History
Season one (2007)
It's the Fremantle class HMAS Hammersley’s final six months before she's decommissioned, and Chief Petty Officer Chris BlakeSwain is serving aboard her as the coxswain, police officer, chief medic and most experienced helmsman. While he may not get squeamish at such things like blood and gore, the after-effects of such incidents do get to him in his own personal way, especially when a death is involved, and never more so than when the death is that of one of his colleagues.
When put in the impossible position of treating two serious ill crew mates who are suffering from a jellyfish sting, Swain must decide who is the more serious case and where to centre his attention. Chef Toby Jones Chefo is critical, needing constant supervision, whereas Jaffah appears to be recovering. So when Jaffah dies suddenly Swain blames himself for making the wrong choice.
These after-effects tend to coincide with his thoughts of his pregnant wife, Sally, at home, as the harsh reality of the chance of him never seeing Sally or their unborn child ever again every time he steps onto the ship. But as much as he loves his family, he loves his job, so he does it.
Episode: Chinese Whispers. So when he is kidnapped by what appears to be commercial sailors, previously rescued from their sinking boat, life for him and the rest of the ship goes into chaos. The entire time Swain is driving the RHIB with the sailors back to their ship in the darkest of nights, all he can think about is getting back home to see Sally and their child, who is due to be born very soon.
All seems well, until when Swain trips while transporting one of the boxes of cargo from the sailor's ship to the RHIB, and out spills diamonds. He has seen too much, and the master of the vessel orders him to be tied up in a room down below decks that is quickly filling with water as the boat starts to sink.
Swain's future seems doomed as the room starts to quickly fill and despite all his struggling he finds himself unable to loosen the ropes which have tied his hands together around a pole. Hammersley are close and know they need to get there quickly. They find him with moments to spare, and fellow sailor Pete Buffer manages to free him and pull him from the flooded room.
A couple of weeks later, Sally goes into labour. Chris has arranged to take at least that day off work, but when his replacement comes down with the flu, he has no choice but to leave his wife and go to work. All seems well with his 'forty-five minutes there, and forty-five minutes back' plan until complications on the ship arise and they are delayed - instead, Chris ends up helping delivering the baby boy of two teenagers who Hammersley discover on a stolen boat!
Swain finally does make it back to base, just an hour after Sally had given birth to their daughter, who gets named Chloë. While neither of them are happy at him missing Chloë's birth, Sally is just glad he made it home to see their child.
Throughout season one the title sequence shows Swain as Chief Petty Officer Chris Blake. Though he wears the ranks insignia of a Petty Officer in episodes, and in all subsequent seasons he is shown as Petty Officer Chris Blake.
Season two (2008)
In the second season, Swain is back on the new Armidale class patrol boat, also named HMAS Hammersley, resuming his role as chief medic and coxswain. But unlike a year ago, Swain now has six-month-old baby daughter. Hammersley has been assigned to peacekeeping duties in the Samaru Islands, and this is keeping him far from home for extended periods, and back home things are not going well as both he and his wife, Sally, are finding it hard with him away from them both for weeks at a time. And now Sally has put her foot down, telling him to get a shore posting.
For Swain, it's an almost impossible choice, and he's left in an agony of indecision as he tries to get through every day on the seas, away from his family.
So when Sally takes herself and Chloë away to her parents' home in Perth, Swain is desperate to do anything to get her back. At the same time, he strikes an unlikely friendship with a young boy, Saka, while on the Samaru Islands. But when he discovers some dark secrets about the boy, Swain finds himself in a race against time to find three people and bring them back to their homes - Saka, his wife and his daughter.
Season three (2009)
Season 3 starts hard for Swain with the loss of one of his closest friends, ET. So when he and Spider are taken captive by Eco-terrorists only days after finding ET's body Swain is not his usual compassionate self, almost killing the Captain of the eco-terrorists boat in payment for their callous murder of foreign fishermen.
We see a darker side to Swain in season 3, shown again in China Dolls when he is deeply affected when he is unable to save a Chinese victim of people smuggling who dies in childbirth. He also gets to flex his muscles in a dramatic knife fight with one of the Chinese people smugglers, and again when he confronts Campbell Fulton for assaulting Nikki.
As chief medic Swain is often called upon to put himself at risk to help others, so the crew are surprised when he asks to be excused from a high risk mission to a radioactive Island. But Swain is a father, and he and Sally are trying for a second child, is there a point when he has to put his own interests ahead of others? However, when Bomber slips over an edge of a cliff and into the radioactive blast crater, Swain realises he has to put aside his fears and help her. Unfortunately, an accident with the winch puts both their lives in danger when they fall into the contaminated water within the crater.
Swain's role as chief medic is called upon again when Spider gets infected by coral poisoning and looks to be suffering septicaemia. Swain needs to deal with a desperately ill crew mate and cannot rely on his second medic, Bomber, who is too upset by Spider's illness to offer much assistance.
Season four (2010)
Season four sees the return of Swain's more compassionate and caring side, and the new Buffer, Dutchy, appears to take over some of Swain's duties.
Continuing as Chief Medic, with Bomber transferring off the ship he has a new protégé to train Jessica Bird. Bird is on a gap year straight out of school and is keen to learn everything she cam, with a special interest in the medical side of Swain's job, since she is hoping to become an emergency medic one day.
So when Swain gets given the job of steaming home a boat load of refugees, he picks Bird to help him, unfortunately the routine voyage goes horribly wrong when they are intercepted by a gang of smugglers who murder their victims and then sell the organs on the black market. With his medical training Swain is forced to take over when the smuggler's own Doctor is killed, and has no choice when they threaten to kill Bird if he doesn't agree to help. But when order to perform surgery on Bird to remove her kidneys for a buyer in Japan it is down to his ingenuity and quick thinking to save them both.
Swain medical skills and courage are called upon again when he and Dutchy stay to help an injured boy and local doctor who are being terrorised by the young men of the village. Swain's affections for Doctor Sarah Denton are obvious from the start, so when they are alone at night and moments from a possible attack by the men from the village their mutual affection turns briefly to passion, and they share a kiss. By morning, all is forgotten, apart from some uncomfortable glances which Dutchy immediately picks up on and asks Swain whether anything happened during the night. Swain denies it reminding Dutchy that he's married! But when they are later caught in an ambush and Sarah is shot an killed, Swain is genuinely upset and angry that all the work Sarah has done over the past few years to help the people of the village has been wasted.
Season five (2011)
Season five starts with a bang - a big one! A suicide bomber hits a night club where some of the Hammerelsy crew are enjoying some R&R. Witnessing the blast, Swain is able to rally his crew mates and provide aid to the wounded, and then continues to assist when paramedics and local rescue teams arrive. In testimony to his dedication to duty, while the rest of his crew sit exhausted from the aftermath of the attack Swain is one of the few still on his feet and helping with the injured.
Swain is a father as well as a Sailor, and these emotions are called into conflict when the body of a young Iraqi girl is recovered among victims of a boat explosion. The girl is not much older than Swain's own daughter so when he is confronted by a man claiming to be the girl father he breaks protocol and tell him what has happened to her. It later turns out he has been tricked and the man was in fact behind the explosion - he has been smuggling millions of dollars of Iraqi artefacts into the country and using the refugees as a cover. Swain manages to track down the girls real father and tell him the truth about what happened, so when the two Iraqi men meet it is only Swain who is able of stopping the father from exacting revenge on the man who murdered his daughter.
Season 5 revolves around a terrorist plot, and sees Hammersley working alongside an intelligence operative, Madelaine Cruise. In one operation the crew are asked to help with the extraction of an SAS team and Swain risks his life under fire when one of the team is caught in an explosion and knocked unconscious. Later when the man is found dead on board Hammersley, Swain needs to rely on all his skills from the police force to try and discover how the man died. When his investigation leads him to Madelaine's cabin he again almost killed confronting a stowaway who appears to be the murderer.
Swain is probably one of the most loved crew members of HMAS Hammersley, he has been there from the very beginning, and is always the first person to offer help and assistance, even risk his own life for that of a complete stranger. It is therefore somehow fitting that our time with Swain ends with the ultimate sacrifice.
When a boat loaded with Semtex and radioactive material (caesium) is tracked to Cairns harbour, Swain and SAS office Jim Roth remain on board to try to disarm it. Initially Swain is there only to steer the boat away from shore, but when the engine fails he makes the decision to remain on board and help Jim cut the wires which will disconnect the detonator from the caesium. With seconds to spare they throw the cases of caesium overboard, but there is no time to get clear of the blast and the boat explodes.
Sea Patrol ends with a heartfelt farewell by CO Mike Flynn to his friend and shipmate, Petty Officer Chris Blake, and we see for the first and only time, the young Chloe sitting with her mum, Sally. As the end credits roll, we learn that in honour of her father Chloe will join the Navy herself when she grows up, so continuing the Blake family line.
Drop the Dead Donkey is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, it made use of contemporary news events to give the programme a greater sense of realism. It was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. The series had an ensemble cast, making stars of Haydn Gwynne, Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson.
McHale's Navy is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962 to April 12, 1966 on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated from an hour drama entitled Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962. The ABC series spawned three feature films: McHale's Navy (1964); a sequel, McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965); and a much later 1997 sequel-remake of the original series.
The Twisted Claw is Volume 18 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Sally Louise Fletcher is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Kate Ritchie. She made her first screen appearance during the serial's pilot episode, which was broadcast on 17 January 1988. Sally became the longest running original female cast member. She departed on 3 April 2008. Ritchie earned various awards and nominations for her portrayal of Sally. In February 2013, it was announced that Ritchie would be reprising her role. Sally returned during the episode broadcast on 15 July 2013 with her daughter. They departed on 5 September 2013.
Sailor's Lady, also known as Sweetheart of Turret One, is a 1940 film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Nancy Kelly and Jon Hall. The supporting cast includes Joan Davis, Dana Andrews, and Buster Crabbe. Football player Amby Schindler had an uncredited appearance in this motion picture after portraying one of The Winkies in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Charles John Joughin was an English-American chef, known as being the chief baker aboard the RMS Titanic. He survived the ship's sinking, and became notable for having survived in the frigid water for an exceptionally long time before being pulled onto the overturned Collapsible B lifeboat with virtually no ill effects.
Under the Jolly Roger is a young adult historical fiction novel set in the early 19th century. It is the third book in a series by L.A. Meyer. The story began in Bloody Jack and Curse of the Blue Tattoo and continues in In the Belly of the Bloodhound, Mississippi Jack, My Bonny Light Horseman, Rapture of the Deep, The Wake of the Lorelei Lee, The Mark of the Golden Dragon, Viva Jacquelina!, Boston Jacky, and Wild Rover No More.
Captain Michael "Mike" Flynn, CSC, RAN, is a fictional TV character on the show Sea Patrol, and is portrayed by Ian Stenlake. In the first episode of 'Sea Patrol' season 4 Mike is promoted to Commander and in season 5 is promoted to Captain and is transferred to NAVCOM.
Lieutenant Kate McGregor is a fictional TV character from the show Sea Patrol. She is portrayed by Lisa McCune.
Lieutenant Nicole "Nikki" (Nav) Caetano is a fictional TV character on the show Sea Patrol. She is portrayed by Saskia Burmeister.
Able Seaman Rebecca Brown is a fictional TV character on the show Sea Patrol. She is portrayed by Kirsty Lee Allan.
Petty Officer Dylan "Dutchy" Mulholland, MG is a fictional character in the Australia TV drama Sea Patrol. His character is a replacement for the character Pete "Buffer" Tomaszewski, whose last appearance was in the final episode of season three. Dutchy is portrayed by Conrad Coleby.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua is a Mexican-American film trilogy. The films are based on a chihuahua named "Papi" going through adventures alongside his family and friends.
Sienna Blake is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anna Passey. The character made her first appearance on 21 November 2012 and was introduced as the estranged twin sister of established character Dodger Savage, along with her father Patrick Blake. Emily Lawrance was originally selected for the role, however Passey replaced her within weeks and only she has appeared on-screen as Sienna. Passey took a short break from the show in early 2020 and was absent between 17 January and 30 March. Sienna is the daughter of Patrick Blake and Anna Blake. Sienna is the twin sister of Dodger Savage and the half-sister of Liberty Savage,Will Savage and Minnie Minniver. She had a daughter Nico with her twin brother Dodger and twins Sebastian and Katy with Warren Fox. She had an affair with Darren Osborne and a relationship with Ben Bradley whom she later married. She also had an affair with Trevor Royle who was killed by her daughter Nico. She later also began a relationship with her half-sister's ex.
This is a list of characters from Blake's 7, a media franchise created by Terry Nation.
