Water Rats (TV series)
7.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Tim Burstall Genre Action, Crime, Drama Final episode date August 7, 2001 | 7.2/10 First episode date February 12, 1996 Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Creator John Hugginson and Tony Morphett Release date 12 February 1996 – 7 August 2001 Episodes 26 The CleanerSeason 2 - Aug 4 - 1997, 26 The Cleaner, 25 The WitnessSeason 2 - Jul 28 - 1997, 25 The Witness, 24 DeadfallSeason 2 - Jul 21 - 1997, 24 Deadfall, 23 SmileSeason 2 - Jul 14 - 1997, 23 Smile, 22 RetributionSeason 2 - Jul 7 - 1997, 22 Retribution, 21 All at SeaSeason 2 - Jun 30 - 1997, 21 All at Sea, 20 Dead or AliveSeason 2 - Jun 23 - 1997, 20 Dead or Alive, 19 Blood TrailSeason 2 - Jun 16 - 1997, 19 Blood Trail, 18 Hunting SeasonSeason 2 - Jun 9 - 1997, 18 Hunting Season, 17 Shroud LinesSeason 2 - Jun 2 - 1997, 17 Shroud Lines, 16 FireworksSeason 2 - May 26 - 1997, 16 Fireworks, 15 Stolen TimeSeason 2 - May 19 - 1997, 15 Stolen Time, 14 The Man in the MoonSeason 2 - May 12 - 1997, 14 The Man in the Moon, 13 The MessengerSeason 2 - May 5 - 1997, 13 The Messenger, 12 One Dead RatSeason 2 - Apr 28 - 1997, 12 One Dead Rat, 11 Goldies TripSeason 2 - Apr 21 - 1997, 11 Goldies Trip, 10 Eye for an EyeSeason 2 - Apr 14 - 1997, 10 Eye for an Eye, 9 Sex GamesSeason 2 - Apr 7 - 1997, 9 Sex Games, 8 Wrong Place - Wrong TimeSeason 2 - Mar 31 - 1997, 8 Wrong Place - Wrong Time, 7 End of the LineSeason 2 - Mar 24 - 1997, 7 End of the Line, 6 Give Me MoneySeason 2 - Mar 17 - 1997, 6 Give Me Money, 5 Truth or DareSeason 2 - Mar 10 - 1997, 5 Truth or Dare, 4 JiltedSeason 2 - Mar 3 - 1997, 4 Jilted, 3 Import ExportSeason 2 - Feb 24 - 1997, 3 Import Export, 2 Closed CircuitSeason 2 - Feb 17 - 1997, 2 Closed Circuit, 1 Recalled to DutySeason 2 - Feb 10 - 1997, 1 Recalled to Duty, 26 KnockerSeason 1 - Aug 19 - 1996, 26 Knocker, 25 Message From the DeadSeason 1 - Aug 12 - 1996, 25 Message From the Dead, 24 WreckedSeason 1 - Aug 5 - 1996, 24 Wrecked, 23 RespectSeason 1 - Jul 29 - 1996, 23 Respect, 22 Unfinished BusinessSeason 1 - Jul 22 - 1996, 22 Unfinished Business, 21 Police Issue 13519Season 1 - Jul 15 - 1996, 21 Police Issue 13519, 20 MissingSeason 1 - Jul 8 - 1996, 20 Missing, 19 FloaterSeason 1 - Jul 1 - 1996, 19 Floater, 18 Bad BloodSeason 1 - Jun 17 - 1996, 18 Bad Blood, 17 Old FlameSeason 1 - Jun 10 - 1996, 17 Old Flame, 16 PaybackSeason 1 - Jun 3 - 1996, 16 Payback, 15 EyewitnessSeason 1 - May 27 - 1996, 15 Eyewitness, 14 Black WaterSeason 1 - May 20 - 1996, 14 Black Water, 13 Bang - Bang Youre DeadSeason 1 - May 13 - 1996, 13 Bang - Bang Youre Dead, 12 The Jigsaw ManSeason 1 - May 6 - 1996, 12 The Jigsaw Man, 11 Kilo HotelSeason 1 - Apr 29 - 1996, 11 Kilo Hotel, 10 Goldstein & SonSeason 1 - Apr 22 - 1996, 10 Goldstein & Son, 9 Death in the FamilySeason 1 - Apr 15 - 1996, 9 Death in the Family, 8 The ShaftSeason 1 - Apr 8 - 1996, 8 The Shaft, 7 VIPSeason 1 - Apr 1 - 1996, 7 VIP, 6 Lie Down With DogsSeason 1 - Mar 25 - 1996, 6 Lie Down With Dogs, 5 Catch and KillSeason 1 - Mar 18 - 1996, 5 Catch and Kill, 4 Iron ManSeason 1 - Feb 26 - 1996, 4 Iron Man, 3 Ghost ShipSeason 1 - Feb 19 - 1996, 3 Ghost Ship, 2 Dead in the WaterSeason 1 - Feb 12 - 1996, 2 Dead in the Water Cast Similar movies All Saints (1998 – 2009), Murder Call (1997 – 2000), Home and Away (Since 1988), GP (1989 – 1996), Police Rescue (1989 – 1996) |
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based on work of the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fight crime around Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour.
Contents
- Cast
- Supporting cast
- Recurring roles
- Pilot
- Season one
- Season two
- Season three
- Season four
- Season five
- Season six
- Filming locations
- Fictional locations
- DVD and soundtrack releases
- Soundtrack
- International broadcasting
- References

Water Rats premiered on 12 February 1996, and ran for six seasons and 177 episodes. Colin Friels and Catherine McClements were the original stars of the series and were instrumental in the show's early success. They both departed the show in 1999. In later seasons, Steve Bisley, Aaron Pedersen and Dee Smart became the show's main stars.

For the sixth and final season in 2001, the show concentrated more on the cops' personal lives rather than just focusing on the crimes committed. The Nine Network cancelled the show after six seasons. Executive Producer Kris Noble blamed escalating costs for the cancellation. However, Bisley and Smart had also just quit the show, and the series had already been suffering a ratings battle following the departure of Friels and McClements in 1999.

The final episode was broadcast in Australia on 7 August 2001.

Cast

Supporting cast
Recurring roles
Pilot
The first episode of Water Rats screened in Australia at 8.30 pm on Monday, 12 February 1996. It was entitled Dead in the Water and was a two-part episode. Dead in the Water introduced viewers to Detective Senior Constables Frank Holloway and Rachel Goldstein.
Along with:
and
The pilot plot concerned a divorced man, deranged over the death of his daughter, who captures a Sydney harbour ferry and holds the city to ransom.
Season one
Season one ran for 26 episodes and major storylines included:
Season two
The second season of Water Rats ran, again, for 26 episodes and began airing on Monday, 10 February 1997. Season two also took the detectives to Melbourne, a change from Sydney harbour. It also introduced a new character, Constable Tayler Johnson, as well as a few minor ones, including:
Major storylines included:
Season three
Season three ran for 31 episodes and premiered on Monday, 9 February 1998. A couple of episodes into the season, it was moved to Tuesday nights. Steve Bisley is also added to the opening credits for a number of episodes near the end of the season. New characters included:
Major storylines included:
Season four
The fourth series began on Tuesday, 16 February 1999 and ran for 32 episodes. It was a series of change for Water Rats, which included both Colin Friels' and Catherine McClements' departures within 18 episodes of each other. It introduced some new and old characters such as:
Major storylines included:
Season five
The fifth season began airing on Tuesday, 22 February 2000, and ran for 36 episodes, the longest out of the six seasons of the show. Ratings began to fall slightly, as a result of McClements' departure the previous year. A number of regular characters also left, including Jay Laga'aia and Scott Burgess, whose character was not seen at all in series five, and his whereabouts was finally mentioned in series six. New characters included:
Major storylines included:
Season six
The sixth and final season of Water Rats began airing on Tuesday, 6 February 2001 and ran for 26 episodes. Sometime early in the season, the timeslot was changed from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. The Nine Network decided to cancel the show, due to escalating costs and falling ratings, and two main stars, Bisley and Smart had decided to leave the show. Notable new characters in the final season included:
Major storylines included:
Filming locations
Water Rats was filmed on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour. Other locations used throughout the series were:
Fictional locations
The real Sydney Water Police headquarters was located at Pyrmont. The TV version of the Sydney Water Police headquarters was located on Goat Island, though the fictional address was 48/50 Harbour Drive, Sydney 2000. Other fictional locations throughout the series included:
DVD and soundtrack releases
Water Rats was first released on DVD in 2004 through Shock Entertainment. It was released however, as two parts called Series 1 and Series 2, though it was actually only season 1 in two parts. Warner Vision Australia then released the rest of the show, where DVDs labelled series 3 were actually season 2 and so on. It was announced on August 7, 2017 at via vision entertainment would be re-release all 6 seasons of police rescue on dvd on November 22, 2017.
Soundtrack
A Water Rats soundtrack was also produced by Les Gock in 1999. It contained songs featured on the series, such as Goldie's Theme by Cathi Ogden (heard in many episodes, most notably, episode 109) and I'll Dream of You by Hugh Wilson (heard in Frank's final episode). It also features a couple of songs sung by cast members: Breathe with Raelee Hill and Let's Party with Jay Laga'aia. The song Breathe, was written by James Freud who also sung in the chorus.
International broadcasting
The series is currently being re-run in:
References
Water Rats (TV series) WikipediaWater Rats (TV series) IMDb