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Blue Heelers (season 13)
Encyclopedia
The thirteenth and final season of the Australian police drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network
on 1 April 2006 and aired on Saturday nights at 8:30 pm. The 11-episode season concluded 4 June 2006, due to its cancellation
by the Seven Network
as a result of its sharp decline in ratings. When, in late 2005, the time came to renew Blue Heelers, Seven commissioned eleven further episodes to be produced, but its future after this was still undecided.
In January 2006, Seven officially announced that they had cancelled Blue Heelers, but would air a final shortened season of only 11 episodes in mid-2006—the 11 episodes which had been filmed in late 2005, before Blue Heelers had been cancelled.
This season focuses primarily on the show's main protagonist
, Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon
, his failing health and his personal troubles. John Wood
, who portrays Croydon, is the only to appear in every episode of Blue Heelers and is, indisputably, the pillar of the show. The final episode of the thirteenth season aired as a 2-hour, movie-length tribute starting with an introduction from John Wood, and concluding with a compilation
of Blue Heelers moments from over its 13-season run. For this thirteenth season, Blue Heelers was moved from its primetime Wednesday-night timeslot to the lower rating Saturday-night timeslot, which saw it come up against The Bill
, a British police drama which has become quite popular in Australia. Ratings for this season, partially due to the series' move to its lower-rating timeslot, were relatively low; ratings were around the 1.2 million viewer mark, increasing to 1.5 million for the finale
. Blue Heelers failed to even make it into the top 20 programmes at any time during its thirteenth season.
This season was very successful in regards of awards, particularly for John Wood who won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, as well as the Most Popular Actor Silver Logie Award
. Wood had been nominated for the Gold Logie for ten straight years, and finally won it in 2006.
By the end of this season, Blue Heelers had also equalled the record for most episodes produced of a television drama in Australia, equalling Homicide's record, set in 1977.
All 11 episodes of the season made their subscription television premiere on 26 January 2011 (Australia Day
), where they aired back to back in an Australia Day marathon on the Universal Channel.
. The main cast for this season consists of:
Guest actors for season thirteen included Roy Billing
, Jacinta Stapleton
, Elly Varrenti
, Marcus Graham
, Ian Roberts
, Bernard Curry
, Spencer McLaren
, Kane Alexander
, Joshua Lawson and Damian Walshe-Howling
.
. Joss must also deal with his growing gambling debts and the consequences of these, including his being beaten up
, his being forced to get a second job and his becoming homeless. He must also deal with the people around him who, in trying to help him, make him feel worse; particularly the arrival of his mother in town. Dismissed police officer Adam Cooper also arrives back in Mount Thomas, for the first time since Tom dismissed him in 1999. This time he arrives in Mount Thomas as a photocopier technician and wants take revenge on Tom. In an attempt to do this, he tries to frame him for a crime he did not commit. In the heat of these allegations against Mount Thomas' top cop, there is the very real possibility that the Mount Thomas police station may be closed forever, and the team are forced to find new placements and the possibility of separation from one another.
as an episode and instead chose to advertise the season premiere as episode 499 and promoted the next episode - "Boss" - as the monumental 500th episode. This episode focuses largely on Tom Croydon battling the news that he has cancer.
The cast finished filming their final episode for 2005 on 20 December, aware that the show's future was the subject of discussion, but at this point the show had not been cancelled. To prepare for the possibility of cancellation, two alternate endings for the show were filmed in 2005 for a possible series finale
in 2006. One ending was left open ended, to serve as a lead-in to a possible 14th season, the other ending wrapped up all the show's storylines. The cast were on their New Year non-rating period hiatus
when they were told of Blue Heelers cancellation. Thus, the eleven final episodes the cast had filmed in late 2005 were to be used for the 2006 season. For the series finale, the latter ending, wrapping up the show's storylines was used. Although, rather than completely wrapping everything up, the producers made it possible to resume from where they left off, should Seven decide to start producing Blue Heelers again.
The 2 hour series finale
, titled "One Day More", aired on Sunday 4 June 2006 in a prime-time slot, at 8:30 pm. The finale focuses on Tom's attempts to reconnect with his family, and recover from his debilitating illness, whilst dealing with criminal charges brought against him by a vengeful ex-officer as well as the fact that the Mount Thomas police station, which he loves so dearly, may be closed down. It also features the return of former cast member Damian Walshe-Howling
, reprising his role as Adam Cooper, still very bitter about his treatment by Tom. Rather than ending in "a hail of bullet or a bomb explosion", the producers wanted to give the record-breaking series a gentle and fitting farewell to celebrate its life - "We did not want to blow everyone up," producer Gus Howard said, "It is a gentle grounding. It felt like the right thing to do.".
This season also marked the time when Blue Heelers matched the record for "most episodes produced in an Australian weekly primetime drama", equalling Homicide's record, which was set in 1977. Blue Heelers did not, however match the "total airtime on television" record. This record was also set by Homicide in 1977. This record stands at 516 hours whilst Blue Heelers is just shy of the record at 511 hours.
' twelfth season, ratings were at an all time low of 1.2 million viewers per episode, which was less than half what the show had been attracting during its peak, when it was drawing more than 2.5 million viewers. After these falling ratings during 2005, Seven decided to take action and considered cancelling the series altogether. However, before doing this, they commissioned a shortened season consisting of only 11 episodes, taking the show's episode tally to 510. This season was shortened from the normal season length of around 40 episodes.
On 13 January 2006, the network ended months of speculation when they officially cancelled the series. The news was broken by television critic Robert Fidgeon
on radio station 3AW
, and was shortly followed by the official announcement which appeared on the front-page of nearly all of Australia's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald
, Sydney's Daily Telegraph
, The Melbourne Herald Sun, The Melbourne Age
and Brisbane's Courier Mail.
For this thirteenth season, Seven chose to move Blue Heelers from its Wednesday-night, primetime timeslot, which it had occupied for 10 years, to the lower-rated Saturday-night timeslot, which also saw it up against popular British police programme The Bill
; this move was slammed by cast member John Wood. Ratings for this season were generally low; no episode ranked in OzTAM
's top 20 programme list for the week.
The final episode, "One Day More", achieved 1,512,000 viewers in the five major Australian cities: Melbourne
, Sydney, Perth
, Adelaide
and Brisbane
. Whilst enough to justify a Sunday primetime slot, it was still a very low rating figure and was not enough for Seven to justify the continued production of the programme, which was estimated at costing them almost $500 000 per episode to produce. Additionally, more "reality-type" programmes such as Border Security
which cost $100 000 to produce and package were achieving record amounts of viewers as high as 2 million per episode; Blue Heelers had not had 2 million viewers for over 5 years.
's Michelle Anderson, for example, ran a campaign and had T-shirts made up in his honour stating: "Ten years, it's high time the pillar of society and acting god that is John Wood be rewarded with gold."; even Victoria
's top-cop, Victoria Police
Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon
, threw her support behind Wood in his bid for the Gold.
As well as this prestigious award, Wood was also privileged to win the Silver Logie
for Most Popular Actor, which he had won in 2005 and had been nominated for a further 6 times, over thirteen years, for his role as Tom Croydon on Blue Heelers.
At the 2006 Logies, Wood was also nominated for Most Outstanding Actor in a drama series and Blue Heelers was nominated for Most Popular Australian Drama series. Most Outstanding Actor went to Dan Wyllie from Love My Way
and Most Popular Drama went to Home and Away
.
At the 2006 Australian Film Institute
(AFI) Awards, Blue Heelers was nominated for Most Popular Drama, but this award went to Love My Way. Guests actors on the show, Marcus Graham
and Saskia Burmeister
, however, were nominated for, and won, Best Guest or Supporting Actor and Actress in Television Drama, respectively. Graham was nominated for his role in "Moonlighting" (episode 508), while Burmeister was nominated for her role in a season twelve episode.
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
on 1 April 2006 and aired on Saturday nights at 8:30 pm. The 11-episode season concluded 4 June 2006, due to its cancellation
Cancellation (television)
In television, cancellation refers to the termination of a program by a network, typically because of low viewership and/or unfavourable critical reviews. Another reason why television programs can be cancelled is to make room for new television programs...
by the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
as a result of its sharp decline in ratings. When, in late 2005, the time came to renew Blue Heelers, Seven commissioned eleven further episodes to be produced, but its future after this was still undecided.
In January 2006, Seven officially announced that they had cancelled Blue Heelers, but would air a final shortened season of only 11 episodes in mid-2006—the 11 episodes which had been filmed in late 2005, before Blue Heelers had been cancelled.
This season focuses primarily on the show's main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon
Tom Croydon
Thomas Arthur Croydon is a fictional character in the long running Australian television police drama Blue Heelers. He is one of two characters to appear in all thirteen seasons, 1994 to 2006, and is an original character...
, his failing health and his personal troubles. John Wood
John Wood (Australian actor)
John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
, who portrays Croydon, is the only to appear in every episode of Blue Heelers and is, indisputably, the pillar of the show. The final episode of the thirteenth season aired as a 2-hour, movie-length tribute starting with an introduction from John Wood, and concluding with a compilation
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
of Blue Heelers moments from over its 13-season run. For this thirteenth season, Blue Heelers was moved from its primetime Wednesday-night timeslot to the lower rating Saturday-night timeslot, which saw it come up against The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, a British police drama which has become quite popular in Australia. Ratings for this season, partially due to the series' move to its lower-rating timeslot, were relatively low; ratings were around the 1.2 million viewer mark, increasing to 1.5 million for the finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
. Blue Heelers failed to even make it into the top 20 programmes at any time during its thirteenth season.
This season was very successful in regards of awards, particularly for John Wood who won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, as well as the Most Popular Actor Silver Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
. Wood had been nominated for the Gold Logie for ten straight years, and finally won it in 2006.
By the end of this season, Blue Heelers had also equalled the record for most episodes produced of a television drama in Australia, equalling Homicide's record, set in 1977.
All 11 episodes of the season made their subscription television premiere on 26 January 2011 (Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
), where they aired back to back in an Australia Day marathon on the Universal Channel.
Casting
For this season, the producers made the choice to make no changes to the main cast, which is therefore, no different to that of the previous seasonBlue Heelers (season 12)
The twelfth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 2 February 2005 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 26 November 2005.- Casting :...
. The main cast for this season consists of:
- John WoodJohn Wood (Australian actor)John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
as Senior Sergeant Tom CroydonTom CroydonThomas Arthur Croydon is a fictional character in the long running Australian television police drama Blue Heelers. He is one of two characters to appear in all thirteen seasons, 1994 to 2006, and is an original character...
[until episode 510] - Julie NihillJulie NihillJulie Nihill is an Australian actress.-Biography:After early roles in 1980s soap operas such as The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Sons and Daughters and the miniseries Bodyline .Nihill was cast in the role for which she became a household face: as bartender and local councilor Chris...
as Christine "Chris" RileyChris Riley (Blue Heelers character)Councillor Christine Bridget "Chris" Riley is a fictional character in the long running police show Blue Heelers played by Julie Nihill. She is one of only two characters who were in the show from 1994 to 2006. She is good friends with Tom Croydon and his late wife Nell....
[until episode 510] - Ditch DaveyDitch DaveyDitch Davey is an Australian actor.He was born Kristian Lind, but legally changed his name to Ditch when he was 18. Ditch came about because his older sister could not pronounce Christian, so instead she ended up calling him 'Ditchin'...
as DetectiveDetectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Evan 'Jonesy' JonesEvan 'Jonesy' JonesEvan 'Jonesy' Jones is a fictional character from Blue Heelers. He was introduced in 2001 and remained until the show ended in 2006. He was portrayed by Ditch Davey....
[until episode 510] - Simone McAullaySimone McAullaySimone McAullay is an Australian actress.She auditioned for the Actors Centre in Sydney from where she graduated in 2000. From 2003 to 2006, when the programme was canceled, she played the role of Senior Constable Susie Raynor on Blue Heelers.In 2007, she has played a guest role on Home and Away...
as Senior Constable Susie RaynorSusie RaynorSusie Raynor is a fictional character in the long-running television show Blue Heelers. She first appeared in 2003 and remained until the show's cancellation in 2006.-Description:...
[until episode 510] - Rachel GordonRachel GordonRachel Gordon Rachel Gordon Rachel Gordon (born 10 May 1976 in Brisbane, Australia is an actress.Gordon is a 1996 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. Since her graduation, she has combined stage acting with various roles in Australian television and films.In late...
as DetectiveDetectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Amy FoxAmy Fox (T.V. character)Amy Fox is a fictional character in the long running television show Blue Heelers. She first appeared in 2004 and remained until the show was cancelled in 2006. Fox was portrayed by Rachel Gordon. Amy entered the show in season 11 after the bombing of the Mount Thomas Police Station.She is...
[until episode 510] - Samantha ToljSamantha ToljSamantha Tolj is an actress.Her father is Croatian and mother is Anglo Celtic Australian.Tolj began professional acting guest starring on Stingers, MDA, and a bit part in an episode of Blue Heelers...
as Constable Kelly O'RourkeKelly O'RourkeKelly O'Rourke was a fictional character from Blue Heelers. She came into the show in 2004 after the bombing of the Mount Thomas Station and stayed until the show finished in 2006.She was portrayed by Samantha Tolj....
[until episode 510] - Danny RacoDanny RacoDanny Raco is an Australian actor and director, known for his television work.Raco was born in Rome, Italy. He got his start playing Marco Vialli on the teenage soap opera Heartbreak High from 1998 to 1999. In 2001, he joined the cast of a primetime soap opera, Home and Away, playing Alex Poulos...
as ConstableConstableA constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
Joss PeroniJoss PeroniJoss Peroni was a fictional character who appeared in Blue Heelers between July 2004 and June 2006. He was portrayed by Danny Raco....
[until episode 510] - Charlie ClausenCharlie ClausenCharlie Clausen is an Australian actor most known for his role as Jake Harrison on McLeod's Daughters in 2003 and as Acting Sergeant Alex Kirby on the police drama series Blue Heelers, which he starred in for the majority of Season 12 and Season 13...
as ActingActingActing is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Alex KirbyAlex Kirby (TV character)Alex Kirby was a fictional character in Australia's long running police drama Blue Heelers. He was portrayed by Charlie Clausen.Alex was introduced early in 2005 and remained until the final episode in mid 2006....
[until episode 510] - Matthew HolmesMatt HolmesMatthew Theodore Holmes is an Australian actor.-Early life:Holmes attended Newington College . He gained an Advanced Diploma in Acting at the Actors College of Theatre and Television....
as ConstableConstableA constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
Matt GrahamMatthew 'Matt' GrahamMatthew Graham is a fictional character in the long running Australian television police drama Blue Heelers. He joined the cast of Blue Heelers in 2005 after the farwell of Sergeant Mark Jacobs....
[until episode 510]
Guest actors for season thirteen included Roy Billing
Roy Billing
Roy Billing is a New Zealand television actor, now based in Sydney, Australia.-Career:Billing has starred in many television shows and had main roles on Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Dossa and Joe and Hell Has Harbour Views...
, Jacinta Stapleton
Jacinta Stapleton
Jacinta Stapelton is an Australian actress. Her most notable acting role was Amy Greenwood in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours from 1997 to 2000.-Early life:...
, Elly Varrenti
Elly Varrenti
Elly Varrenti is an Australian television and theatre actress, singer, teacher, broadcaster and writer. During her acting career, she is probably most well known for her role on Heartbreak High in 1994 as Irini Poulos. She has also had a recurring role in the third season of Blue Heelers, as well...
, Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap E Street as the character "Wheels"...
, Ian Roberts
Ian Roberts (actor)
Ian Michael Roberts is an American actor, comedian and writer best known as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe.-Life and career:...
, Bernard Curry
Bernard Curry
Bernard Curry is a Sydney-based Australian actor, best known for his role in soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away.-Career:...
, Spencer McLaren
Spencer McLaren
Spencer McLaren is an Australian theatre actor and television actor. The 1999 NIDA graduate is most well known for his starring role on the Australian television drama, The Secret Life Of Us, as Richie Blake; a role he played for 66 episodes.-Theatre:Australian productions of:* Kismet* Cats* West...
, Kane Alexander
Kane Alexander
Kane Alexander is an Australian jazz singer and classical singer, while also on occasion been an Australian television actor. He has appeared on such popular programmes as Blue Heelers, Neighbours, Stingers and Good Morning Australia....
, Joshua Lawson and Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling is an Australian actor, best 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.-Biography:He also starred on Blue Heelers as Constable Adam...
.
Plot
Due to Tom's illness, Falcon-Price takes over the operation of the station and the team must deal with his constant presence and the pressure which they are put under. Falcon-Price's constant attempts to prove that Tom is not up to his job have also grown more intense at Tom's initial sign of weakness. We see that Alex is having trouble dealing with his new role as a father, and, on top of this, Alex is stabbed by a criminal, and this begins to look as if it is all Tom's fault. The two rivals, Kelly and Joss, enter into new romances: Joss with a pickpocket victim and Kelly with a rival lawyer. They must deal with their constant jealousy of each other and their constant drive to outdo each other, as it had been ever since they left the AcademyVictoria 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 eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
. Joss must also deal with his growing gambling debts and the consequences of these, including his being beaten up
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, his being forced to get a second job and his becoming homeless. He must also deal with the people around him who, in trying to help him, make him feel worse; particularly the arrival of his mother in town. Dismissed police officer Adam Cooper also arrives back in Mount Thomas, for the first time since Tom dismissed him in 1999. This time he arrives in Mount Thomas as a photocopier technician and wants take revenge on Tom. In an attempt to do this, he tries to frame him for a crime he did not commit. In the heat of these allegations against Mount Thomas' top cop, there is the very real possibility that the Mount Thomas police station may be closed forever, and the team are forced to find new placements and the possibility of separation from one another.
Production
The season premiered on 1 April 2006, with the show's 500th episode - "Only The Lonely". The network chose to discount the season premiereSeason premiere
In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:...
as an episode and instead chose to advertise the season premiere as episode 499 and promoted the next episode - "Boss" - as the monumental 500th episode. This episode focuses largely on Tom Croydon battling the news that he has cancer.
The cast finished filming their final episode for 2005 on 20 December, aware that the show's future was the subject of discussion, but at this point the show had not been cancelled. To prepare for the possibility of cancellation, two alternate endings for the show were filmed in 2005 for a possible series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
in 2006. One ending was left open ended, to serve as a lead-in to a possible 14th season, the other ending wrapped up all the show's storylines. The cast were on their New Year non-rating period hiatus
Hiatus (television)
In television scheduling, a hiatus refers to a break of at least several weeks in the normal schedule of a broadcast programming. It can occur during a season of a television program, or can be between television seasons .- Planned hiatus :Many times television stations will implement a hiatus...
when they were told of Blue Heelers cancellation. Thus, the eleven final episodes the cast had filmed in late 2005 were to be used for the 2006 season. For the series finale, the latter ending, wrapping up the show's storylines was used. Although, rather than completely wrapping everything up, the producers made it possible to resume from where they left off, should Seven decide to start producing Blue Heelers again.
The 2 hour series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
, titled "One Day More", aired on Sunday 4 June 2006 in a prime-time slot, at 8:30 pm. The finale focuses on Tom's attempts to reconnect with his family, and recover from his debilitating illness, whilst dealing with criminal charges brought against him by a vengeful ex-officer as well as the fact that the Mount Thomas police station, which he loves so dearly, may be closed down. It also features the return of former cast member Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling is an Australian actor, best 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.-Biography:He also starred on Blue Heelers as Constable Adam...
, reprising his role as Adam Cooper, still very bitter about his treatment by Tom. Rather than ending in "a hail of bullet or a bomb explosion", the producers wanted to give the record-breaking series a gentle and fitting farewell to celebrate its life - "We did not want to blow everyone up," producer Gus Howard said, "It is a gentle grounding. It felt like the right thing to do.".
This season also marked the time when Blue Heelers matched the record for "most episodes produced in an Australian weekly primetime drama", equalling Homicide's record, which was set in 1977. Blue Heelers did not, however match the "total airtime on television" record. This record was also set by Homicide in 1977. This record stands at 516 hours whilst Blue Heelers is just shy of the record at 511 hours.
Reception
In Blue HeelersOn 13 January 2006, the network ended months of speculation when they officially cancelled the series. The news was broken by television critic Robert Fidgeon
Robert Fidgeon
Robert Fidgeon was a television writer and critic for the Melbourne based newspaper, the Herald Sun. He wrote a regular column in the section, The Guide.-Career:...
on radio station 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
, and was shortly followed by the official announcement which appeared on the front-page of nearly all of Australia's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, Sydney's Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
, The Melbourne Herald Sun, The Melbourne Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and Brisbane's Courier Mail.
For this thirteenth season, Seven chose to move Blue Heelers from its Wednesday-night, primetime timeslot, which it had occupied for 10 years, to the lower-rated Saturday-night timeslot, which also saw it up against popular British police programme The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
; this move was slammed by cast member John Wood. Ratings for this season were generally low; no episode ranked in OzTAM
OzTAM
OzTAM is an Australian audience measurement research firm that collects and markets television ratings data. It is jointly owned by the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten, and is the official source of television ratings data for all metropolitan television in Sydney, Melbourne,...
's top 20 programme list for the week.
The final episode, "One Day More", achieved 1,512,000 viewers in the five major Australian cities: Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Sydney, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Whilst enough to justify a Sunday primetime slot, it was still a very low rating figure and was not enough for Seven to justify the continued production of the programme, which was estimated at costing them almost $500 000 per episode to produce. Additionally, more "reality-type" programmes such as Border Security
Border Security: Australia's Front Line
Border Security: Australia's Front Line is an Australian television programme that airs on the Seven Network. The show follows the work of officers of Australian Customs and Border Protection, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship as...
which cost $100 000 to produce and package were achieving record amounts of viewers as high as 2 million per episode; Blue Heelers had not had 2 million viewers for over 5 years.
Awards
In 2006, John Wood was once again nominated for the most coveted television award in Australia, the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. In 2006, Wood finally won this award, which had eluded him every year since 1997. This could be partially attributed to the magnitude of support thrown behind Wood in his bid for the publicly-chosen award: Nova 100Nova 100
Nova 100 is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. It is in the Melbourne radio market, with the intention of challenging the number one FM Austereo station Fox FM by playing alternative, hip hop, pop & dance music, with a strong lean towards...
's Michelle Anderson, for example, ran a campaign and had T-shirts made up in his honour stating: "Ten years, it's high time the pillar of society and acting god that is John Wood be rewarded with gold."; even Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
's top-cop, Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon
Christine Nixon
Christine Nixon APM was the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police between 23 April 2001 and 27 February 2009. After leaving Victoria Police, she was appointed chair of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority in February 2009 until she stood down from the position in July...
, threw her support behind Wood in his bid for the Gold.
As well as this prestigious award, Wood was also privileged to win the Silver Logie
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
for Most Popular Actor, which he had won in 2005 and had been nominated for a further 6 times, over thirteen years, for his role as Tom Croydon on Blue Heelers.
At the 2006 Logies, Wood was also nominated for Most Outstanding Actor in a drama series and Blue Heelers was nominated for Most Popular Australian Drama series. Most Outstanding Actor went to Dan Wyllie from Love My Way
Love My Way
Love My Way was a Logie Award winning and critically acclaimed Australian television drama series. It won the AFI award for Best Television Drama Series for each of its three seasons ....
and Most Popular Drama went to Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
.
At the 2006 Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
(AFI) Awards, Blue Heelers was nominated for Most Popular Drama, but this award went to Love My Way. Guests actors on the show, Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap E Street as the character "Wheels"...
and Saskia Burmeister
Saskia Burmeister
Saskia Burmeister is anAustralian actress. She is most known for her roles in Hating Alison Ashley and Sea Patrol....
, however, were nominated for, and won, Best Guest or Supporting Actor and Actress in Television Drama, respectively. Graham was nominated for his role in "Moonlighting" (episode 508), while Burmeister was nominated for her role in a season twelve episode.
Episodes
| DVD Season | Episode # | Title | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Original airdate (Aust.) |
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Season 13 DVD release
Season 13 was released on Thursday, 3 March 2011.| The Complete Thirteenth Season (Parts 1+2) | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| Release Date 3 March 2011 | ||||
Season 14 DVD release
Season 14 was released on Thursday, 2 June 2011.| The Complete Fourteenth Season | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| Release Date 2 June 2011 | ||||