Mount Thomas

Mount Thomas
Blue Heelers cast of 1998 stand in front of Mount Thomas Police Station
Blue Heelers location
Country	Australia
Created by	Hal McElroy
Notable characters	Tom Croydon, Chris Riley, P.J. Hasham, Maggie Doyle
Population	7805
First appearance	A Women's Place Ep. 1 (Pilot), 18/1/1994
Last appearance	One Day More (Pt. 2) Ep. 510, 4/6/2006

Mount Thomas is the fictional town featured in the long-running Australian police procedural drama Blue Heelers., which ran from 1994 until it was cancelled in 2006. Wyndham, Williamstown and Castlemaine were all used for the show's exterior scenes to depict Mount Thomas.

Mount Thomas is located in the state of Victoria in a very rough northern triangle with the real towns of Echuca, Swan Hill and Benalla nearby. In episode 321, Mount Thomas is shown to be located in the fictional Victorian Parliament electoral district of Hetherington along with St Davids and the surrounding district. In episode 56, the population is given on a "Welcome to Mt. Thomas" sign as 7805, although this undoubtedly grew as the series continued - large enough for a police force of six officers, a court house, a railway station and yards, hospital, primary and secondary schools, the obligatory football and cricket clubs and a swimming pool - but still small enough that most members of the community are known to everyone else.

It is also large enough to have its own town council, a newspaper (The Gazette) and at least nine pubs, one of which is "The Imperial" (the copper's pub) plus "The Railway", "The Federal", "The Steam Packet", "Customs House" and "The Commercial", which is The Imperial's main rival. There is also another pub down the street from the court house (which from a distance appears to be called "The Main Street Hotel") as well as another down the street from Coles and a further hotel seen in season 9. Over the years The Imperial has played home to several police characters, new to town with nowhere else to live but a rental room at the hotel. Mount Thomas also has at least one motel, a motor inn and a caravan park. There is also a local radio station, 3TM, mentioned in episode 4 which plays predominately country music.

Dozens of real-life, national business chains have branches or stores in Mount Thomas, and can be seen across a wide number of episodes. Throughout the series it is remarked by various characters that the town has been in trouble commercially, or will be in trouble in the future due to lack of employment. However, the sheer number of these actual businesses seen tends to imply that the town is thriving and in an excellent economic position. There are Coles, Safeway and IGA supermarkets; a Fosseys store and a Target Country. Mount Thomas has branches for the Commonwealth, ANZ and Bendigo Banks, a BP, Mobil and at least two Caltex service stations. There are both Mazda and Holden dealerships, an ABC Shop, a Hog's Breath Cafe, Hungry Jack's, CSR Gyprock, and Bridgestone Tyre Centre. An obvious oversight with the multiple filming locations also makes it apparent that Mount Thomas has no less than three Beaurepaires outlets. Several real-life real estate firms are seen, including L.J. Hooker, The Professionals and Elders. Amcal chemists and Tonks Brothers Hardware are in several areas. There is a Retravision store, a Cheesecake Shop, and Mount Thomas even appears to have its own homemaker centre, housing Mitre 10, Capt'n Snooze, Forty Winks, Super Cheap Auto and Barbecues Galore, to name a few.