Blue Heelers season 8
| Blue Heelers | |
|---|---|
| Season 8 | |
| No. of episodes | 42 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Original release | 21 February – 28 November 2001 |
| Season chronology | |
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2009) |
The eighth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 21 February 2001 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 28 November 2001.
Casting
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2008) |
Main cast for this season consisted of:
- John Wood as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon (full season)
- Julie Nihill as Christine 'Chris' Riley (full season)
- Martin Sacks as Senior Detective Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham (full season)
- Paul Bishop as Senior Constable Benjamin 'Ben' Stewart (full season)
- Rupert Reid as Constable Jack Lawson (until Episode 313)
- Jane Allsop as Constable Jo Parrish (full season)
- Ditch Davey as Constable Evan 'Jonesy' Jones (from Episode 316)
- Caroline Craig as Sergeant Tess Gallagher (full season)
Notable guest actors who appeared in this season included Carol Burns, Richard Cawthorne, Norman Yemm, Val Lehman, David Clencie, Simon Burke, Terry Gill, Alethea McGrath, Gary Sweet, Rhys Muldoon, Gary Day, Lisa Crittenden, Julia Blake, Alan Hopgood, Gerard Kennedy, Lesley Baker and Kirsty Child.
Plot
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2008) |
Jack is beginning to get the hang of his legs again after the 5% operation was a success. Tess begins to have feelings for Jack up to a point where they start a secret relationship in the episode "Manly Art". Their relationship is going somewhere until a case comes up about an old time drug dealer who just got out of prison. Jack begins to put his emotions in front of the job and will do anything to get his own justice. Jack is suspect for murder by Killing the drug dealer. Tess says one of them should get a transfer to St Davids because they could never work together if they can't trust one another. Jack then admits he could have saved the guy but instead watched him fall to his death. Jack is charged and dismissed from the force. While Tess is feeling sad the members are disappointed by the fact he did kill the guy and didn't admit the truth earlier. New probationary Constable Jones has arrived with a secret plot to find out what really happened in his father's death. Tess and Jo quickly take a liking to him but Tess remembers what happened to her last secret relationship with Jack and doesn't want to relive that moment so she keeps it to herself and gets on with her job as a sergeant. After all Tess knows not to mix work with play.
Reception
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2008) |
Ratings in the 8th season began to decline slowly, with many fans feeling that Maggie's absence, or the absence of the so-called "McCune-Factor"[1] (as well as the absence of several other popular characters) and the slightly repetitive storylines were getting in the way of the show's feel.
Awards
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2008) |
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Australian air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 295 | 1 | "The Blame Game (1)" | Grant Brown | Bill Garner | 21 February 2001 |
| 296 | 2 | "The Blame Game (2)" | Declan Eames | Bill Garner and Harriet Smith | 28 February 2001 |
| 297 | 3 | "Deadly Fascination" | Kevin Carlin | David Boutland | 7 March 2001 |
| 298 | 4 | "Letter of the Law" | Chris Langman | Tony Morphett | 14 March 2001 |
| 299 | 5 | "A Bit on the Side" | Grant Brown | Dave Worthington | 21 March 2001 |
| 300 | 6 | "Tough Nut" | Declan Eames | Cassandra Carter | 28 March 2001 |
| 301 | 7 | "The Fine Print" | Raymond Quint | Peter Dick | 4 April 2001 |
| 302 | 8 | "Family Reserve" | Kevin Carlin | Jo Merle and John Banas | 11 April 2001 |
| 303 | 9 | "Chop Chop" | Chris Langman | David Allen | 18 April 2001 |
| 304 | 10 | "Blood" | Roger Hodgman | Deborah Parsons | 25 April 2001 |
| 305 | 11 | "They Don't Make Them Like They Used To" | Raymond Quint | Chris Corbett | 2 May 2001 |
| 306 | 12 | "Love and Money (listed as "On the Run")" | Graham Thorburn | David Boutland | 9 May 2001 |
| 307 | 13 | "Fowl Play" | Peter Sharp | Bill Garner | 16 May 2001 |
| 308 | 14 | "Fooling Around" | Kevin Carlin | Michaeley O'Brien | 23 May 2001 |
| 309 | 15 | "Death By Flight" | Chris Langman | David Worthington | 30 May 2001 |
| 310 | 16 | "A Friend Indeed" | Richard jasek | Yuki Asano and Caroline Stanton | 6 June 2001 |
| 311 | 17 | "The Manly Art" | Kevin Carlin | Caroline Stanton | 13 June 2001 |
| 312 | 18 | "Falling Part 1" | Peter Sharp | Tony Morphett | 20 June 2001 |
| 313 | 19 | "Falling Part 2" | Grant Brown | John Banas | 20 June 2001 |
| 314 | 20 | "Winners And Losers" | Aarne Neeme | David Allen | 27 June 2001 |
| 315 | 21 | "No Place Like Home" | Riccardo Pelizzeri | Deborah Parsons and David Allen | 11 July 2001 |
| 316 | 22 | "Dragged" | Peter Sharp | Bill Garner | 18 July 2001 |
| 317 | 23 | "Baby Love" | Steve Mann | Cliff Green | 25 July 2001 |
| 318 | 24 | "An Inspector Calls" | Roger Hodgman | Dave Worthington | 1 August 2001 |
| 319 | 25 | "Dinosaurs" | Steve Mann | Chris Corbett | 8 August 2001 |
| 320 | 26 | "Charming" | Esben Storm | Cassandra Carter | 15 August 2001 |
| 321 | 27 | "The Sins of the Father" | Fiona Banks | Carol Williams | 22 August 2001 |
| 322 | 28 | "Poisoned Fruit Part 1" | Denny Lawrence | Tony Morphett | 29 August 2001 |
| 323 | 29 | "Poisoned Fruit Part 2" | Roger Hodgman | Tony Morphett | 5 September 2001 |
| 324 | 30 | "Fifteen Minutes" | Fiona Banks | Abe Pogos | 19 September 2001 |
| 325 | 31 | "Copping The Flak" | Declan Eames | Caroline Stanton | 26 September 2001 |
| 326 | 32 | "Strays" | Chris Langman | Philip Dalkin | 3 October 2001 |
| 327 | 33 | "The Lord Giveth" | Declan Eames | John Banas | 10 October 2001 |
| 328 | 34 | "Credit Limit" | Daina Reid | Dave Worthington | 17 October 2001 |
| 329 | 35 | "A Hard Call" | Aarne Neeme | Bill Garner | 17 October 2001 |
| 330 | 36 | "Role Model" | Chris Langman | David Allen | 24 October 2001 |
| 331 | 37 | "A Safe Bet" | Declan Eames | John Banas and Karen Altman | 31 October 2001 |
| 332 | 38 | "A Matter of Faith" | Riccardo Pellizzeri | Ysabella Dean | 7 November 2001 |
| 333 | 39 | "Who Can You Trust?" | Fiona Banks | Caroline Stanton and Piers Hobson | 11 November 2001 |
| 334 | 40 | "Best Eaten Cold" | Chris Langman | Tony Morphett | 21 November 2001 |
| 335 | 41 | "The Real Santa" | Steve Mann | Caroline Stanton | 28 November 2001 |
| 336 | 42 | "Dreaming of a White Christmas" | Roger Hodgman | Michaeley O'Brien | 28 November 2001 |
Weakest Link Special Episode
On 9 August 2001, a special episode of The Weakest Link featuring the actors from Blue Heelers went to air.[2] The results were as follows:
| Main Rounds | Final Round | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final | |||
| Voted Out: | Peta 5/9 Votes |
Caroline1 3/8 Votes |
Paul 4/7 Votes |
Jane 4/6 Votes |
Suzi2 2/5 Votes |
Jeremy 3/4 Votes |
Ditch 2/3 Votes |
– | John (Winner) Neil (Runner-up) | |||
| Money Banked: | $7,500 | $5,500 | $3,500 | $0 | $3,200 | $4,000 | $1,200 | $3,500 x 3 | $35,400 TOTAL | |||
| Contestant | Votes | |||||||||||
| John | Peta | Caroline | Paul | Jane | Suzi | Jeremy | Ditch | Won | ||||
| Neil | Peta | Caroline | Ditch | Jane | Suzi | Jeremy | Ditch | Lost | ||||
| Ditch | Peta | Jeremy | Paul | Jane | Jeremy | Jeremy | John | |||||
| Jeremy | Peta | Suzi | Paul | Jane | Suzi2 |
John | ||||||
| Suzi | Peta | Ditch | Jeremy | Jeremy | Jeremy | |||||||
| Jane | Jeremy | Caroline | Paul | John | ||||||||
| Paul | Jeremy | Jeremy | John | |||||||||
| Caroline | Jane | Jeremy | ||||||||||
| Peta | Jane | |||||||||||
- Note that the following are regarding the contestant, not the contestant the contestant votes against:
- Red indicates the contestant was the weakest link
- Lime indicates the contestant was the strongest link
1 Jeremy and Caroline tied with three votes each, but as Neil was the strongest link, he opted to vote Caroline off.
2 Jeremy and Suzi tied with two votes each, but as Jeremy was the strongest link, and could not vote himself off, he opted to vote Suzi off, though he originally voted for Neil who was not part of the tie.
Peta was first eliminated for not answering enough questions correctly. Caroline was next on a countback also for not answering enough questions correctly. Paul followed for being too big a threat to the team. Jane was voted out for not answering any questions correctly. Suzi was eliminated on a countback for not answering enough questions correctly. Jeremy was next also for not answering enough questions correctly. Ditch was voted out for not banking anything nor answering any questions correctly. In the end, John defeated Neil in the head-to-head round.
The final total won was $35,400, which John donated to the Red Cross Australia.
DVD release
Similarly to the release of Blue Heelers' seventh season, the eight season was also postponed due to the contractual negotiations. However, everything was finalised for a 1 October 2008 release.[3] Like the seventh season, "The Complete Eight Season" will be released as a complete boxset.
| The Complete Eighth Season: Part 1 | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
|
| |||
| Release dates | ||||
 Australia
| ||||
| 1 October 2008[3] | ||||
| The Complete Eighth Season: Part 2 | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
|
| |||
| Release dates | ||||
| Australia
| ||||
| 1 October 2008[3] | ||||
| The Complete Eighth Season | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
|
| |||
| Release dates | ||||
| Australia
| ||||
| 1 October 2008[3] | ||||
References
- General
- Zuk, T. Blue Heelers: 2001 episode guide, Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
- TV.com editors. Blue Heelers Episode Guide - Season 8, TV.com. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
- Specific
- ^ Johnston, Peter. "Wood fears the axe, The Herald Sun, 25 January 2004.
- ^ tsstevens (9 August 2001). "The Weakest Link Blue Heelers special". Retrieved 12 November 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b c d Editors. Blue Heelers: Season 8, Part 1 DVD Archived 14 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. EzyDVD.com. Retrieved 14 July 2008.