songs. The first full ''Blue Heelers'' novel, ''Maggie's Story'', was written by Roger Dunn and released in 1997 by Coronet Books. In August 1998, a second novel, ''Tom's Story'', written by Cassandra Carter was released by Bolinda Publishing.


See also

*
List of Australian television series Future shows Seven * ''The 1% Club'' (Seven Network game show 2023–) * ''Apartment Rules'' (Seven Network reality 2023–) * '' Animals Aboard with Dr Harry'' (Seven Network reality 2023–) * ''Armchair Experts'' (Seven Network sports ...
*
Mount Thomas Mount Thomas is the fictional town featured in the long-running Australian police procedural drama ''Blue Heelers'', which ran from 1994 up until its cancelation in 2006. The program was filmed in Victorian suburbs of Werribee, Williamstown ...
*
Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victo ...
*
List of longest-running Australian television series Below is a list of all the longest-running Australian television programs, both past and present, that have been broadcast for a minimum of 6–10 years or 6 seasons (or both). All data is updated as of 2 February 2022. Note: Programs with a s ...


References


External links


''Blue Heelers''
on 7plus *

at the Australian Television Information Archive
''Blue Heelers''
at the National Film and Sound Archive {{Southern Star Entertainment 1990s Australian drama television series Seven Network original programming Television shows set in Victoria (Australia) 1994 Australian television series debuts 1990s Australian crime television series 2000s Australian crime television series 2006 Australian television series endings Television series by Endemol Australia English-language television shows 2000s Australian drama television series