The first season of the Australian police-drama ''

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

'' premiered on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

on 10 September 1993 and aired on Tuesday nights at 7:30 PM. The 45-episode season concluded on 22 November 1994. It had an average rating of 2.5 million and going to 3.5 million at its peak. Its main cast included John Wood, Julie Nihill, Martin Sacks. Lisa McCune, William McInnes, Grant Bowler, Ann Burbrook, and Damian Walshe-Howling.

Casting

Ann Burbrook was originally cast as Maggie Doyle and Lisa McCune as Roz Patterson but the two swapped roles to avoid being typecast in the future.IMDb
Blue Heelers trivia
Retrieved 1 April 2008. William McInnes was originally cast as PJ Hasham and Martin Sacks as Nick Schultz but the two swapped roles because McInnes "looked more like a Schultz". Roz was written out of the show before season's end, because the producers thought that they could do more with another police character, rather than a civilian. This allowed for the introduction of Adam Cooper to the group.

Main

* John Wood as

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

Tom Croydon *

Julie Nihill Julie Nihill (born 1957 in Melbourne) is an Australian actress, voice artist, narrator, producer and writer, best known for her 12-year role as Chris Riley on the police drama ''Blue Heelers'' (1994–2006). Early life Nihill was drawn to ac ...

as Christine 'Chris' Riley *

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 ' ...

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 the ...

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

Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham *

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 ...

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

Margaret 'Maggie' Doyle *

William McInnes Darryl William McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick Schultz in ''Blue Heelers'', as Max Connors in '' SeaChange'', and more recently as ...

Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz *

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 ...

Wayne Patterson Wayne Patterson is a fictional character from the Australian police drama ''Blue Heelers'', played by Grant Bowler. He made his first appearance in the pilot episode "A Women's Place", broadcast on 18 January 1994. He departed in the third seaso ...

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 ...

as Roz Patterson *

Damian Walshe-Howling Damian Walshe-Howling 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 Actor in a Drama Series at the 2008 AFI Awards. ...

as Probationary Constable Adam Cooper

Recurring

* Peta Doodson as

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 as Gemma Ramsay in ''Neighbours'', and Susan Croydon in ''Blue Heelers''. She was also a long-standing member ...

as Susan Croydon * Michael Isaacs as Clancy Freeman * Suzi Dougherty as Dr.

Mel Carter Mel Carter (born April 22, 1939) is an American soul and pop singer and actor. He is best known for his 1965 million-selling recording "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me". Biography Carter was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. At age 16, he studied singi ...

* Axl Taylor as Len the barman *

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster. Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' fro ...

as Ex-Sergeant Pat Doyle * Nick Waters as Acting Inspector →

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 The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

Ted Faulkner * Helen Trenos as Celia Donald * Dale Stevens as

Rose Egan * Jennifer Botica as

Hilary Edmunds

Guest

Radha Mitchell Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell (born 12 November 1973) is an Australian actress. She began her career on television, playing Catherine O'Brien on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' (1996–1997), before transitioning to working i ...

as Sally-Anne *

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 ...

as John Eagan, * Brett Swain as Peter Sutcliffe *

Kate Keltie Kate Keltie (born 23 February 1986) is an Australian former actress, best known for her role as Michelle Scully in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. Early life Keltie was born in Melbourne, Australia. She appeared in a number of telev ...

as Sally Lamont * Peter Hosking as Frank Davis *

Anne Phelan Anne Mary Phelan (2 August 1948 – 27 October 2019) was an Australian actress of stage and screen who appeared in many theatre, television and film productions as well as radio and voice-over. Her television soap opera roles she was likely b ...

as Mrs. Brady * Petra Jared as Kim Stewart *

Charles 'Bud' Tingwell Charles William Tingwell Member of the Order of Australia, AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his fir ...

as Hayes * Lois Collinder as Mrs. Rivers *

Raelee Hill Raelee Hill is an Australian actress, known for portraying roles in some of Australia's most successful television series. Her first major role was as Loretta Taylor in '' Paradise Beach'', which was followed shortly afterwards by roles as Ser ...

as Jill Lambert *

Libby Tanner Elizabeth Tanner (born 1970) is an Australian stage and television actress best known for her roles as Bronwyn Craig in the television series '' All Saints'' and as Bridget Westfall in '' Wentworth''. Early life Tanner grew up in Victoria, Aus ...

as Heather *

Lois Ramsay Lois June Ramsey (; 18 June 1922 – 22 January 2016) also billed as Lois Ramsay, was an Australian actress, best known for her regular roles on television series '' The Box'' and ''Prisoner''. She often played quirky, eccentric old ladies on ...

as Eileen Heart *

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

as Clive Burton *

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ' ...

as William Cassidy *

Rex Hunt Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality. A former Australian rules footballer, he became a commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around th ...

as Ben Murphy *

Janet Andrewartha Janet Andrewartha (16 September 1951 – 26 July 2024) was an Australian television and theatre actress and director and singer. Andrewartha began her career as a high school music teacher before attending drama school. She graduated in 1979 an ...

as Bridget Ryan *

Peter Mochrie Peter Mochrie (born 23 March 1959) is an Australian actor whose career spans over forty five years in the industry, primarily featuring in television serial dramas such as ''The Restless Years'', '' Water Rats'' and '' Janet King''. He has als ...

as Col *

Tony Briggs Tony Briggs (born 3 July 1967) is an Aboriginal Australian actor. He is best known for creating the stage play '' The Sapphires'' (later a 2012 film), which tells the true story of an Aboriginal singing girl group who toured Vietnam during th ...

as Tony Dixon

Plot

At the start of the season, we meet young city

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

, Maggie Doyle, who is arriving at her posting in the small country town of Mount Thomas. At Mount Thomas police station we also meet the officer in charge,

Tom Croydon, who runs "his" station with an almost grandfatherly watch over his co-workers. We also meet Constable

, who we find had a short romance with Maggie while they attended 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 Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwu ...

together; much to Maggie's surprise, he is now married to Roz Patterson. We also meet Senior Constable Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz, a sarcastic and yet good-hearted cop, and Senior

Patrick Joseph "P.J." Hasham, a charismatic and somewhat chauvinistic detective who soon found himself very interested in Maggie. At the local pub, The Imperial, we meet Chris Riley, a local woman who knows all the ins-and-outs of Mount Thomas. During the season, we see Roz assisting the Heelers and later getting a job at the station as the administration officer. We also see the extent of Roz and Wayne's marriage problems which, when brought to a head when Roz witnesses a shooting over the telephone, results in the end of their marriage and Roz leaving Mount Thomas and returning to her home in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. This marriage dissolution is a result of many pressures which Roz and Wayne are placed under as a result of Wayne's dangerous job. This includes his being shot and left for dead by two criminals and Roz's somewhat intense jealousy for Maggie. Roz's absence opens up a place for ambitious and contentious young cop, Constable Adam Cooper, whose "breaking-in" at Mount Thomas is anything but smooth, particularly with Wayne who develops quite a disdain for him. Keeping with the theme of family problems, we see how Tom's family problems, including problems with his two daughters, develop. These are only made worse with the death of Tom's wife, Nell, as a result of a car accident. Tom, as a superior police officer, has to learn to deal to separate his personal and professional lives. He is increasingly finding it harder and harder when he has to deal with his friends and family when it is them that have committed offences. PJ has to deal with an old flame, Hilary Edmunds, when she arrives in town as part of the livestock squad, investigating farming issues in Mount Thomas. Maggie also finds romance in Mount Thomas with a shifty detective, Sean Neale, and she has trust issues when she discovers that her beloved boyfriend may, in fact, be a criminal. Maggie also discovers she has relationship problems with her father, Sergeant Pat Doyle. It is also revealed that Nick is carrying a huge secret: his wife and daughter, as well as half of his family, were killed in a car crash. This is revealed to be the reason Nick joined

highway patrol A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countri ...

and the reason for his stance against vehicle offences such as speeding and drink driving.

Reception

The show quickly had an average Rating of 2.5 Million and going to 3.5 million at its peak. The writers and Southern Star didn't expect the show to go anywhere but it quickly amassed to being a #1 Hit series for a number of years up unto 2003-2004 where the drama shows were beginning to fall down in ratings because the CSI franchise became more popular than drama shows since 2001, which caused the cancellation of the show in 2006. The show had 510 episodes out of the thirteen seasons and 12 years since it aired.

Awards

Episodes

DVD release

References

;General * Zuk, T
Blue Heelers: 1994 episode guide
Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 1 August 2007. * TV.com editors

TV.com. Retrieved 1 August 2007. ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Heelers Season 01 Blue Heelers seasons 1993 Australian television seasons 1994 Australian television seasons