The fifth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers

Blue Heelers

Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series which depicted the lives of police officers stationed at the fictional Mount Thomas police station in a small town in Victoria.- Overview :...

 premiered on 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...

 on 24 February 1998 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 41-episode season concluded 25 November 1998.

The 41-episode fifth season saw the show move to Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM, making way for All Saints

All Saints (TV series)

All Saints is an Australian medical drama which first screened on the Seven Network. The series debuted on 24 February 1998 and concluded its run on 27 October 2009...

 on Tuesdays at 8.30 PM. Ratings dipped, but finished still finished the number 2 show for the year with 2,240,000 in the five cities.

Casting

Main cast for this season consisted of:

• 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:...
  
   as 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...
  
   [full season]
• Julie Nihill
  Julie Nihill
  Julie 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' Riley
  Chris 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....
  
   [full season]
• Martin Sacks
  Martin Sacks
  Martin Colin Sacks is an award-winning Australian actor, chiefly known for his 12-year role on Blue Heelers from 1993–2005.-Career:...
  
   as Detective
  Detective
  A 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"...
  
   Senior Constable Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham
  Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham
  P.J. was a fictional character in Australia's police series Blue Heelers.He was an original character in 1994 and left in 2005.He was portrayed by Martin Sacks....
  
   [full season]
• Lisa McCune
  Lisa McCune
  Lisa McCune , is a four-time Gold Logie Award winning Australian actress, best known for her role as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle in Blue Heelers, and as Lt...
  
   as Constable Margaret 'Maggie' Doyle [full season]
• William McInnes
  William McInnes
  William McInnes is an Australian film and television actor and writer.-Television:After a recurring role on A Country Practice in 1990, McInnes appeared in series such as Bligh, Ocean Girl, and Snowy before making his name as Senior Constable Nick Schultz on Blue Heelers in 1994...
  
   as Senior Constable Nicholas 'Nick' Schultz [until episode 207]
• 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...
  
   as Probationary Constable Adam Cooper [full season]
• Tasma Walton
  Tasma Walton
  Tasma Walton 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...
  
   as Probationary Constable Deirdre 'Dash' McKinley
  Deirdre 'Dash' McKinley
  Dash McKinley was a fictional character from Blue Heelers. She entered the series in 1996 and left in 1999, as she resigned from the police force. One of her major storylines occurred during the 1998 season, when she was diagnosed with cancer. Dash was the youngest of nine children. She had a kind...
  
   [full season]
• Paul Bishop
  Paul Bishop
  Paul Bishop is an author and a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department with the current rank of Detective III. He is also a writer with numerous published novels and produced episodes of episodic television and feature film scripts...
  
   as Senior Constable Benjamin 'Ben' Stewart
  Benjamin 'Ben' Stewart
  Benjamin 'dog' Stewart was a fictional character in the long running police series Blue Heelers. He was portrayed by Paul Bishop.He came into the series in the middle of season 5 as a guest before coming back to the series as a full time cast member of the show and stayed from season 5-season 11...
  
   [from episode 198]

Damian Walshe-Howling appeared in the full season as Adam Cooper but finished his almost five-year career on the show with the show's season five finale - "Rotten Apple (Part 2)".

Paul Bishop began his playing his part of Ben Stewart before he actually became a permanent cast member in the episode "Nine Lives".William McInnes left the series because of lack of his storyline in the show and moving on to further projects

Recurring characters for this season include:

• Peta Doodson
  Peta Doodson
  Peta Doodson is an Australian television actress. She was more commonly known as playing the hardlined Inspector of police, Inspector Monica Draper, on the hit TV show Blue Heelers....
  
   as Inspector (formerly Senior Sergeant) Monica Draper
• Beth Buchanan
  Beth Buchanan
  Beth Buchanan is an Australian actress. She is best known for the television roles of Gemma Ramsay in Neighbours, in the early '90s, and Susan Croydon in Blue Heelers from 1994. She is also a long-standing member of the Ranters Theatre company.-Early life:Buchanan is the daughter of musician Tony...
  
   as Susan Croydon
• Michael Isaacs
  Michael Isaacs
  Michael Isaacs is an Australian actor best known for his semi-regular role as the intellectually disabled Clancy Freeman in the TV series Blue Heelers ....
  
   as Clancy Freeman
• Suzi Dougherty as Dr.
  Physician
  A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
  
   Mel Carter
• Axl Taylor as Len the barman
• Dennis Miller
  Dennis Miller (Australian actor)
  Dennis Miller is an Australian film and television actor. Miller has acted in television shows including a recurring role on Blue Heelers as Ex-Sergeant Pat Doyle .He was also married to actress Elspeth Ballantyne.- External links :...
  
   as Ex-Sergeant Pat Doyle
• Stuart Baker as "Richo"
• Reg Evans
  Reg Evans
  Reginald "Reg" Evans was a British-born actor active in Australian television, theatre, and cinema from the 1960s....
  
   as Keith Purvis
• Terry Gill
  Terry Gill
  Terry Gill is a British-born actor who carved a nichè in Australian television playing police officers.He was a recurring cast member in the women's prison drama Prisoner as Det. Insp. Jack Grace, a regular cast member as Sgt...
  
   as Superintendent
  Superintendent (police)
  Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...
  
   Clive Adamson
• Karen Davitt
  Karen Davitt
  Karen Davitt is an Australian actress, best known for her performance as Zoe Hamilton in Blue Heelers from 1995–1998.She was born 1 January 1963 in London.-Filmography:Filmography*MDA as Dr. Gerry Mitchell *Ned Kelly as Anne Jones...
  
   as Doctor Zoe Hamilton
• Don Bridges as Charlie Clarke
• Marie Trevor as Lelia Clegg
• Pauline Terry-Bietz as Beth McKinley
• Neil Pigot
  Neil Pigot
  Neil Pigot is an Australian actor, best known to audiences as Inspector Falcon-Price on Blue Heelers.Pigot began his career in theatre, and after a long apprenticeship moved to guest starring roles in television shows such as The Games , The Secret Life of Us , Marshall Law and Stingers...
  
   as Inspector
  Inspector
  Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
  
   Russel Falcon-Price
• Adam May as Ellis Corby
• Peter Aanensen as Merv Poole
• Jeremy Kewley
  Jeremy Kewley
  Jeremy Leo Kewley is an Australian actor, based in Melbourne, who made his professional acting debut at the age of 14 in the feature film The Devil's Playground .-Early life:...
  
   as Tony Timms
• Kevin Harrington as Charlie McKinley
• Catherine Wilkin
  Catherine Wilkin
  Catherine Wilkin is an actor who has worked in New Zealand and Australia.Wilkin has acted in many Australian television shows, with a mix of guest and multi-episode recurring roles....
  
   as Sally Downie
• Grant Piro
  Grant Piro
  Grant Piro is an Australian actor. He is best known as the host of the children's television show Couch Potato on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.- Television credits :* Sons and Daughters * Captain Johnno telemovie...
  
   as Tim Ryan

Guest actors included Shane Connor

Shane Connor

Shane Connor is an Australian actor, who has had extensive experience in both stage and film productions.-Background:Shane Connor graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in the early 1980s...

, James Condon

James Condon

James Condon is an Australian actor.He has made many appearances on television, including The Story Of Peter Grey, Homicide, Matlock Police, Number 96 , Bellamy, The Young Doctors, Carson's Law, Sons and Daughters, Prisoner, The Flying...

, John Clayton

John Clayton (actor)

John Clayton was an Australian actor.He was best known for his television work, with credits including: Division 4, Rush, The Outsiders, Chopper Squad, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, E Street, Police Rescue, Blue Heelers, Water Rats, Wildside, Farscape, Grass Roots and All...

, Maggie Dence

Maggie Dence

Maggie Dence is an Australian actress who after high profile television comedy work became better known for several soap opera roles....

, Peter O'Brien, Grant Piro

Grant Piro

Grant Piro is an Australian actor. He is best known as the host of the children's television show Couch Potato on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.- Television credits :* Sons and Daughters * Captain Johnno telemovie...

, Val Lehman

Val Lehman

Val Lehman is an Australian actress, best known for her role as top dog Bea Smith in the Australian series Prisoner...

, Monica Maughan

Monica Maughan

Monica Maughan was an Australian actor with notable and well-known roles in film, theatre, radio and television.-Early life and education:...

, Anne Phelan

Anne Phelan

Anne Mary Phelan, OAM , is a much awarded Australian actress, who has appeared prominently in Theatre, Australian television productions and soap operas, including Prisoner where she played the role of 'Top Dog' Myra Desmond and Monica Taylor in Something in the air...

, Dennis Coard, Carol Burns

Carol Burns

.Carol Burns is an Australian actor. She has worked in film, television and theatre in Australia and the United Kingdom.-Career highlights:...

 and Sean Scully

Sean Scully (actor)

Sean Scully Sean Scully Sean Scully (born 28 September 1947 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia is an actor.-Career:Scully began his acting career at the age of 12, going on 13, in the 1960 Children’s Film Foundation film Hunted in Holland, which won the Diploma of Honour at the Cannes Film...

.

Plot

Storylines included:

• Maggie and PJ hiding their relationship from their co-workers, which landed them in trouble when Organised Crimes specialist Detective Sergeant Ben Stewart came to town to help with a case, falling for Maggie,
• Tom embarking on a relationship with Sally Downie,
• Dash being diagnosed with cancer, and undergoing chemotherapy
  Chemotherapy
  Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
  
  ,
• the cops fighting back against plans to downgrade the station, resulting in a station upgrade, giving Tom, Nick and Maggie all a promotion, Tom becoming Senior Sergeant, Nick taking over as Sergeant and Maggie taking over as Senior Constable,
• a demoted Senior Constable Ben Stewart returning full time to Mount Thomas,
• the engagement and marriage of Nick and Zoe and their leaving Mount Thomas,

in reality, William McInnes had grown tired of his lack of storylines,

• Adam breaking the law - by buying a stolen car - seeing him removed from the force.

The season saw Nick and Zoe leave Mount Thomas after their wedding, which was halted temporarily after they were accused of murder.

Awards

Episodes

DVD Season #	Episode #	Title	Director(s)	Writer(s)	Original airdate (Aust.)

DVD release

The Complete Fifth Season: Part 1
	Set Details			Special Features
	24 Episodes (1080 Mins.) Episodes 140 - 163 6-Disc Set Full Frame English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)			Slipcase Packaging Photo Gallery
	Release Dates
	8 June 2006

The Complete Fifth Season: Part 2
	Set Details			Special Features
	18 Episodes (810 Mins.) Episodes 164 - 181 5-Disc Set Full Frame English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)			Slipcase Packaging Photo Gallery
	Release Dates
	8 June 2006

The Complete Fifth Season
Set Details			Special Features
42 Episodes (1890 Mins.) Episodes 140 - 181 11-Disc Set Full Frame English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)			Slipcase Packaging Photo Gallery
Release Dates
8 June 2006