Jo Parrish is a fictional character from the Australian television police drama ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...

'', played by

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 ...

. She made her first appearance during the sixth season episode "Hello Goodbye", broadcast on 18 August 1999. The character left in the eleventh season on 6 July 2004, after being killed in an explosion. She was the seventh longest serving character behind Tom Croydon, Chris Riley, P.J. Hasham,

Ben Stewart Benjamin Richard Stewart is a Canadian politician, who has represented the riding of Kelowna West in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2018 as a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party. He previously represented the ridin ...

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 ...

and Nick Schultz

Casting

Jane Allsop auditioned for the role of Dash McKinley in 1995, but the role was given to

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 ...

. She made a guest appearance in the series a year later. In 1999, Allsop was cast as Jo, Dash's replacement following Walton's decision to leave the series. Allsop spent a number of weeks carrying out research for the role, which included visits to the

Victoria Police Academy The Victoria Police Academy is the main induction training establishment for the Victoria Police. It is located at 1 View Mount Road, in Glen Waverley, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The grounds encompass 16 hect ...

and police stations in St Kilda and

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

Development

Jo is a police constable from the city who transfers to

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 ...

. Jo is described as "the type of person who only opens her mouth to change feet" and she has earned the nickname "Perish Parrish". She quickly gains the ire of

( Paul Bishop), and the friendship and affection of Constable

Jack Lawson John James Lawson, 1st Baron Lawson, PC (16 October 1881 – 3 August 1965) was a British trade unionist and a Labour Party politician. A miner and later Member of Parliament in County Durham, he served in the governments of Ramsay MacDonald ...

(

Rupert Reid Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada *Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert' ...

). The character's first day on the job is marred by a civil action brought against her by a shoplifter, who accuses her of assault and false arrest. An internal inquiry is also launched against her, as there is doubt about whether she used correct police procedure. Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon (John Wood) is left "even more dismayed" when Jo messes up the staff lunches and strikes his car. A ''

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 i ...

'' reporter commented that it was "an inauspicious introduction to Mount Thomas" for the character and thought things would get worse before getting better for her.

Storylines

Jo is initially portrayed as a very stubborn and sometimes even pig-headed young woman. She does, however, mature over the course of the series. She is good friends with Constable Jack Lawson and his replacement, Constable Evan Jones (

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 ...

). She also gets on well with Senior Constable

(

Lisa McCune Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series ''Blue Heelers'' as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in ''Sea Patrol'' as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards. McCune ...

) before Maggie is shot dead. Jo initially dislikes the new sergeant who arrives after Maggie's death,

Tess Gallagher Tess Gallagher (born 1943) is an American poet, essayist, and short story writer. Among her many honors were a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts award, Maxine Cu ...

(

Caroline Craig Caroline Craig (born 30 April 1975 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian actress, based in New York City. Caroline completed a BA at Melbourne University before graduating from NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 1999. ...

), however, the two later become friends. Jo is later promoted to Senior Constable. Jo has a relationship with P. J. Hasham (

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 ' ...

), who she becomes engaged to. The relationship ends when Jo feels that P. J. will not get over the death of his former fiancée, Maggie. When the Mount Thomas station is bombed, Jo dies alongside Clancy Freeman (

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 ...

Reception

For her portrayal of Jo, Allsop won the

Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent The Silver Logie for Most Popular New Female Talent was an award presented at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. It was first awarded at the 41st Annual TV Week Logie Awards ceremony, held in 1999. The award is given to honour a standout perfo ...

in 2000. She was nominated in the Most Popular Actress category in 2005. A reporter for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' observed that Allsop's casting as Jo helped to "fill the rebel-without-a-clue void" left by Walton's departure.

References

Blue Heelers characters Fictional Australian police officers {{drama-tv-char-stub