Homicide (Australian TV series)


Homicide was an Australian television police procedural drama series made by production firm Crawford Productions for the Seven Network. It was the television successor to Crawfords' radio series D24. The "Consummate Homicide cast" includes the four characters that are the best known: Det. Snr. Sgt. David "Mac" MacKay, Det. Sgt. Peter Barnes, Inspector Colin Fox and Sen. Det. Jim Patterson.

Synopsis

The series dealt with the homicide squad of the Victorian Police force and the various crimes and cases the detectives are called upon to investigate. Many episodes were based directly on real cases, although the characters were fictional. 510 episodes were produced and aired from 20 October 1964 to January 1977, making it the longest-running Australian weekly primetime drama in history.
With 510 episodes produced, for many years it held the record for most episodes produced in an Australian weekly primetime drama. When Blue Heelers ended in 2006, the show equalled this record. However, Homicide ran on-air for longer than Blue Heelers, and had a greater cumulative running time due to five feature-length episodes.

Cast and characters

Characters' ranks changed in accordance with real-life changes in the Victoria Police Force. For example, Detective Sergeant Mackay becomes Detective Senior Sergeant to reflect his role as the squad's number-two when this rank was introduced. Barnes becomes a Senior Detective after the rank of Detective was abolished.

Scripts

Homicide scripts explored a number of major social issues, such as:
Many of these episodes were introduced by Fegan to highlight their significance.
Scripts were frequently based on real murder cases, including:
The first episode aired at 7:30 p.m Tuesday 20 October 1964. The debut episode was not the first to be produced, with the pilot airing as episode 24A just prior to the departure of Lex Mitchell.
Regular daytime repeat screenings began in the early 1970s running until the early 1980s, as strip programming. Additionally, seven episodes were screened as specials, or part of specials:
In the 1960s, the series was picked up, on a regional basis, by some of the ITV companies in the UK. Not all regions screened the show, which was scheduled in a late-night slot, but among those that did were Westward TV, Yorkshire TV, Channel TV, Border TV and Southern Television.
In 2004, the episodes "Flashpoint" and "Stopover" were screened cinematically by Melbourne Cinematheque. In August 2010, WIN Television, as part of their late night "Crawford's Classic Drama" series, began sequential repeats from episode 1, but ceased in March 2011 at episode 33.

Technical specifications

Early episodes were in black and white with the bulk of material recorded on videotape in the studios of HSV7 using a multicamera setup. Each episode also featured about ten minutes of location footage shot on 16 mm film. Total time per episode was 47 minutes. 134 of the episodes were filmed in colour.
With occasional exceptions, the filmed segments did not have synchronised sound and so featured little dialogue, concentrating more on dramatic shots of cars pulling in, gun battles, and fist fights.
Dialogue for the film scenes was done "post sync". This means that the dialogue was recorded on location but, due to the often low quality of audio recorded in this manner, the actor was required to record the dialogue in a sound-proof studio in the standard filmmaking process known as Additional Dialogue Recording. Location recordings were used infrequently, and usually limited to brief dialogue snatches in enclosed spaces, such as the interior of a car. Sound effects would be also dubbed onto the location-shot footage. Both pre-recorded sound effects recordings and the work of Crawford's foley artist would be used.
Episode 56, "Flashpoint", which first aired on 19 April 1966, was shot entirely on location on film, and most of the dialogue of this episode was post-synched. Over the years the ratio of film to videotape was increased, and synchronised sound became the norm. When the series switched from black and white to colour in 1973, it necessitated shooting entirely on film, as the HSV7 studios were yet to be converted to colour video production.
If a script was amended, a Crawford Productions staff member who lived near the actor concerned would be required to deliver the new script to their house. Quite often this new dialogue had to be memorised for filming the next day.
The workload for the regular actors, especially for location work, was notoriously heavy. In 1967 the regular squad was increased from three to four to better share the load, which remained the standard team to the end. In 1972, when it was decided to transfer production entirely to film, the result was a massive increase in overtime demanded by the series. Teale and Kurts promptly quit, and Mallaby only re-signed with a 13-week "escape clause", which he eventually invoked. All cited the worsening workload, which was best expressed by Teale as he announced his departure from the show:

Feature film

Late in the show's run – between episodes 470 and 480 – a feature-length episode was filmed. This film was entitled Stopover, with the title Homicide not used at all, and was shot entirely on film on new sets and on location at Melbourne Airport. Lawson, White, Deegan and Redford are the detectives in the film. The story involved an international rock band that was held at the airport following the fatal overdose of a band member. Guest stars included Jon English as the band's lead singer, and Tony Bonner as the band member who overdosed. The film never received a cinema release but was shown on television as a special in 1976. It is officially listed as episode 504, with episodes 502 and 503 also being feature-length.

Awards

Homicide won multiple awards for its scripts, including three AWGIEs, two Logies, one Penguin and one Sammy Award:
AWGIEs:
Logies:
Penguin:
Sammy:

Significance

Homicide was the first major dramatic television series to be produced in Australia, the domestic television market having been previously dominated by American and British imports. In 1964, any Australian-made product tended to be quiz shows, children's series, music/variety series and one-off plays, with local drama production sporadic at best, with only a handful of typically short-lived series on commercial television such as Autumn Affair, Emergency and The Story of Peter Grey, along with several mini-series on ABC such as Stormy Petrel. Foreign imports were preferred because they were both cheaper and more plentiful than local productions. Homicide proved that there was a market for home-grown dramatic programming and was highly successful from the start – its initial ratings were in the 30s, and regularly rated in the high 40s and even low 50s. In addition, the series was produced at a tenth of the cost of an overseas program and easily outrated them. In 1971, it was the top rated show in the country. Division 4 was second.
The series also proved itself to be a virtual training ground for Australian television and film production. During its 12-year run, almost everyone in the industry – actors, directors, scriptwriters, producers, camera crew, etc. – worked on the series at some point in their careers, and guest roles were filled by a veritable Who's Who of the Australian entertainment – both established and newcomers. For these reasons, as well as for inspiring a series of popular cop dramas that followed, it remains one of the most important programmes in the history of Australian television.
In 1994, a special tribute to the series aired titled Homicide: 30 Years On, hosted by Blue Heelers stars John Wood and Lisa McCune, which included interviews with surviving cast members and guest stars. In 2007, Homicide was chosen for an Australia Post stamp to celebrate 50 years of television in Australia.

DVD release

Homicide has been released on DVD in a series of box sets since December 2012. Each box set contains 26 episodes on 7 discs. Twenty box sets and a bonus disc of The Homicide Story have been released, representing the complete series run and is available from Crawford's online store. International buyers should use Crawford's UK outlet, Eaton Films.