| Police Rescue | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Police Rescue – Gefährlicher Einsatz (Germany) Polizia Squadra Soccorso (Italy) Sydney Police (France) |
| Format | Action drama |
| Written by | Christopher Lee Debra Oswald Philip Cornford |
| Directed by | Michael Carson (1991–1993) Scott Hartford-Davis (1995–1996) |
| Starring | Gary Sweet Sonia Todd Steve Bastoni John Clayton Tammy MacIntosh Belinda Cotterill Jeremy Callaghan Doug Scroope Steve Bisley Frank Holden Marshall Napier Tim McKenzie Peter Browne Ada Nicodemou Salvatore Coco Leah Purcell |
| Composer(s) | Martin Armiger Garry Hardman |
| Country of origin | Australia United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 61 + pilot |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Penny Chapman Kim Williams Errol Sullivan |
| Producer(s) | John Edwards Sandra Levy |
| Editor(s) | Various |
| Location(s) | New South Wales, Australia |
| Cinematography | Steve Arnold Russell Bacon Stephen Windon |
| Running time | 50 min. 90 min. (pilot) |
| Production company(s) | Australian Broadcasting Corporation British Broadcasting Corporation Southern Star Xanadu |
| Distributor | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC TV |
| Picture format | PAL (576i) |
| Audio format | Stereophonic |
| First shown in | Australia |
| Original run | 15 March 1989 – 22 November 1996 |
| Police Rescue: The Movie | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Carson |
| Produced by | John Edwards Sandra Levy |
| Written by | John Edwards Sandra Levy Debra Oswald |
| Starring | Gary Sweet Zoe Carides Steve Bastoni Jeremy Sims John Clayton Tammy MacIntosh Jeremy Callaghan Belinda Cotterill Cate Blanchett Rel Hunt Sonia Todd |
| Music by | John Clifford White |
| Cinematography | Russell Bacon |
| Editing by | Christopher Spurr |
| Studio | Australian Broadcasting Corporation Southern Star Xanadu |
| Distributed by | United International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 17 March 1994 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Box office | A$658,814 |
Police Rescue was an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by ABC and Southern Star Xanadu in association with the BBC.[1]
Apart from the 61 episodes, there was a 90-minute pilot episode (first screened in 1989) as well as a feature film in 1994, starring Zoe Carides.
The series dealt with the New South Wales Police Rescue Squad based in Sydney and their work attending to various incidents from road accidents to train crashes. The show was very well received for the first four series, however a decline in ratings by the commencement of the 1996 series saw the cancellation of the show, following an almost epitaph in the final three episodes.
Police Rescue was shown in the United Kingdom and aired on Sky One, in parts of Italy as Polizia Squadra Soccorso on T9, in France on TF1 as Sydney Police, in Germany on VOX as Police Rescue – Gefährlicher Einsatz, in Norway, Sweden and Denmark on the United Kingdom-based TV3, and in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ.
Contents |
In mid-1989, Southern Star Xanadu broadcast the pilot episode of Police Rescue via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The 90-minute telemovie established the background of the protagonist of the series, Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock. Several issues were raised in the pilot, such as women's discrimination, sexism, and street violence. The plot evolved around the entrance of the first woman member to the Police Rescue Squad, Constable Georgia Rattray and then the search for a missing boy in Sydney's sewer system.
The telemovie was well received and spawned the series of Police Rescue, which carried on shortly after the pilot.
For the first thirteen episodes, Police Rescue sustained the same cast as the 1989 pilot, with the addition of Constable Yiannis "Angel" Angelopoulos, who would stay with the show for the duration. This series also allowed the character of Constable Percy "Ptomaine" Warren to have a most active role, especially in the episodes LPG and The Cosmic Lightbeam. For the subsequent series, Ptomaine had relatively minor roles. In addition, this series was the only one to portray Mickey McClintock's wife, Des, played by Kerry Armstrong. The episodes are as follows:
The character of Sergeant Fred "Frog" Catteau departed the show following the episode Judgement Day. The following episode, Stakeout, saw the introduction of Constable Brian Morley. Special guest stars in this series included Russell Crowe in The Right Stuff and Rebecca Cartwright in Reasons to Live. Although not explicitly explained, Georgia Rattray achieved promotion in this series from 1st Class Constable to Senior Constable to replace the position (in the squad) of Constable Trevor "Sootie" Coledale (Series 1). It was also not explained in the show why Constable Trevor "Sootie" Coledale and Senior Sergeant Peter "Ridgy" Ridgeway had departed. The commencement of the second series had Senior Sergeant Kevin "Nipper" Harris replacing Ridgy, with Nipper remaining with the show until halfway through Series 4. This was also the case for the new characters of Constable Kathy Orland and Brian Morley. The episodes of Series 2 are as follows:
This series saw the continuation of the cast from the end of Series 2. In addition, there was an increase of guest stars; some of which were relatively unknown at the original time of broadcast. Stars included Cate Blanchett in The Loaded Boy, Jeffrey Walker in Rush Hour, Frankie J Holden in Good Buddy and Martin Sacks in Prodigal Daughter. Viewers also saw the last of Angel's wife in On a Roll, despite her mentioning later on in the series. This series also showed the pinnacle of Mickey and Georgia's relationship. Episodes of Series 3 include:
Nipper departed from the series following the episode Wrong Side of the Road in order to spend more time with his family and take over on his sister's farm. The position was filled by Senior Sergeant Glenn "Spider" Webb, a replacement which has often been described as the "beginning of the end" of Police Rescue. Sharyn, the receptionist, was also temporarily replaced without explanation by Anastasia Skouras (Ada Nicodemou), who seemed to play an almost identical role to Sharyn. This was also the final series for characters Kathy and Brian, with a highly dramatic departure at the end of the episode Wild Card. Special guests included Judith McGrath in Wrong Side of the Road as well as Miranda Otto and Delta Goodrem in On the Outer. The episodes for Series 4 are as follows:
The final series had only nine episodes, in comparison to the thirteen of the previous four series. With brand new cast members to fill the roles of the two junior squad members, the series began to take a new direction, adopting an almost soap opera style of show . The final three episodes acted as an epitaph for the major cast members, with the final episode acting as the final word of Police Rescue. The episodes of this series include:
In 1993, ABC Television released selected episodes from Series 1 and Series 2 on VHS format. The 1989 pilot episode was released the previous year.
In early November 2006, WarnerVision announced the release of complete Series 1. In Australia it was released on the 24 November 2006. The four disc "collector's box set" included all thirteen episodes from Series 1, including the 90-minute pilot episode as bonus material. Series 2 and 3 were released on 9 April 2007. They contain episodes 14 to 39, devoid of any bonus features or extras. Series 4 and 5 were released in a two part DVD set on 9 July 2007.
They were deleted from DVD in late 2008 and Jb Hi Fi still have some of season 1 and 4 left.
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