Sea Patrol | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime drama Adventure |
Created by | Hal and Di McElroy |
Directed by |
Chris Martin-Jones Geoff Bennett |
Starring |
Kirsty Lee Allan John Batchelor Saskia Burmeister Conrad Coleby Matthew Holmes Danielle Horvat Josh Lawson David Lyons Lisa McCune Nikolai Nikolaeff Jay Ryan Kristian Schmid Ian Stenlake Jeremy Lindsay Taylor |
Composer(s) | Les Gock |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 5 |
No. of episodes | 68 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Hal McElroy Di McElroy Jo Horsburgh |
Producer(s) | Julie Forster |
Location(s) |
Queensland New South Wales |
Editor(s) | Marcus D'Arcy, Antonio Mestres, Robert Gibson, Nicholas Holmes |
Camera setup | Single camera |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Production company(s) | McElroy All Media |
Release | |
Original network | Nine Network |
Picture format |
576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) (2008-2010) |
Audio format | Stereo |
Original release | 5 July 2007 | – 12 July 2011
External links | |
Website |
Sea Patrol was an Australian television drama that ran from 2007 to 2011, set on board HMAS Hammersley, a fictional patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The series focuses on the ship and the lives of its crew members.
Despite similarities in setting and content, this series is not a follow-on to the 1979 series, Patrol Boat. At the start of the second season, Sea Patrol saw an upgrade from the Fremantle class to a newer Armidale class boat.
The first season debuted on 5 July 2007 on the Nine Network, who invested $15 million into the programme. The second season of Sea Patrol, titled Sea Patrol II: The Coup, aired in 2008, while the third season, Sea Patrol: Red Gold, aired in 2009. The fourth season aired in 2010 in a new 16-episode format, with no main theme or continuous storyline running throughout, unlike the first three seasons.
The fifth season of Sea Patrol, "Damage Control", began airing in 2011 and consisted of 13 episodes. The Nine Network has confirmed that this was to be the final season, due to reliance on government rebates that expire after 65 episodes. Completion of series five brings the total episode count to 68 episodes.
All seasons of Sea Patrol have consisted of standalone episodes dealing with serious breaches of Australian law, such as illegal fishing, asylum seekers and other problems the RAN encounter on typical patrols. The premiere of each season usually introduces a larger event which is expanded on and connected as the season goes on, before being resolved in the finale. This format, however, with a storyline running throughout the season, was absent in season 4.
The first season's premiere began with the introduction of Bright Island, which was positioned as a type of mystery island, and the death of a marine biologist. Over the duration of the season, the CO and some of the crew became suspicious and later entwined in a conspiracy involving water containing a deadly toxin.
The second season, known as Sea Patrol II: The Coup, revolved around insurgents on the fictional Samaru Islands attempting to overthrow the current government, and a group of Eastern European mercenaries and smugglers who near-fatally stabbed Charge, tried to kill XO and are in cahoots with the insurgents and Samaruan constabulary.