AustLit

'When two young Australian children disappear during an access visit with their Indonesian father he becomes the prime suspect in the Federal Police investigation. Detective Sergeant Jo Moody isn't quite so sure and has trouble convincing her colleagues they could be looking in the wrong direction.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 17/6/2013)

'Superintendent Dave Griffin is preparing for the major arrest of Steven Jellicoe, the pre-eminent brain surgeon and national treasure, for drug importation and Medicare fraud. Jellicoe is being shadowed in Hong Kong by Detective May Po. During the surveillance, May's brother is killed by Kai, a triad hitman.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 17/6/2013)

'There are strange goings on at Brindabella Homestead. Every time someone visits the house, they seem to come to a sticky end. Who is committing these horrible murders?

'Could it be glamorous socialite Mrs Peacock, owner of Brindabella? Perhaps it is her step-daughter, the lovely Miss Scarlet? Scarlet's boyfriend, Professor Plum, has charm but is he to be trusted? The family cook, Mrs White, seems a kindly old soul. But looks can deceive! Colonel Mustard's fine war record would suggest an upright gentleman. But is he? And the good Reverend Green? Surely a man of the cloth couldn't be a killer ... or could he?

'The answer is that any of them could be the killer and the task of finding out who is the criminal rests with you, the audience. In your investigations you will be assisted by the local sleuth, Detective Sergeant Bogong. Help will also come from a studio audience who are able to quiz the characters about their movements and their alibis.'

Source: Crawford Productions publicity material (held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection).

On the cold and inhospitable planet of Zyrgon in a galaxy light years away, X's father wins the state lottery for the 27th time in a row. Knowing he will now be severely punished, twelve-year-old X is determined to save her family from jail, and decides to buy a spaceship. The whole family then set off into space, head halfway across the galaxy, and turn left. They land on an even stranger planet: Earth.

A sequel to the 1983 mini-series All the Rivers Run, this series takes place in 1903. Brenton Edwards continues to pilot the riverboat Philadelphia around Echuca, one of the biggest inland ports in Australia at that time. After Edwards makes the acquaintance of Cyrus James, an expatriate American, the pair become partners in the riverboat business. Things don't go well for them, however. First the shipping and tourism industries in Echuca go into a downturn, and then Edwards is sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit. James rallies to keep their business afloat and Edwards's family together, as they all search for a way to prove Edwards is innocent.

Described by Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, as 'a curious, even an eccentric mini-series in terms of the narrative threads it works in the course of its four hours', Whose Baby? recounts a real-life legal struggle in the 1940s, in which Gwen and Bill Morrison became convinced, largely at the urging of Gwen's mother, that their baby daughter had been accidentally swapped at birth with the daughter of Jess and Noel Jenkins. The case dragged on for several years through several appeals, but the appellate court ultimately upheld the Jenkins' insistence that the daughter they had brought home from the hospital was their biological child.

According to Moran,

the viewer still has the distinct impression that there is one narrative too many in Whose Baby?. The producer was aware of this problem of coherence and thus the mini-series has a flat, off-screen voiceover whose commentary guides much of the overall narrative. While this commentator knows more than any of the characters, my knowledge still does not extend to the heart of other events in the hospital when the two girls were born within minutes of each other. Were they switched? Whose Baby? parades its bafflement with this question from beginning to end.

Like the earlier Crawford's series The Box, Prime Time was concerned with television production. In this case, the programme focused on the fictional Lockhart Productions and its prime-time current-affairs program, Assignment: according to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'although there was no physical resemblance between actor Chris Orchard and real-life current affairs host and company owner, Mike Willesee, nevertheless the reference was clear.' The show was produced in such a way that, according to Moran, its 'format was flexible enough to allow both the presence of ongoing narratives about the principal characters as well as featuring guest characters, narratives and situations arising out of the stories that Assignment was focusing on.'

Unlike The Box, Prime Time was not successful, though Moran emphasises that Channel 9, the network airing the program, 'did much to snatch disaster from the jaws of victory by scheduling Prime Time on Thursday and Friday nights'.

A children's television series, Zoo Family followed the adventures of Dr David Mitchell, veterinary surgeon at Melbourne Zoo, and his children Susie and Nick (all of whom live within zoo grounds). Additional characters include the head groundsman, a young vet graduate, the zoo manager, and the zoo trustees. According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series,

The latter are perpetually scheming over trust money under their control and it is left to the others to ensure that animals and enclosures are maintained. Beyond this human family, the larger family of the series is animals in the zoo. Each episode features a particular animal or group of animals in the zoo. Successive episodes concern such events as the discovery and treatment of sore eyes on a seal, taking delivery of male and female cheetahs, and building a new enclosure for a bull elephant.

The series, Moran concludes, 'had the solid, even dull, worthiness that is so much a feature of Crawford's.'

An attempt to re-invoke the popularity that police procedurals had enjoyed a decade earlier, Special Squad was the most expensive program produced in Australia up to 1985 (at $150,000 per episode), yet received such lukewarm ratings that Channel Ten chose not to commission a second series.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series,

it was good to watch, with expert stunt work and special effects. With well-paced narratives, intelligently and nicely worked out situations and plenty of emphasis on the villains and victims, Special Squad was just as watchable and entertaining as Homicide had been in its last series.

According to Moran, the failure of Special Squad lay both in its difference from and its similarity to Homicide. The novelty (of Australian accents and Australian locations) that had helped make Homicide so successful was no longer in play, and 'the sight of tough men (on both sides of the law) made the program [Special Squad] seem very old-fashioned. In addition, the plethora of other Australian dramas on air at the time gave viewers more than enough alternatives.'

Based on the novel by Nancy Cato, All the Rivers Run begins in 1892 with young Englishwoman Philadelphia 'Delie' Gordon struggling to the Australian shore after being shipwrecked. Except for crusty old sailor Tom Critchley, the shipwreck kills all the other people on the ship, including Delie's family. Delie is subsequently taken in by her kindly Uncle Charles and termagant Aunt Hester, whose small farm is situated beside the Murray River, near the inland port of Echuca. The narrative follows Delie for the next decade or so of her life. She suffers through the difficulties of adolescent love and rebels against conformity, and eventually marries, has children, and pursues a career on the river. Delie later attains commercial and critical success as a painter and earns her Master's Certificate, becoming the first female riverboat captain on the Murray River.

An extremely short-lived soap opera, Hotel Story was set in a luxury hotel, and was filmed (in addition to Crawford Productions' studios) at the Melbourne Hotel. According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series, 'The serial, which was intended as a replacement for The Box, was rumoured to have cost $200,000 for the seven episodes that had been produced, but not put to air, when the network decided to cancel the serial'. When the first four episodes were later aired as two two-hour specials, viewer reaction was positive, but could not affect the cancellation decision.

Set in the fictional Riverside Police Station, Cop Shop combined self-contained stories focusing on specific police investigations with the type of open-ended serial storylines familiar from soap operas. This allowed Crawford Productions to make use of the expertise gained from their highly successful police procedurals (all recently cancelled) and serials such as The Sullivans (then still airing).

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series,

Although the format may sound predictable and routine, in fact it was pioneering. In putting women police on the screen, Crawford's were moving Australian crime drama away from being an all-male domain. In addition, by choosing a suburban police station populated both by uniformed police and plainclothes detectives, Cop Shop introduced an upstairs and a downstairs world. The latter, in particular, began to exert its own attractions with handsome young men and women in the roles of the new constables.

Young Ramsay follows the adventures of a Sydney-based vet who becomes disillusioned with his work on the racecourse circuit, and moves to the small, fictional town of Jindarra, where he starts work with the veterinary practice of Jack Lambert (who is semi-retired on the grounds of ill health). It was conceived as family entertainment: neither violent nor explicit, but sufficiently exciting to keep the attention of both children and adults. Ramsay is supported by Julie Lambert (Jack's daughter, nurse, and receptionist) and Ray Turner (local park ranger).

The program begins in media res, with Ramsay already established in Jindarra, and unfolds his background and past experiences slowly, over a number of episodes. According to Don Storey, in Classic Australian Television, Ramsay is 'Not a super-cool type who never puts a foot wrong, but rather a well-rounded personality with successes and failings. He is a very competent vet; sometimes he makes a fool of himself or confuses names but he always makes good under pressure or in an emergency'.

Series one was followed by a two-year hiatus, and significant changes were made to the program for series two, including the re-casting of Ramsay's receptionist (Julie Lambert having been said to have left Jindarra after her father's death) and a stronger focus on happy endings.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series, 'Young Ramsay had a heavy stress on good ecological practices and was actively supported by the Victorian Ministry for Wildlife and Conservation'.

'Wally Curran, a crim struggling to reform under Bluey's tutorship, stumbles into more trouble - only this time he drags his wife, May, and eldest son, Kevin, down with him.

'To Bluey, Wally has become a challenge in which he hopes to prove his philosophy - a well placed boot applied at the appropriate moment to the seat of the pants of a miscreant gets far better results than the airy-fairy ideas and theories of all the sociologists and psychiatrists.

'There are some who do not agree. Monica, for one, sees Wally as nothing but a no-hoper. She considers May as the battler, the one worthy of understanding, encouragement and help. The difference of opinion sets sparks flying between her and Bluey.

'To his son, Kevin, Wally is everything. He'd follow Dad through hell. Indeed, that's just where Wally leads him - only to abandon him there. But Kevin has inherited all his father's guile and quickly extricates himself from his dilemma.

'The problem is all far too academic for May. A simple soul, she sees Wally only as her husband, the man she promised to love, honour and obey. She applies herself totally to that task and the upbringing of their kids ... until it all becomes impossible.'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'WALLY CURRAN: About 45, a born loser. He's spent most of his life in and out of prisons in six months or year stretches. There is absolutely no violence in Wally. There doesn't have to be. He manages to get by without it because deep down Wally is a cheap little con man. His wheeling-dealing has made life difficult for ...

(Truck Driving Required)

'MAY CURRAN: His wife. May is almost 40. She struggles to be independent and her aim in life is to keep her five kids together and give them a bit of a chance ... something she never had. Her herculean effort looks as though it might be beginning to bear fruit in their eldest ...

'KEVIN CURRAN: A big boy, 19 or 20. He's apprenticed to an engineering company and, although it's heavy going, there's a chance he might make it. On the top there seems to be a lot of May in Kevin, but deep down lurk some of those genes that made Wally the sly con man that he is.

(Motorbike Riding Required)

'IDA STACEY: A prostitute friend of May. She is a little older than May but a pretty tough existence and too much alcohol make her look old for her years.

'TERRY LOWE: A crim who has moved into the prostitution racket. Probably about 30.

'ROY JACKSON: A crim mate of Lowes'. A thump man.

[Note: The apostrophe has been added in black ink.]

'PIGGOT & BAKER: Two break and enter types. The parts call for stuntment [sic] and are non-speaking.

'MAN: A witness to a drunk being rolled. One word of dialogue.

'SERVICE STATION ATTENDANT: Young. Two lines of dialogue.

'NON-SPEAKING:-

'DRUNK: Old.

'BARMAN:

'WARDER:

'EXTRA: A drinker.'

'Bluey hounded "Mack" McKenna until, in desperation, he moved his criminal operations across the Victorian border where N.S.W. police quickly shot him into Long Bay Gaol for five years - nearly two thousand days to allow Mack's hatred of Bluey to fester; two thousand days in which to plan his revenge. And now, Mack's back!

'With time to think, Mack has matured. Whereas once he would have enjoyed putting a bullet in Bluey's back in some quiet alley on a dark night, now he wants his adversary to suffer first. He wants Bluey to endure the ignominy of watching him expand his operations into a criminal empire ... wants Bluey to suffer the torments of seeing his associates tortured and done away with - while all the time Mack remains outside the reaches of the law, safe from detection.

'And Mack's scheme has all the hallmarks of success about it. Bluey's assistant, Detective Gary Dawson, is marked down for death and falls hopelessly into McKenna's clutches.

'Terry Carter, a reformed crim who finds within himself the courage to defy McKenna and "talk" to Bluey, meets a similar fate.

'Bluey is forced to realise you can't win 'em all - but having to lose one to McKenna is more than he can come to terms with. The situation quickly simplifies itself into a matter of "him or me" - Mack or Bluey!'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'TERRY CARTER: About 40, Carter is a hard worker who made one mistake in his life: he received stolen property. Since then he has mended his ways, worked hard and tried to forget it. He owns a nice little business - a motor repairs works. Car driving required.

'JEAN CARTER: Terry's wife, about the same age. She, too, has struggled to forget Terry's mistake. She tries a little too hard to keep Terry up to scratch and eventually learns it's not all as simple as it looks. A highly nervous soul who falls to pieces once things really start to go wrong.

'"MACK" McKENNA: About 50, a somewhat different crook. He has a happy, open face and a smile is his trade mark. He has the slightest trace of an accent, Irish. Mack was chased by Bluey many years ago and had to leave Victoria rather hurriedly for N.S.W. where, because of his lack of knowledge of local conditions, he quickly got himself five years in Long Bay. Car driving required.

'KENNETH JOHN PALMER: A crook, late 30's, a great Lieutenant who knows his limitations and, realising he'll never make General, he is happy to work for Mack.

'DESMOND ARTHUR REED: A crook, early 30's. Palmer's "Sergeant". Happy in his service.

'DETECTIVE RAY NOBLE: Mid-30's, a member of the Homicide Squad who likes Bluey and works well with him - but with his happy disposition, Noble works in well with everyone.

'BARMAN: An efficient Barman who enjoys an association with the criminal element. One gets the impression he'll be a member of them one day.

'SERGEANT ROLLEY: A member of the Electronics Squad of the police force. Young, keen, efficient.

'BOY: A young kid who can ride a skateboard.

'ARSON SQUAD DETECTIVE: Been in the force a long time. Easy-going. Knows you can't win 'em all and is happy with those wins he does have.

'NON-SPEAKING DRIVER: A uniformed policeman who drives the Mobile Detection unit attached to the Electronics Department. Car driving required.

'MAXIE CHAMBERS: A crook heavily involved in the stolen car racket. We never see his face. Car driving required.

'PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN: Young. Must look like a policeman.

'VOICE OVER:

'RADIO ANNOUNCER:

'CONTROL: Attached to the Electronics Department of the police.'

'Truscott is Bluey's undercover man. The spectre that haunts every moment of an undercover agent's life is the dread that one day his cover will be blown. Once that nightmare becomes reality there is no alternative but to run ... to run in terror.

'In the apprehension of criminals, overkill - being too successful - can be fraught with as many dangers as being unsuccessful and the Bluey/Truscott team has been too successful. Some of those incarcerated as a result of Bluey's efforts are beginning to wonder why. Why are they here? Where did they go wrong?

'With time to think, one felon, Evan Dillon, has found a common denominator. He allocates the thorough investigation of his theory to "The Professor", probing, meticulous, with the tenacity of a terrier.

'On the very day of Dillon's release, both Bluey and Monica sense trouble. Monica fears for the well-being of Dillon's one-time girlfriend, Alice, who has found an alternate romantic interest during the latter part of Dillon's prison term.

'Bluey learns Dillon and friends are conducting an inquisition of some kind. He realises success in their endeavours would lead them unerringly to Truscott.

'In spite of Bluey's frantic efforts to forestall them, Dillon's investigations are fruitful to a degree far beyond the wildest dreams of the instigators.

'For Truscott, disaster is heaped upon disaster ... but Truscott has found a cause he considers worthy of the terrible risk to his own life. He has to make the decision when Bluey, realising the game is up, begs him - "Run, Truscott, Run!".'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'ALICE: Close to 30, Alice looks older. A difficult life with Dillon before he went inside two and a half years ago has aged her prematurely. Alice's personality took a beating from which it never recovered. As therapy she chose solitude and A.P.C. powders - with little success. Then, six months ago she met Truscott and, ever so slowly, recovery commenced. Strip Alice of her worry-lines and the tension and you uncover beauty.

'EVAN DILLON: About the same age as Alice, he was genuinely attracted to her even though the attachment all but destroyed her. He has reached that stage where he is striving to achieve by brain power what he once sought by muscle. He realises it's a whole new ball game for him which is why he searched for a new mentor. This he found in -

'THE PROFESSOR: An aging crim in his 50's. His prison steel-rimmed glasses give him something of the appearance of an ancient scholar approaching dotage - but there are still many crooked schemes lurking in his brain. His attention to details is something of a fetish. He writes everything down and throws nothing away.

'Car driving required.

'CLARENCE RONALD BENNETT: About 40, Bennett's a crim who just cannot win. He worries a lot about his work - with just cause - suffers first night nerves on every job, but it all does him no good. He always ends up getting pinched.

'BILL OWENS: A cell mate of Dillon's. A ready follower.

'A DRUNK:

'PARTY-GOER: (STUNT DRIVER)

'A DRINKER: Extra.'

'Bluey is called to the assistance of Commonwealth authorities to help stem a flood of counterfeit notes - a flood that started years ago as a trickle but has recently developed into a torrent.

'Although Bluey's real environment is the bang and bash of the average law-breaker, tangling with counterfeiters - traditionally people of non-violence - means he is working a little out of his element.

'His task is somewhat complicated by the activities of an enthusiastic young reporter, Debbie Morley, who finds herself a victim of the counterfeit swindle. Debbie has two aims in life - to make it to the top of her profession by becoming a feature writer and to enjoy life to the full while achieving her objective. She sees an in-depth expose [sic] of counterfeiting as the means of fulfilling her prime objective.

'With the help of Madge, a two hundred pound epitome of all that touches the heart-strings of the reading public, Debbie gains her entree into the world of the spurious. She and Madge soon find, to their horror, that, while counterfeiters may be men of non-violence, those who mastermind these illegal activities can be extremely nasty people indeed.

'But even counterfeit romance can sometimes pay a legitimate dividend. Madge finds herself a participant in a December romance while Debbie does not escape Cupid's arrow completely unscathed.

'In the final showdown, Bluey and his assistant, Gary, find themselves grasping the wrong end of the stick in a stand-off situation. At the right moment they discover an ally from a most unexpected quarter.'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'RICK DAVEY: About 40, Davey is a psychopath, a knuckle-man, and looks it. Finding old Cyril should have been as good as discovering gold as far as he was concerned but he couldn't handle it. He's the type who has never realised there is a time to fight and a time to run. With Davey, it's knuckle all the time – it's his undoing. Car Driving Required.

'DENO ROSSI: Late 20's. He's a con man who, with just a little better grooming, could have been a matinee idol. There's no violence in Deno. He met Rick in the criminal circle he frequents and probably became friendly because ... well you never know in this business. You find yourselves in scraps sometimes and maybe Rick would do the scrapping for him. Car Driving Required.

'CYRIL KAVANAGH: A little man in his 60's. In common with almost all counterfeiters he has no violence in him. He's a nice little old bloke who was happy going his own way, making just enough to cover expenses until Davey and Rossi dangled the carrot of wealth before him. Cyril has a reasonable education in his youth but many years amongst crims have made him a little coarse. In the presence of Madge he recaptures a little of his youthful polish.

'MADGE: Madge is a battler – and it's been a long, hard battle. She's about 220 lbs. stripped. She's about 50 but the hard life has probably made her look older. She loves a beer and her life is directed at getting her hand around a cold, foaming pot as frequently as possible. A heart of gold – but she has little else of earthly value.

'CHIEF OF STAFF: A man in his early 40's, the Chief is beset by the constant pressures of the newspaper business. He thinks Debbie is just great – as he does all his staff. But he's never going to spoil any of them by giving it to them too easy. He has plenty of wrinkles and his hair is probably thinning a bit but his spirit is wearing well. He draws strength from the young, vital people about him.

'SNR. DECT. DAVIDSON [sic]: About 30, Davidson has been too long in Canberra to make a good detective. He's been too close to all that bureaucracy. He tends to keep his eye on the clock more than he keeps his mind on the job. It's more important for him to arrive on time than to arrive at a conclusion. Car Driving Required.

'MRS. BONNICI: She is never heard speak [sic] in English. She sobs and sighs as only middle-aged Italian women can when under pressure.

'TERESA: Italian. About 19. A young, romantic scatter-brain who lives in a largely imaginery [sic] world of pop bands and romantic young men – all Italian.

'BARMAN (RONNIE): An efficient barman, mid thirties.

'CASHIER: A bored supermarket cashier who can put up with a bit of a fight (with words) when she has to.

'EXTRAS:

'REPORTER:

'DRINKER.'

A crossover episode between Bluey and Homicide: in the wake of Bluey's (ultimately non-fatal) shooting, the Russell Street homicide department get involved, in the form of Don Barker (Det. Sgt. Harry White).

'Tip-offs are usually welcomed by police, but Bluey is far from happy when an anonymous note tells the authorities who killed Noel Allan Cornish. However, even Bluey couldn't possibly foresee the disaster that would follow in the wake of such information. Department B is rocked to its very foundation.

'Much against his better judgement, Bluey becomes involved in checking out the tip .. and he pays the absolute penalty.

'With Bluey out of the way, Monica finds running the Department, keeping Gary in check and handling the Assistant Commissioner is more than she can cope with. Not even Truscott's help is assistance enough to forestall the day of reckoning looming for Department B.

'Gary, with no restraining hand over him, all but runs amok. In the best Bluey traditions, he tosses away the book and goes in boots and all. His rough, tough approach to the investigation stamps him a worthy "Son of Bluey".'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'JENNY: IN HER EARLY TWENTIES, JENNY LIVES UP TO TRUSCOTT'S ASSESSMENT OF HER - "A SEXY YOUNG BIT". BUT IN REGARDS SEX, SHE'S MORE LANDROVER THAN ROLLS ROYCE - HANDLES THE GOING BEST WHEN THINGS ARE A BIT ROUGH. MORE YOUR R THAN RR. SHE'S A FUN KID WHEN SHE'S IN THE MOOD FOR FUN. SHE'S A WILDCAT WHEN IT COMES TO A FIGHT.

'JOEY RAVEN: ABOUT THE SAME AGE AS JENNY, JOEY HAS LIVED ON THE FRINGE OF THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT MOST OF HIS LIFE. BUT THAT'S THE STORY OF HIS LIFE ... ALWAYS ON THE FRINGE. HE'S NEVER COME TO TERMS WITH WOMEN - PARTICULARLY JENNY. HE'S USUALLY AS EMBARRASSED AS HELL IN HER PRESENCE BUT HE ENJOYS BEING THERE. HE HAS A SOFT SPOT FOR DOUG, TOO - A SILENT "FRINGE" MATESHIP OF A KIND BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS WITH JOEY VERY MUCH THE SECOND STRING.

CAR DRIVING REQUIRED.

'DOUG STEWART DOUG, IN HIS THIRTIES, IS A BIT OF A MYSTERY MAN. IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHETHER HIS RETICENCE IS THE RESULT OF CAUTION (PERHAPS HE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE) OR WHETHER IT IS SIMPLY PART OF HIS MAKE-UP. HE HAS A LONG CRIMINAL RECORD DUE MAINLY TO A LACK OF SELF-CONTROL IN A CRISIS. WHEN HE DOES HIS BLOCK HIS FISTS FLY BLINDLY - NO DIFFERENCE WHETHER IT'S A MAN OR A WOMAN ON THE RECEIVING END. BUT WHEN HE'S DOWN EMOTIONALLY, HE'S RIGHT DOWN. HE'S A VICTIM OF DEEP-SEATED INSECURITY AND DOUBTS.

'RHODA LEWIS: ABOUT THE SAME AGE AS DOUG, RHODA WAS HIS DE FACTO FOR MANY YEARS .. AND SHE'S MUCH MORE DOUG'S STYLE AND SPEED THAN JENNY IS. SHE WANTS TO RE-ESTABLISH THEIR EARLIER RELATIONSHIP AT ALL COSTS. WHETHER IT'S DOUG SHE WANTS OR WHETHER IT'S THE KEY DOUG MIGHT HOLD, WE DON'T KNOW.

'MATRON: A LITTLE YOUNGER THAN BLUEY ... BUT SHE'S A MATCH FOR HIM. WHAT SHE MAY LOSE TO HIM IN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE SHE MORE THAN COMPENSATES FOR THROUGH HER POSITION OF AUTHORITY AND THE SECURITY OF HER RELIGIOUS HABIT.

'SERGEANT TAYLOR: A SERGEANT IN THE HOMICIDE SQUAD - A SUBORDINATE IN ALL WAYS TO INSPECTOR FERRIS.

'NURSE: YOUNG AND PRETTY, WITH A BOTTOM JUST THE RIGHT SIZE FOR BLUEY TO GET HIS HANDS AROUND.

'SISTER: EFFICIENT, WITH THE AUTHORITY YOU WOULD EXPECT TO FIND IN ONE HOLDING SUCH A POSITION. SHE READILY CO-OPERATES WITH ALL HIGHER AUTHORITY - PARTICULARLY THE POLICE.

'DOCTOR: A YOUNG RESIDENT MEDICAL OFFICER OF SOME THREE OR FOUR YEARS STANDING.

'ORDERLY: A HOSPITAL ORDERLY.

'POLICE PHOTOGRAPHER.'

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series, Bluey (and its Sydney-based rival, King's Men) 'constituted an attempt to revive the police genre after the cancellations of Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police'.

Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, summarises the program as follows:

Bluey is a maverick cop who breaks every stereotype image. He drinks, smokes and eats to excess, and therefore is rather large, but it is his unusual investigative methods that set him apart. He has bent or broken every rule in the book at some stage, to the point where no-one else wants to work with him. But he gets results, and is therefore too valuable to lose, so the powers-that-be banish him to the basement of Russell Street Police Headquarters where he is set up in his own department, a strategem that keeps him out of the way of other cops.

Moran adds that 'Grills, Diedrich and Nicholson turned in solid performances in the series and the different episodes were generally well paced, providing engaging and satisfying entertainment.'

The program sold well overseas, especially in the United Kingdom. But though it rated well domestically, it was not the success that the Seven Network had hoped for, and was cancelled after 39 episodes.

Bluey had an unexpected revival in the early 1990s when selections from the video footage (over-dubbed with a new vocal track) were presented during the second series of the ABC comedy The Late Show as the fictional police procedural Bargearse. (The Late Show had given ABC gold-rush drama Rush the same treatment in series one.)