The series was a police drama from Crawford Productions, but was different from many of their previous series—Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police—in that it focused on a single detective rather than an ensemble, and that the characters were not stock standard archetypes usually seen in police dramas. Stand-up comedian Lucky Grills was cast as the titular Detective Sergeant 'Bluey' Hills who, in contrast to the relatively straight detectives seen in Crawford's previous shows, was obese, drank heavily (even on duty), smoked heavily, visited local prostitutes, and would often enact physical violence on criminals.
It premiered on Wednesday 21 July 1976 on ATN-7 in Sydney, as a 90-minute pilot episode, with the first 60-minute episode premiering on the following day, Thursday 22 July 1976. Bluey was later an essential Thursday viewing.[1]
Bluey was set at Melbourne's Russell Street Police Headquarters, with "Bluey" Hills heading his own squad ("Department B"), due to his inability to work within the existing police squads. Department B was given cases that the other departments could not readily solve by conventional means, with Hills applying his unconventional methods to bring about their resolution.
Bluey was supported in his investigations by newly assigned Det. Gary Dawson (John Diedrich) long-time cohort Sgt. Monica Rourke (Gerda Nicolson), and undercover officer Det. Sgt. Reg Truscott (Terry Gill), who spent his time ostensibly working as a small-time burglar, and supplying Bluey with information on the activities of local criminals. Victoria Quilter also featured in early episodes as Dawson's girlfriend Jo Goldman, later replaced by Mercia Deane-Johns as Debbie Morley. Whilst a constant thorn in the side of the Assistant Commissioner (Ken Goodlet) and Superintendent (Fred Parslow), Bluey's methods were highly effective—while other squads didn't want him as a part of their team, they still sought him out when they could not get the job done.
Unlike other Australian TV series where it was common practice to shoot interior scenes on 2.5cm quadruplex videotape and outdoor shots on film, the series was entirely shot on colour film. The final episode, "Son of Bluey", featured an appearance by actor Don Barker as Det. Sgt. Harry White—the same character he played in Homicide.
Lucky Grills as Bluey
Lucky Grills told TV Week magazine that after playing a guest role in an episode of Matlock Police someone thought of him for the role of Bluey.[2]
His agent sent him a page of script, which he read and then went to audition. After the audition, it took ten days for the call to come through telling him he had the part. "It was Hector Crawford himself calling to tell me I had the role."[2]
Legacy
Around the same time the series was airing, Grills featured as himself in an episode of Crawford's sitcom Bobby Dazzler as a telethon guest, where reference was made to his role in Bluey.
Since the original TV run Bluey was replayed a total of three times on Channel Seven, the first being in Sydney between 10 and 24 November 1978 at a 2pm weekday timeslot.[3] In Melbourne, it was repeated at 3pm between 27 July[4] and 14 September, 1979.[5] During the late 1980s period Seven replayed it at an early 4pm timeslot weekday mornings and the final screening was in 1994 usually at a late night time-slot around 11pm or 12am weekly on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. This was in response to the success of "Bargearse" (see below).[6] The series has not been replayed on television since that period, however, it is available as a DVD set from Crawford Productions.
Although the show only lasted for one year, Bluey found a new audience almost two decades later when dubbed clips from the show formed the basis for the popular The Late Show comedy sketch "Bargearse". In addition to two other guest appearances as himself, Grills also reprised his role as Bluey on The Late Show[7] in order to protest the airing of the last Bargearse sketch.
Of the cast members, Gerda Nicolson died on 12 June 1992,[9] and Lucky Grills died on 27 July 2007.[10] As a result of commentary on the BargearseDVD release, Victoria Quilter is listed on several Internet sites—including IMDb—as a "missing person". However, as of October2010[update], she was alive and well and living in Sydney.
1 2 Scott, Eric (3 April 1976). "Bluey – TV's New Two-Fisted Cop". TV Week. p.20.
↑ Sun-Herald TV Guide' Sydney Sun-Herald 5 November 1978 p. 69; 'Television', Sydney Morning Herald 24 November 1978 p. 14
↑ Melbourne Age, "Green Guide" section, 19 July 1979 p. 17
↑ 'Television', Melbourne Age 14 September 1979 p. 11
↑ Squires, Tony (22 August 1994). "Bowled over by Grills". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: John Fairfax Holdings. p.63. Retrieved 27 April 2024– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Hawker, Philippa (30 December 1993). "Really good, really bad and really real". The Age. Melbourne: John Fairfax Holdings. p.11. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024– via Newspapers.com.
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