''Blue Water High'' is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

and on

Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...

/ Foxtel

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

channel in Australia and on various channels in many other countries. Each season follows the lives of a young group of students at Solar Blue, a high-performance surf academy where several lucky 16-year-olds are selected for a 12-month-long surfing program at

Bilgola Beach Bilgola Beach is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 33 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern ...

, Sydney. There are three series in Blue Water High. The first two series were screened in 2005 and 2006 and the producers did not intend to create a third and final series. However, due to popular demand by fans, they relented and made one more series with only Kate Bell returning in a main role. Series three ended with the closure of Solar Blue because of a lack of funding, indicating that the show would most likely not continue.

Plot summary

Series one

The first series consisted of twenty-six episodes. It starred Adam Saunders as Heath, the relaxed joker who struggles with school;

Tahyna Tozzi Tahyna MacManus (née Tozzi; born 24 April 1986) is an Australian actress, director, writer and producer. Tahyna starred in several television series and film blockbusters including ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' before moving to roles behind the ...

as Perri, resident glamour queen from the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

;

Sophie Luck Sophie Kathrin Luck (born 17 October 1989) is an Australian actress best known for her roles on the television shows '' Blue Water High'' and '' Home and Away''. Biography Personal life Luck has had drama lessons since the age of seven. She ...

as Fly, the youngest; Kate Bell as Bec, the local; Khan Chittenden as Edge, the aggressive and competitive teenager; Chris Foy as Matt, the generic 'smart guy' and Mara Scherzinger as Anna, a famous German Kiteboarder. At the end of the year, two of them (one girl and one boy) get a wild card spot on the pro-circuit tour. The first series was released on DVD in 4 volumes, though fans are strongly urging for a complete re-release featuring the entire season in one package, as was later done with Series Two.

won the 2005

Australian Film Institute Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry ...

for Best Young Actor for her role in the series. The winners for series one were Fly and Edge.

Series two

Filming of a second series began in early January 2006 in Sydney, with a revised cast, which included

who was back as Fly, Adam Saunders as Heath, who leaves in episode six and

Trent Dalzell Trent Dalzell (born 15 October 1988) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Axel Hay on the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away''. He is also known for playing Corey Petrie during the second season of ''Blue Water High ...

as Corey, Ryan Corr as Eric, Lesley Anne Mitchell as Brooke,

Taryn Marler Taryn Natalie Marler (born 1 September 1988) is an Australian actress. Biography Marler is best known for her role on '' Blue Water High'' as Rachel Samuels. She was also in the short film ''Car Pool'' as Chrissy Clapton. Marler met up with h ...

as Rachel,

Gabrielle Scollay Gabrielle Scollay (born 6 April 1989) is an Australian actress known for the role of Amy in the second season of the television series Blue Water High. She has been involved in many successful film and television projects including Dangerous ...

as Amy, and

James Sorensen James Sorensen (born 18 July 1986 in Melbourne, Australia) is a former professional model and actor. He is best known for portraying Declan Napier in the soap opera '' Neighbours''. Sorensen served in the Australian Army in his early 20s. He ...

as Mike. It premiered on 28 June 2006.

, Adam Saunders, Kate Bell, Chris Foy,

, Nadine Garner and Khan Chittenden have all reappeared in the second series in various episodes. The winners of Series Two were Brooke and Eric. The complete second series was released on DVD in Australia on 1 October 200

Series three

The third and final series began filming in October 2007. Kate Bell returns as Bec for series three and is joined by

Craig Horner Craig Horner (born 24 January 1983) is an Australian actor and musician who first appeared in the Australian television program ''Cybergirl''. He is best known for his role as Richard Cypher in the television series '' Legend of the Seeker''. B ...

as Garry. The new Solar Blue pupils are Guy (Kain O'Keeffe), Charley (

Lachlan Buchanan Lachlan Buchanan is an Australian actor. Biography Buchanan was born on April 25, 1987 in Australia and grew up in Maleny, Queensland. He attended Maleny State School and Matthew Flinders Anglican College. Buchanan acted in soap operas such as ...

), Adam (

Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in ''Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in '' Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...

), Bridget ( Cariba Heine), Loren (Amy Beckwith) and Cassie ( Rebecca Breeds). Series Three began screening on Rollercoaster on 3 April 2008. The winners are Bridget and Adam, but Bridget decides to go to university instead of joining the Pro Circuit, so Loren gets the wild card after Cassie literally 'draws the short straw' (as they both have the same number of points in the final surf-off, so they decide who gets the wild card this way). In the last episode, Simmo makes a surprise return as one of the three judges in what is described as "one of the best finals Solar Blue has seen", saving the day as he pulls "not a rabbit out of a hat, but an elephant", ensuring that the winners of the final surf-off still get a wild card invitation.

Cast

Series one

* Kate Bell – Rebecca "Bec" Sanderson * Khan Chittenden – Dean "Edge" Edgely * Chris Foy – Matthew "Matt" Leyland *

– Fiona "Fly" Watson *Adam Saunders – Heath Carroll * Mara Scherzinger – Anna Peterson *

– Perri Lawe * Martin Lynes – Craig "Simmo" Simmonds * Nadine Garner – Deborah "Deb" Callum *

Liz Burch Liz Burch (born 18 October 1954) is an Australian actress. Biography Her most high-profile roles are in the television series ''The Flying Doctors'' as Dr. Chris Randall, and Liz Cameron in ''Cop Shop''. Ms. Burch is also known for her role i ...

– Jilly *Matt Rudduck – Joe Sanderson *Clae Whitelaw – Simon Heart *Don Halbert – Mr. Savin

Series two

* Ryan Corr – Eric Tanner *

– Amy Reed *

– Michael "Mike" Kruze *Lesley Anne Mitchell – Brooke Solomon *

– Corey Petrie *

– Rachael Samuels *Adam Saunders – Heath Carroll *

– Fiona "Fly" Watson * Kate Bell – Rebecca "Bec" Sanderson * Martin Lynes – Craig "Simmo" Simmonds *Joe Ireland – Dave Jones *

– Jilly *Natasha Sitkowski – Greta *Don Halbert – Mr. Savin

Series three

* Kain O'Keeffe – Guy Spender *

– Charley Prince *

– Adam Bridge * Cariba Heine – Bridget Sanchez *Amy Beckwith – Lauren "Loren" Power * Rebecca Breeds – Cassandra "Cassie" Cometti *

– Garry Miller * Kate Bell – Rebecca "Bec" Sanderson * Tom Fisher – James Cassidy *Erol Cimen – Michael De Santa *Don Halbert – Mr. Savin

List of episodes

Series one (May–November 2005)

Series two (June–December 2006)

Episodes of season 2 were not named but were numbered from 1 to 26.

Series three (April–September 2008)

Episodes of season 3 were also not named, but were numbered from 1 to 26.

International broadcasts

Africa

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, ''Blue Water High'' was aired twice a week on Go on the local satellite system, DSTV. After DSTV added more MNET channels, ''Blue Water High'' started airing every weekday at 19:30 on Magic World 112 from 1 July 2010.

Europe

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the series is called ''Blue Water High, die Surf-Akademie'' (which means "Blue Water High, the Surf Academy") and is broadcast on KI.KA (a children's channel). In Ireland ''Blue Water High'' was broadcast on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

as part of ''

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

'' and, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, the show was broadcast on La 2,

Clan TVE Clan is a Spanish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Televisión Española (TVE), the television division of state-owned public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's television channel for ki ...

and Neox. In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, it was broadcast on Filles TV as ''Blue Water High: Surf Academy'' in 2007 and

France Ô France Ô () was a French free-to-air television channel featuring programming from the French overseas departments and collectivities in Metropolitan France. It was part of the France Télévisions group. Its overseas counterpart is Outre-Mer ...

has started re-airing the series on 12 November 2012. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

the show aired on

TV 2 Zebra TV 2 Zebra is a Norwegian television channel showing entertainment programmes, interactive programmes and live sport mainly targeted towards a male audience. The channel was started as TV 2 Xtra on 24 January 2004, but before that the channel was ...

. In

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

SIC The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...

also bought the first season, and it aired in the country from Monday to Friday at 5pm in Summer 2009; the show was named ''Mar Azul'' ("Blue Sea"). It also started again on

SIC K SIC K is a Portuguese television channel aimed at children aged 7–14. This channel is owned by Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), it was launched on 18 December 2009 on the MEO platform. The channel previously had an exclusivity c ...

in December of that year. The series also began airing on

RTL 8 RTL 8 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 18 August 2007 replacing Tien, previously known as Talpa. RTL 8's main target audience consists of women. It broadcasts soap operas, talk shows, films and reruns of progra ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

from 2009 onwards. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, it was broadcast on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

and later on

Pop Girl Pop Girl was a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), a company associated with the makers of ''The Chart Show'', a television programme that had previously bee ...

. In Portugal the series is called "Mar Azul" (Blue Sea) and it was first aired on Teenbox a teen program on the TV Channel SIC, Saturdays and Sundays, the three seasons aired, and then the TV show was transferred to the teen channel of SIC, called SIC K, and since then it has been aired frequently, even with some time interval, the series is aired till today, 2019.

North America

''Blue Water High'' was broadcast online in USA through the former

The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...

, which was resurrected by the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

television arm as a website in 2008. Currently, the series is now streaming on Tubi.

Oceania

In Australia, the country of its origin, ''Blue Water High'' aired once every week on

ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

. In

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, ''Blue Water High'' currently airs every Saturday afternoon on TV2

South America

In the Spanish-speaking countries of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, the show is titled ''Blue Water High, Escuela del Surf'', which translates as "Blue Water High, Surf Academy", and is broadcast on Boomerang Latin America. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, it is broadcast by Boomerang Brazil and

TV Brasil TV Brasil is a Brazilian public television network owned by Empresa Brasil de Comunicação. Its main headquarters are in Brasília, DF and Rio de Janeiro, RJ, with owned-and-operated stations in São Paulo, SP and in São Luís, MA, as we ...

under the title ''Galera do Surfe'' (The Surf Crowd). In

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, ''Blue Water High'' was aired on Falkland Islands Television Service Tuesdays to Friday at 15:00 and Saturday at 11:30.

Home media

DVD releases

Season 03 was not originally released on DVD. But in October 2020 a Complete collection boxset was release which included all three seasons.

Online streaming

All Season s of ''Blue Water High'' are currently streaming for release on

7plus 7plus (stylised as 7+) is a video on demand, catch-up TV service run by the Seven Network. The service became available on 27 November 2017. 7plus also offers online live streaming of Channel 7, 7two, 7mate, 7flix, Racing.com and 7Sport. 7p ...

References

External links

''Blue Water High''
at the Australian Television Information Archive *
Blue Water High at the National Film and Sound Archive''Blue Water High'' - "Winners and Losers"
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

{{Southern Star Entertainment 2005 Australian television series debuts 2008 Australian television series endings Australian drama television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian high school television series Television shows set in Sydney Television series by Endemol Australia Australian children's television series English-language television shows Television series about teenagers