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Water Rats | |
---|---|
Created by | John Hugginson Tony Morphett |
Starring | Colin Friels Catherine McClements Steve Bisley Toni Scanlan Peter Bensley Aaron Pedersen Dee Smart Jay Laga'aia |
Theme music composer | Les Gock Song Zu |
Country of origin | Australia |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 177 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | Hal McElroy Ted Roberts |
Production locations | Sydney The Rocks Goat Island Balmain |
Running time | 42-45 minutes |
Production companies | Southern Star Productions Nine Films and Television |
Original release | |
Network | Nine Network |
Release | 12 February 1996 – 7 August 2001 |
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based on the work of Sydney Water Police who fight crime around Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour.
Water Rats premiered on 12 February 1996, and ran for six seasons and 177 episodes. Colin Friels and Catherine McClements were the original stars of the series and were instrumental in the show's early success. They both departed the show in 1999. In later seasons, Steve Bisley, Aaron Pedersen and Dee Smart became the show's main stars.
For the sixth and final season in 2001, the show concentrated more on the cops' personal lives rather than just focusing on the crimes committed. The Nine Network cancelled the show after six seasons. Executive Producer Kris Noble blamed escalating costs for the cancellation. However, the series had been suffering a ratings decline following the departure of Friels and McClements in 1999.
The final episode was broadcast in Australia on 7 August 2001.
The pilot of Water Rats screened in Australia at 8.30 pm on Monday, 12 February 1996. It was entitled "Dead in the Water" and was a two-part episode, concernimg a divorced man, deranged over the death of his daughter, who captures a Sydney Harbour ferry and holds the city to ransom. [1] "Dead in the Water" introduced viewers to Detective Senior Constables Frank Holloway (Colin Friels) and Rachel Goldstein (Catherine McClements).
Season one ran for 26 episodes.
The second season of Water Rats ran, again, for 26 episodes and began airing on Monday, 10 February 1997. Season two also took the detectives to Melbourne, a change from Sydney Harbour. It also introduced a new character, Constable Tayler Johnson (Raelee Hill), as well as a few minor ones.
Season three ran for 31 episodes and premiered on Monday, 9 February 1998. A couple of episodes into the season, it was moved to Tuesday nights. Steve Bisley is also added to the opening credits for a number of episodes near the end of the season.
The fourth series began on Tuesday, 16 February 1999 and ran for 32 episodes. It was a series of change for Water Rats, which included both Colin Friels' and Catherine McClements' departures within 18 episodes of each other.
The fifth season began airing on Tuesday, 22 February 2000, and ran for 36 episodes, the longest out of the six seasons of the show. Ratings began to fall slightly, as a result of McClements' departure the previous year. A number of regular characters also left, including Jay Laga'aia and Scott Burgess, whose character was not seen at all in series five, and his whereabouts was finally mentioned in series six.
The sixth and final season of Water Rats began airing on Tuesday, 6 February 2001 and ran for 26 episodes. Sometime early in the season, the timeslot was changed from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. The Nine Network decided to cancel the show, due to escalating costs and declining ratings, and two main stars, Steve Bisley and Dee Smart had decided to leave the show.
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Logie Award | Most Outstanding Actor | Colin Friels | Won |
Most Outstanding Achievement in a Drama Production | Water Rats | Won | ||
1998 | Logie Award | Most Outstanding Actor | Colin Friels | Nominated |
Most Popular Actor | Colin Friels | Nominated | ||
Most Popular Actress | Catherine McClements | Nominated | ||
Most Outstanding Actress | Catherine McClements | Won | ||
Most Popular Program | Water Rats | Nominated | ||
Most Outstanding Drama Series | Water Rats | Nominated | ||
AFI Awards | Young Actor's Award | Paul Pantano (for episode Romeo is Bleeding) | Won | |
1999 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actor | Colin Friels | Nominated |
Most Outstanding Actor | Colin Friels | Nominated | ||
People's Choice Award | Favourite Actor in a Drama or Serial | Colin Friels | Won | |
Favourite Actress in a Drama or Serial | Catherine McClements | Nominated | ||
Favourite TV Star | Colin Friels | Nominated | ||
Favourite Drama or Serial | Water Rats | Nominated | ||
AFI Award | Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama | Catherine McClements (for episode I'm Home) | Nominated | |
Awgie Award | Television - Series | Peter Gawler (for episode Six Hundred Clear a Week) | Won | |
2000 | Logie Award | Most Outstanding Actor in a Series | Colin Friels | Nominated |
Most Outstanding Actor in a Series | Steve Bisley | Nominated | ||
Most Outstanding Actress in a Series | Catherine McClements | Nominated | ||
Most Popular Actor | Colin Friels | Nominated | ||
Most Outstanding Drama Series | Water Rats | Nominated | ||
2001 | Awgie Award | Television - Series | John Banas (for episode Domino) | Won |
Television - Series | Peter Gawler (for episode Hungry Bear Blues) | Won | ||
Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Drama Series | Water Rats | Nominated | |
Most Outstanding Actor in a Series | Steve Bisley | Nominated | ||
Water Rats was filmed on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour. Other locations used throughout the series were:
The real Sydney Water Police headquarters was located at Pyrmont. The TV version of the Sydney Water Police headquarters was located on Goat Island, though the fictional address was 48/50 Harbour Drive, Sydney 2000. Other fictional locations throughout the series included:
Water Rats was first released on DVD in 2004 through Shock Entertainment. It was released as two parts called Series 1 and Series 2, though it was actually only season 1 in two parts. Warner Vision Australia then released the rest of the show, where DVDs labelled series 3 were actually season 2 and so on. It was announced on 7 August 2017 that Via Vision Entertainment would re-release all six seasons on DVD on 22 November 2017. Several episodes are out of broadcast order in the Via Vision collection and on Amazon Prime.
Title | Format | No. of episodes | Discs | Region 4 (Australia) | DVD special features | DVD distributors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season One | DVD | Series 1, Episodes 1-13 | 3 | 8 March 2004 | Selected Episodes Commentaries | Shock Entertainment |
Season Two | DVD | Series 1, Episodes 14-26 | 3 | 21 February 2005 | Photo Gallery | Shock Entertainment |
Season Three Part 1 | DVD | Series 2, Episodes 1-14 | 4 | Photo gallery | Warner Vision Australia | |
Season Three Part 2 | DVD | Series 2, Episodes 15-26 | 3 | None | Warner Vision Australia | |
Season Four Part 1 | DVD | Series 3, Episodes 1-17 | 4 | None | Warner Vision Australia | |
Season Four Part 2 | DVD | Series 3, Episode 18-31 | 4 | Photo gallery | Warner Vision Australia | |
Season Five Part 1 | DVD | Series 4, Episodes 1-16 | 4 | 9 September 2006 | None | Warner Vision Australia |
Season Five Part 2 | DVD | Series 4, Episodes 17-32 | 4 | 9 September 2006 | Photo Gallery | Warner Vision Australia |
Season Six Part 1 | DVD | Series 5, Episodes 1-21 | 5 | 28 October 2006 | None | Warner Vision Australia |
Season Six Part 2 | DVD | Series 5, Episodes 22-36 | 4 | 28 October 2006 | Photo Gallery | Warner Vision Australia |
Season Seven Part 1 | DVD | Series 6, Episodes 1-12 | 3 | 28 October 2006 | Photo Gallery | Warner Vision Australia |
Season Seven Part 2 | DVD | Series 6, Episodes 13-26 | 4 | 28 October 2006 | None | Warner Vision Australia |
The Complete Series 1-6 | DVD | All 177 Episodes | 45 | 22 November 2017 | Commentaries On Selected Episodes. Photo Galleries | Via Vision Entertainment |
Water Rats: Collection One | DVD | Season 01, Episodes 1-26 Season 02, Episodes 01-26 Season 03, Episodes 01-31 Season 04, Episodes 01-32 | 24 | 11 April 2018 | Commentaries On Selected Episodes. Photo Galleries | Via Vision Entertainment |
Water Rats: Collection Two | DVD | Season 05, Episodes 01-36 Season 06, Episodes 01-26 | 21 | 5 December 2018 | Photo Galleries | Via Vision Entertainment |
Water Rats: The Complete Collection | DVD | All 177 Episodes | 45 | 13 September 2023 | Audio commentaries on selected episodes Photo Galleries | Via Vision Entertainment |
Title | Format | Episodes # | Year of Airing | Streaming Status | Distributors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Water Rats Season One | Streaming | Episodes 01-26 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
Water Rats Season Two | Streaming | Episodes 01-26 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
Water Rats Season Three | Streaming | Episodes 01-31 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
Water Rats Season Four | Streaming | Episodes 01-32 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
Water Rats Season Five | Streaming | Episodes 01-36 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
Water Rats Season Six | Streaming | Episodes 01-26 | 2019 2020 | No longer Available Currently Streaming | 9Now |
All episodes are available on Amazon Prime in Australia.
A Water Rats soundtrack was produced by Les Gock in 1999. It contained songs featured on the series, such as "Goldie's Theme" by Cathi Ogden (heard in many episodes, most notably episode 109) and "I'll Dream of You" by Hugh Wilson (heard in Frank's final episode). It also features a couple of songs sung by cast members: "Breathe" with Raelee Hill and "Let's Party" with Jay Laga'aia. The song "Breathe" was written by James Freud, who also sang in the chorus. The company Song Zu seems to want to have no affiliation with the soundtrack music and does not recognise nor acknowledge it on its current website. Secondhand copies of it can occasionally be found on auction sites and in secondhand music stores.
The series is currently[ when? ] being re-run in:
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