Waterloo Station (TV series)
| Waterloo Station | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Soap opera Drama |
| Created by | Reg Watson |
| Opening theme | Tony Hatch |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Reg Grundy Organisation |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nine Network |
| Release | 30 January 1983 – 7 February 1984 |
Waterloo Station is an Australian television soap opera that was first broadcast on 30 January 1983. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Nine Network.[1] The series began with a movie-length episode and continued on with hour long episodes.[2] It was cancelled after 40 episodes.
Synopsis
Waterloo Station focused on two sisters, both married to policemen, and their adult children starting careers in the police force. The main locations were a police station, a police training academy in Sydney, and a large boarding house that provided accommodation for several characters.
Production
Waterloo Station was an attempt by Grundy's to reproduce for Channel Nine the success of their earlier shows The Restless Years and The Young Doctors which focused on youth situations. Like Crawford Productions' successful police series Cop Shop,[3] Waterloo Station combined police procedural elements with domestic situations involving the police personnel and their families.
The series was recorded at the Eric Porter studios in North Sydney.
Broadcast
The series was programmed against the popular new series Carson's Law and A Country Practice in key markets including Melbourne,[2] and achieved only mediocre ratings. It was cancelled after 40 episodes. After it was taken off-air in the Eastern States, the show continued to air on NWS9 as it was performing "adequately" in Adelaide.[4]
After Waterloo Station, on 18 April 1983, Grundy launched Starting Out, which featured youthful characters attempting to enter the medical profession. This series was similarly short-lived. Andrew Clarke, Danny Roberts and Sally Tayler all subsequently found greater success as regular cast members of another Grundy-produced soap opera, Sons and Daughters.
During late 1987, while The Midday Show was taking a break for Christmas, Nine Network Sydney replayed Waterloo Station on weekdays at 12pm followed at 1.00pm by US comedy TV series Private Benjamin. Waterloo Station has never been replayed since on commercial or pay TV in Australia.
Cast
- Ron Graham – Jack Edwards
- Sally Tayler – Sally Edwards
- Pam Western – Liz Edwards
- John Bonney – George Logan
- Jenny Ludlam – Ann Logan
- Jennifer West – Rosie Wallace
- Malcolm Cork – David Keller
- Gerry Sont – Rick Thompson
- Danny Roberts – Trevor Brown
- Tex Morton – Harry McDowell
- Julianne White – Stacey Daniels
- Steven Grives – Steve Colby
- Bartholomew John – Tony Harris
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Greg Shears | Reg Watson | 30 January 1983 | |
|
A mysterious jig-saw murderer terrorises the families of a detectives involved in the case. A young hitchhiker finds himself in precarious situation. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Alister Smart | Bretty Quin and C.McCourt | 31 January 1983 | |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Phillip East | David Phillips | 7 February 1983 | |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Pillip East | Rick Maier, John Misto and Bretty Quin | 8 February 1983 | |
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Pillip East | Bretty Quin and Ian Coughlan | 14 February 1983 | |
|
David Keller confronts Rick about his feelings for the police trainee Sally Edwards. | |||||
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Unknown | Unknown | 15 February 1983 | |
| 7 | "Episode 7" | Unknown | Unknown | 21 February 1983 | |
|
A confession of Ann's disturbs George, Sally and Rick are sworn in as police constables. | |||||
| 8 | "Episode 8" | Unknown | Unknown | 24 February 1983 | |
| 9 | "Episode 9" | Unknown | Unknown | 28 February 1983 | |
| 10 | "Episode 10" | Unknown | Unknown | 3 March 1983 | |
| 11 | "Episode 11" | Unknown | Unknown | 7 March 1983 | |
| 12 | "Episode 12" | Unknown | Unknown | 10 March 1983 | |
| 13 | "Episode 13" | Unknown | Unknown | 14 March 1983 | |
| 14 | "Episode 14" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 15 | "Episode 15" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 16 | "Episode 16" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 17 | "Episode 17" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 18 | "Episode 18" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 19 | "Episode 19" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 20 | "Episode 20" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 21 | "Episode 21" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 22 | "Episode 22" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 23 | "Episode 23" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 24 | "Episode 24" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 25 | "Episode 25" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 26 | "Episode 26" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 27 | "Episode 27" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 28 | "Episode 28" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 29 | "Episode 29" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 30 | "Episode 30" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 31 | "Episode 31" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 32 | "Episode 32" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 33 | "Episode 33" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 34 | "Episode 34" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 35 | "Episode 35" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 36 | "Episode 36" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 37 | "Episode 37" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 38 | "Episode 38" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 39 | "Episode 39" | TBD | TBD | 1983 | |
| 40 | "Episode 40" | David C. Wilson | David Phillips | 7 February 1984 | |
Reception
Peter Wilmoth of The Age said of the first episode: "Waterloo Station will need time to develop. The first impression of Nine's new drama series is that it has enough excitement and reasonable acting to succeed. The second impression nags: it is lacking in subtlty (sic)."[5] He later wrote: "Waterloo Station buried its initial promise in the cause of froth. Apart from the occasional moving scene, the show is frustratingly unsubtle and zealously protective of its clichés.[6] The Sydney Morning Herald's Harry Robinson stated: "By literary standards, Waterloo Station is crude in its appeal to young people of scant education. It plays on youth's yen for feeling hard-done-by and alienated from oldies."[7] Mike Carlton wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald: "a better title might be Cop Shop meets the Sons and Daughters off Certain Women for, as with the marching East Germans, there was more than a smidgeon of déjà vu about things."[8] Also in The Sydney Morning Herald, Rosalind Reines called it "hammy but enthralling".[9] Anthony Clarke of The Age commented: "We shouldn't expect too much from our soapies. But surely a prime-time evening show should be more than just a non-stop talk marathon devoid of drama, of action or romance".[10]
References
- ↑ Albert Moran and Chris Keating The A to Z of Australian Radio and Television, p. 345, at Google Books
- 1 2 Lee Lewes, Jacqueline (30 January 1983). "Nine goes coppers with Waterloo, yet another soap". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Peter Robson and Jennifer L Schulz (editors) A Transnational Study of Law and Justice on TV, p. 11, at Google Books
- ↑ "Sof'ly Sof'ly". TV Radio Extra. Vol. 3, no. 131. 16 April 1983. p. 6.
- ↑ Wilmoth, Peter (27 January 1983). "Research pays off". The Age. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Wilmoth, Peter (1 February 1983). "Crime against humanity". The Age. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Robinson, Harry (5 February 1983). "At least we don't have soap for breakfast". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Carlton, Mike (2 February 1983). "Cop Shop meets Sons and Daughters of Certain Women at Waterloo Station". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Reines, Rosalind (31 January 1983). "After Liz is mowed down..." The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Clarke, Anthony (1 March 1983). "Soapie with no bubble". The Age. Retrieved 4 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Australian television soap operas
- Nine Network original programming
- 1983 Australian television series debuts
- 1983 English-language television series debuts
- 1984 Australian television series endings
- 1984 English-language television series endings
- English-language Australian television shows
- Television series produced by The Reg Grundy Organisation