Wiktionary
n. (blue heeler English)
Wikipedia
Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series that ran for 12 years, from 1994 to 2006, and depicts the lives of police officers in Mount Thomas, a fictional small town in Victoria.
The thirteenth and final season of the Australian police drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 1 April 2006 and aired on Saturday nights at 8:30 pm. The 11-episode season concluded 4 June 2006, due to its cancellation by the Seven Network as a result of its sharp decline in ratings. When, in late 2005, the time came to renew Blue Heelers, Seven commissioned eleven further episodes to be produced, but its future after this was still undecided.
In January 2006, Seven officially announced that they had cancelled Blue Heelers, but would air a final shortened season of only 11 episodes in mid-2006—the 11 episodes which had been filmed in late 2005, before Blue Heelers had been cancelled.
This season focuses primarily on the show's main protagonist, Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon, his failing health and his personal troubles. John Wood, who portrays Croydon, is the only actor to appear in every episode of Blue Heelers and is, indisputably, the pillar of the show. The final episode of the thirteenth season aired as a 2-hour, movie-length tribute starting with an introduction from John Wood, and concluding with a compilation of Blue Heelers moments from over its 13-season run. For this thirteenth season, Blue Heelers was moved from its primetime Wednesday-night timeslot to the lower rating Saturday-night timeslot, which saw it come up against The Bill, a British police drama which has become quite popular in Australia. Ratings for this season, partially due to the series' move to its lower-rating timeslot, were relatively low; ratings were around the 1.2 million viewer mark, increasing to 1.5 million for the finale. Blue Heelers failed to even make it into the top 20 programmes at any time during its thirteenth season.
This season was very successful in regards of awards, particularly for John Wood who won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, as well as the Most Popular Actor Silver Logie Award. Wood had been nominated for the Gold Logie for ten straight years, and finally won it in 2006. By the end of this season, Blue Heelers had also equalled the record for most episodes produced of a television drama in Australia, equalling Homicide's record, set in 1977.
All 11 episodes of the season made their subscription television premiere on 26 January 2011 ( Australia Day), where they aired back to back in an Australia Day marathon on the Universal Channel.
The first season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 10 September 1993 and aired on Tuesday nights at 7:30 PM. The 45-episode season concluded on 22 November 1994.
The show was a success, and by the end of its 45-episode first season the PJ-Maggie shippers had quickly amassed.
The second season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 21 February 1995 and aired on Tuesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 41-episode season concluded 21 November 1995. The cast for this season was the same as that of the preceding season, with the omission of Ann Burbrook as Roz Patterson and with the introduction of Damian Walshe-Howling as Adam Cooper to take her place. This season of Blue Heelers was released on DVD on 1 December 2005 and was released in a two-part release; and later as a complete set.
The third season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 12 February 1996 and aired on Monday nights, and later Tuesday nights, at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 26 November 1996.
The fourth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 10 February 1997 and aired on Tuesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 25 November 1997.
The fifth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 24 February 1998 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 41-episode season concluded 25 November 1998.
The 41-episode fifth season saw the show move to Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM, making way for All Saints on Tuesdays at 8.30 PM. Ratings dipped, but finished still finished the number 2 show for the year with 2,240,000 in the five cities.
The sixth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 10 February 1999 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 24 November 1999.
The seventh season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 9 February 2000 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm. The 41-episode season concluded 22 November 2000.
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 41-episode season concluded 28 November 2001.
The ninth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 13 February 2002 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm. The 41-episode season concluded 20 November 2002.
The tenth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 12 February 2003 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 26 November 2003.
The 11th season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 4 February 2004 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 39-episode season concluded 5 November 2004.
The twelfth season of the Australian police-drama Blue Heelers premiered on the Seven Network on 2 February 2005 and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM. The 42-episode season concluded 26 November 2005.