Special Squad (Australian TV series)

Special Squad
Genre	Crime drama
Starring	Alan Cassell Anthony Hawkins John Diedrich
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	43
Production
Executive producers	Hector Crawford, C.B.E. Ian Crawford Terry Stapleton
Producers	Raymond Menmuir Ross Jennings
Production company	Crawford Productions
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Original release	1984 (1984)

Special Squad is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten in 1984.

Overview

The series focused on an elite division of the Victoria Police, which handled crimes either too sensitive or specialist for regular squads. The Special Squad was headed by Det. Insp. Don Anderson (Alan Cassell), with his main operatives being Det. Snr. Sgt. Greg Smith (Anthony Hawkins), and Det. Sgt. Joel Davis (John Diedrich).

Special Squad was seen by many as an Australian answer to the British series The Professionals both for its focus on action and violence, and the fact that both series were produced by Raymond Menmuir. However, in reality the characters and plotlines were less developed than the British series.

The series lasted for 43 episodes in total.

Cast

Main cast

• Alan Cassell as Det. Insp. Don Anderson
• Anthony Hawkins as Det. Snr. Sgt. Greg Smith
• John Diedrich as Det. Sgt. Joel Davis

Guest stars

• Gerard Kennedy as Harry Tait
• Mercia Deane-Johns
• Frankie J. Holden
• Tom Oliver as Tobin
• Louise Siversen as Laura
• Trevor Kent as Doggy Barker
• Briony Behets as Rhonda Watson
• Grigor Taylor as Bob Dailey
• Bruno Lawrence as Arthur Poole
• Elizabeth Alexander as Edith
• Gerard Maguire as Hansen
• Monica Maughan as Mrs Trane
• Ben Mendelsohn as Spud
• Abigail as Mrs Quinn
• Deborra-Lee Furness as Liz Jenkins
• Carmen Duncan as Lorraine
• Maxine Klibingaitis as Chico
• Ben Roberts
• Michael Long
• Jon Blake
• Vincent Ball
• Bartholomew John
• Robert Grubb
• Bryan Marshall
• Billie Hammerberg
• Terry Gill
• Jackie Woodburne
• Judith McGrath
• Nick Tate
• Leslie Dayman
• Maggie Millar
• Desiree Smith
• Jane Clifton
• Betty Bobbitt
• Ilona Rodgers
• Anne Phelan
• Christine Amor
• Tommy Dysart
• Dennis Grosvenor
• Vincent Gil
• Steve Bisley
• John Orcsik
• Alfred Bell
• Suzy Gashler
• Terence Donovan
• Tottie Goldsmith
• Serge Lazareff
• Antoinette Byron

Episode list

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Trojan Horses"	TBD	TBD	()
2	2	"The Expert"	Arch Nicholson	John Upton	()
3	3	"Code of Silence"	TBD	Vince Moran	1984 (1984)
4	4	"Easy Street"	TBD	TBD	()
5	5	"Counterfeit Lady"	Patrick Edgeworth	Arch Nicholson	()
6	6	"The Long Secret"	Unknown	Shane Brennan	22 July 1984 (1984-07-22)
7	7	"The Second Mr Swift"	TBD	TBD	()
8	8	"The Wurzburg Link"	TBD	TBD	()
9	9	"Same Time Friday"	Chris Langman	David Wilks and Gerry O'Hara	()
10	10	"Duel"	Arch Nicholson	Luis Bayonas	()
11	11	"The Set Up"	Paul Moloney	John Upton	()
12	12	"The Golden Run"	Ranald Graham	Catherine Millar	()
13	13	"Jacko"	Arch Nicholson	Luis Bayonas	()
14	14	"Slow Attack"	Paul Maloney	Philip Dalkin	()
15	15	"Country Girl"	Arch Nicholson	Cliff Green	()
16	16	"War"	Catherine Millar	Everett De Roche and Vince Moran	()
17	17	"Wild Man"	Paul Moloney	Ranald Graham	()
18	18	"The Chen Legacy"	Chris Langman	Shane Brennan	()
19	19	"Child Of Fortune"	Tim Burstall	Ranald Graham	()
20	20	"Business As Usual"	Mark Joffe	Shane Brennan and Kris Steele	()
21	21	"A Wild Oat"	Brian Trenchard-Smith	Leon Saunders	()
22	22	"Mates"	Rob Stewart	Luis Bayonas	()
23	23	"Big Bad World"	Howard Rubie	Cliff Green	()
24	24	"Early Birds"	Rob Stewart	Michael Harvey	()
25	25	"The Bribe"	TBD	TBD	()
26	26	"Farewell to a Comrade"	Michael Caulfield	Shane Brennan	()
27	27	"In The Cause Of Justice"	TBD	TBD	()
28	28	"Hot Streets"	TBD	Michael Aitkens	()
29	29	"Killer"	TBD	TBD	()
30	30	"The Patchwork"	TBD	David Phillips	()
31	31	"Brothers"	TBD	TBD	()
32	32	"Until Death"	Rod Hardy	Vince Moran	()
33	33	"Ghosts"	TBD	Vince Gil	()
34	34	"The Haley Inheritance"	Colin Budds	Shane Brennan	()
35	35	"Suzie's War"	Dan Burstall	Luis Bayonas	()
36	36	"Return Of The Cat"	John Power	John Upton	()
37	37	"Pigs"	Ken Cameron	Shane Brennan	()
38	38	"Mombasa"	TBD	TBD	()
39	39	"The Haunting"	Tim Burstall	Luis Bayonas	()
40	40	"Rotten Apple"	TBD	TBD	()
41	41	"Mad Mountain Mumma"	TBD	TBD	()
42	42	"Life After Teddy"	Collin Budds	Shane Brennan	()
43	43	"Gone For The Doctor"	TBD	TBD	()

Home media

In January 2023 Crawford Productions announced that the series would be released on DVD in March 2023.

On 31st May 2023 Crawford Productions released the complete series on DVD.

Title	Format	Ep #	Discs	Region 4 (Australia)	Special Features	Distributors
Special Squad (Complete Series)	DVD	43	09	31st May 2023	None	Crawford Productions

External links

• Crawford Productions
• Special Squad at IMDb