''Murder Call'' is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series, created by

Hal McElroy Hal and James "Jim" McElroy (born 6 April 1946) are Australian twin film and television producers. They are best known for three films they produced jointly in the 1970s, all directed by Peter Weir at the start of his career: ''The Cars That A ...

for the

Southern Star Entertainment Endemol Australia, formerly known as Southern Star Group, Southern Star Productions, Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia and Taft-Hardie Group Pty Ltd, was Australia's largest independent television production and distribution group. On 26 Jul ...

and broadcast on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

between 1997 and 2000. The series was inspired by the ''Tessa Vance'' novels by

Jennifer Rowe Jennifer June Rowe, (born 4 April 1948), is an Australian author. Her crime fiction for adults is published under her own name, while her children's fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson. She is well know ...

, both of which were adapted as episodes, while Rowe also developed story treatments for 38 episodes throughout the series.

Synopsis

''Murder Call'' focuses on cases confronted by an unconventional team of homicide detectives, Tessa Vance and Steve Hayden. Steve is an often light-hearted "man's man" who is moving up the career hierarchy. Tessa is more introspective and no-nonsense, and often solves the murder with her intuition and insight. Their team includes boss Inspector Malcolm Thorne, police Constable Dee Suzeraine, forensic services expert Lance Fisk, and unorthodox doctor Imogen "Tootsie" Soames.

Production

''Murder Call'' was initially conceived as an adaptation of the

Verity Birdwood Verity "Birdie" Birdwood is a fictional character, and the protagonist in a series of six murder mystery novels by Jennifer Rowe. Birdwood is a "scrappy TV researcher" who detects criminals in novels set against Australian backgrounds. Backgroun ...

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novels by

. Birdwood is an amateur private investigator, who spends her time as a freelance

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

for the ABC.

Sigrid Thornton Sigrid Madeline Thornton (born 12 February 1959) is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes '' Prisoner'' (1979–80), '' All the Rivers Run'' (1983), '' SeaChange'' (1998–2019) and '' Wentworth'' (2016–2018 ...

was attached to play the role, with the program given a 26-episode order by the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

under the title ''Murder Calling''. Ultimately, creative differences - reportedly over whether or not the series should adopt a cosy ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

''-style approach - saw the Seven Network let go of the property. Production moved to the

, with a relocation from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

during which time Thornton dropped out. The series was retitled ''Murder Calls'' before settling on its final name. Ultimately, desiring to create a series with a darker vein than the Verity Birdwood novels, McElroy switched to Rowe's ''Tessa Vance'' series, comprising the novels ''Suspect/Deadline'' and ''Something Wicked''. Rowe provided story treatments for 38 of the series' 56 episodes, which were then expanded upon by the screenwriters. ''Murder Call'' was filmed in

and often shot the less spectacular side of the city. The exterior of the Homicide station was filmed at Ashington House (formerly AFT House/Delfin House), on O'Connell Street in Sydney. The first production season consisted of 22 episodes as well as a TV movie, ''Deadline'', based on the novel of the same name by Rowe (which would ultimately air in two parts). The second production season consisted of 32 episodes, which were designed to be aired over two years. Ultimately, Nine aired the episodes over three televised seasons, dramatically out of production order. The third season commenced airing in 1999 but was cancelled in August of that year to budget concerns. The series was taken off air, with the final 9 episodes airing in late 2000. When the episodes were added to the

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 ...

streaming service in 2021, they were available in the original two production seasons, in order of production.

Cast

Lucy Bell Lucy Bell (born 23 December 1968) is an English-born Australian actress who appears in Australian television and film. She is the daughter of Australian actor/director John Bell. Her partner is James O'Loghlin and they have three daughters. ...

as Detective Tessa Vance *

Peter Mochrie Peter Mochrie (born 23 March 1959), is an Australian actor whose career spans over forty years in the industry, primarily featuring in television soap opera's, he has also worked in New Zealand, where he spent six years as Dr. Callum McKay in ...

as Detective Steve Hayden *

Glenda Linscott Glenda Linscott (born 1958) is an Australian actress and director, born in Rhodesia of English descent, she is best known internationally for her performance in cult drama series ''Prisoner'' as tough bikie inmate and top dog Rita "The Beater" ...

as Dr. Imogen "Tootsie" Soames * Geoff Morrell as Sergeant Lance Fisk *

Jennifer Kent Jennifer Kent (born 5 March 1969) is an Australian actress, writer and director, best known for her directorial debut, the horror film '' The Babadook'' (2014). Her second film, '' The Nightingale'' (2018), premiered at the 75th Venice Interna ...

as Constable Dee Suzeraine * Gary Day as Detective Inspector Malcolm Thorne Many notable or up-and-coming Australian actors guest starred on the program, including

Melissa George Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...

Dee Smart Dierdre Claire Smart (born 9 July 1966) is an Australian actress, model, singer, dancer and painter. After giving up on being a dancer, she rose to prominence portraying Lucinda Croft in the popular soap opera ''Home and Away'' from 1991 to 199 ...

Anne Tenney Anne Tenney (born 1954) is an Australian film, television and theatre actress, perhaps best known for her role as Melissa "Molly" Jones in the television drama ''A Country Practice'', Liz Taylor in ''Always Greener'' and Sal Kerrigan opposite Mi ...

, Norman Kaye, Elizabeth Alexander,

Essie Davis Esther Davis (born 19 January 1970) is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' and its film adaptation, '' Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears'', and as Amelia Vanek in '' T ...

Barry Otto Barry Otto (born 1941) is an Australian actor, primarily of cinema, and an amateur artist. Early life Barry Otto was born in Brisbane in 1941, the son of a butcher. He trained as an artist but switched to acting. Career Otto received an AACTA ...

, Jason Clarke,

Zoe Carides Zoe Carides (born 19 February 1962) is an Australian actress of film and television, who is best known for her roles in ''Death in Brunswick'' as Sophie, '' G. P.'' as Dr. Sonia Kapek and ''Grass Roots'' as Liz Murray. Family Carides was born ...

Bridie Carter Bridie Carter (born 18 December 1970) is an Australian actress best known for her role as the main character of Tess Silverman McLeod on the television drama series ''McLeod's Daughters''. Early life Bridie was born and raised in Melbourne, A ...

Michala Banas Michala Elizabeth Laurinda Banas (born 14 November 1978) is a New Zealand television actress and singer. Life and career Born in Wellington, New Zealand into a family of German descent, she starred in her first advert at only 18 months of age. ...

and

Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role i ...

Episodes

''Murder Call'' ran for three seasons and produced 56 episodes. See List of ''Murder Call'' episodes.

Home media

It was announced by Via Vision Entertainment in March 2019 that they would be releasing the complete collection of Murder Call on DVD. As of 2022, the series is available for streaming on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

and

. The episodes are rearranged into production, rather than broadcast, order.

References

External links

Australian Television's ''Murder Call'' section

*
''Murder Call'' – "Black Friday"
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 ...

Murder Call - the National Film and Sound Archive
{{Southern Star Entertainment 1997 Australian television series debuts 2000 Australian television series endings 1990s Australian drama television series 1990s Australian crime television series Nine Network original programming Television shows set in Sydney Television shows based on Australian novels Television series by Endemol Australia 2000s Australian drama television series 2000s Australian crime television series