Classic Aussie TV and Radio Drama for February

Pictured above: The action continues in Cop Shop Volume 16.

Crawford Productions have now released the sixteenth volume of Cop Shop on DVD. In this box set Detective Amanda King (Lynda Stoner) announces that she’s leaving Riverside Police Station to begin a new life with her father on his farm in New Zealand. There are some shocked faces when word gets out that Senior Constable Danni Francis (Paula Duncan) is romantically involved with the younger Constable Sam Phillips (Nicholas Eadie) but Sam courts with disaster when he decides that he wants an open relationship so that they can spend time with other people.

Wedding bells toll for Constable Roy Baker (Gil Tucker) and single mother Melissa Hardie (Rosie Bailey) but the big day doesn’t run smoothly due to some crook seafood, and a dispute between two warring sets of neighbours. Roy’s honeymoon in Wattle Creek also faces disruption when elderly widow Betty Moss (Mary Ward) goes missing in mysterious circumstances.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jeff Johnson (Peter Adams) returns from America as the new Head of Riverside C.I. and Detective Tom Shannon (John McTernan) begins to feel that he’s been passed over by the powers that be. It’s not all a bed of roses for Jeff who is devastated to learn that his wife Valerie (Joanna Lockwood) is filing for divorce from the USA. Detective Constable Julie Mitchell (Olga Tamara) goes undercover when junkies start dropping like flies after a pusher floods the market with prescription only anti-depressants, and Senior Sergeant Eric O’Reilly (Terry Norris) has cause for concern when his recently widowed son-in-law Detective Tony Benjamin (Gregory Ross) begins spending time with old flame Jennifer Grant (Lisa Armytage).

Left: Romance is in the air for Sam Phillips (Nicholas Eadie) and Danni Francis (Paula Duncan) in Cop Shop. Right: Wedding bells chime for Roy Baker (Gil Tucker) and Melissa Hardie (Rosie Bailey) in Cop Shop. Middle: Colleen Clifford makes a special guest appearance in Cop Shop Volume 16.

The brave law enforcers investigate when a hired assassin shoots the wrong man at point blank range, and an international tennis tournament turns sour with death threats and murder. Two old aged pensioners decide to pursue a life of crime when they find it impossible to survive on the meagre pension, but things begin to unravel when one of them gets greedy. The West Riverside Council election turns nasty when violent heavies go on the rampage to sabotage a candidate’s chance of winning, and when a stuntman runs up huge gambling debts at a casino, he finds himself embroiled in a big time million-dollar diamond heist.

Across town a young man unwittingly finds himself caught up with Robbie Clay (Barry Creyton) who is running a prostitution and drug pushing racket, and the detectives are baffled when a priceless chess set is stolen despite being protected by a state-of-the-art computerised alarm system.

Royal command performer Colleen Clifford guest stars in this box set as Antoinette Collins who is targeted by a shady character who is offering home euthanasia services to elderly women. Colleen had been a star of the very first John Logie Baird television service in London and she also had roles in series such as The Young Doctors, Case for the Defence, Prisoner and A Country Practice.

Other familiar faces cropping up in these episodes include Joanne Samuel, Chris Orchard, Greg Apps and Simon Burke from The Young Doctors; Judy Nunn from Home & Away; Tom Oliver and Francis Bell from Neighbours; Danny Roberts, Ilona Rodgers and Sean Scully from Sons & Daughters; Tommy Dysart and Ernie Bourne from Prisoner; Lois Ramsay, Paul Karo and Monica Maughan from The Box; Terry Gill from The Flying Doctors; Ron Shand from Number 96; Diane Smith from A Country Practice; and John Wood from Blue Heelers. Others starring in these episodes include Aileen Britton, Jan Russ, Nadia Tass, Kris McQuade, and Donald Macdonald.

If you live in Australasia, you can order Cop Shop Volume 16 from Crawfords DVD. https://crawfordsdvd.com.au/ Fans who are based in the UK or anywhere else in the world can get their copy from Eaton Films. https://shop.eatonfilms.co.uk/

Grace Gibson Productions have released another selection of radio serials from their vast library. The latest release of the political satire How Green Was My Cactus features the episodes which were broadcast on Australian radio during January. This instalment deals with bogan penalty rates, the sugar tax mayhem and the battle for The Ashes.

Volume eight of Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Crime & Mystery features six episodes of vintage radio serials from the 1950s. We have an episode of Time To Tell which featured unusual stories from around the world, there’s an edition of the mystery thriller series Inner Sanctum, and an episode of the suspense drama Shadow of Fate. Those of you that enjoy courtroom intrigue will be interested to hear the episodes of For The Defence and Indictment, and in the specially selected episode of Crime Fighters we are introduced to the work of a plain clothes detective.

Listeners worldwide can order these radio serials on CD, USB or as digital downloads from the Grace Gibson website. https://gracegibsonradio.com/

Left: You’ll be laughing like a drain with How Green Was My Cactus. Right: Head back to the 1950s with Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Crime & Mystery Volume 8.

Photographs Copyright: Crawford Productions/WIN/Eaton Films. IRS Grace Gibson Productions.