Water Rats

The Nine Network (ended 2001)

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_Rach User Score: 2399
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Show Summary

Premiered: Feb 12, 1996
Status: Ended

Water Rats was an Australian police action/drama show, set on and around Goat Island, in the Sydney Harbour. The show went through the highs and lows of the men and women who worked at the Sydney Water Police. It originally starred Colin Friels and Catherine McClements, who made the show a big hit. By the end of the show in 2001 Steve Bisley, Aaron Pedersen and Dee Smart were the shows main stars.moreless

8.2

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Episode Guide

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S 6 : Ep 26	Cats and Pigeons	Aired 8/7/01
S 6 : Ep 25	And the Winner is...	Aired 7/31/01
S 6 : Ep 24	The Removalist	Aired 7/24/01
S 6 : Ep 23	Bureaucracy Rules, OK?	Aired 7/17/01
S 6 : Ep 22	The Long Run	Aired 7/10/01

Water Rats News

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1

Priscilla actor Bill Hunter gravely ill

By AAP, May 19, 2011

Bill Hunter with Toni Collette in Muriel's Wedding." link="/bill-hunter/person/49750/summary.html" target="_blank" loc="right"> There are grave fears for the health of Australian actor Bill Hunter. The 71-year-old, known for his roles in hit Australian films Muriel's Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen… more

Cast & Crew

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Colin Friels

Frank Holloway
Catherine McClements

Rachel Goldstein
Toni Scanlan

Helen Blakemore

Fan Reviews (5)

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A brilliant show. Sadly missed.

9.5

"Superb"

By johnflynn, Sep 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Water Rats was a brilliant show. I began watching during the school holidays, just before the two main characters left, so I was never a part of the "It changed so much" group.

Water Rats was a cutting edge Australian drama, one of the best police dramas Australia has produced. It's dramatic story lines and realistic settings made this show believable and one that you wanted to keep watching. The thing that set it apart was that it was set on the water's edge, making it so different to all the other cop-dramas that were around at the same time. And it was Sydney, so it was allowed to have murders and other crimes happen each week!

The loss of Water Rats left a gapping hole in the world of Australian television, a hole that has never been filled.

RIP Water Ratsmoreless

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2 0
Sydney has so much crime!

9.0

"Superb"

By Pinkmyst, Sep 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Well I loved this show from start to finish but I think it was time for it to finish when it did.

Storylines were great and always interesting. They were not scared to take a risk eg. having a gay female sargent and showing love scenes with her and a woman in bed together.

The characters were great and the relationships between them always kept me interested.

Various great Australian actors starred in this show and you never knew who was going to pop in.moreless

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3 0
Water Rats... great cast, great crew and most of all, great show!

10

"Perfect"

By _Rach, Sep 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Water Rats would have to be one of my all time favourite shows, not only because it's Australian, but because it had a wonderful cast/crew as well as the beautiful backdrop of Sydney Harbour. The Australian cop show began in 1996 and continued until 2001, when it was cancelled by Channel Nine.

The show's main stars, Colin Friels (Detective Senior Constable Frank Holloway) and Catherine McClements (Detective Senior Constable Rachel Goldstein) made the show a huge hit, not only in its home country but around the world as well. Their chemistry was electric and so believable, that some loyal viewers sat in their lounge rooms every Tuesday night and waited patiently for something to happen between Frank and Rachel. This however, like many other TV shows, did not happen (much to the dismay of viewers including myself). Water Rats continued with the partnership of Friels and McClements, until season four, when Friels decided to leave because of his ongoing battle with cancer. The episode, Tomorrow Never Comes was an emotional one, when in the end, Frank decided to leave the Water Police and sail to Venezuela. Emotions were high as Rachel stood on the pier and watched him leave with tears streaming down her face. But, the show went on, and Steve Bisley came back into the scene as Detective Sergeant Jack Christey, and Aaron Pederson was the new cast member, with his role as Detective Senior Constable Michael Reilly.

Water Rats' ratings did not drop when Friels decided to call it a day, but when McClements did, it found itself struggling to pick up the once soaring ratings. McClements' last major episode A Day at the Office, was again, another emotional one. Rachel and Jack's hidden tryst was revealed when Rachel accidentally answers Jack's mobile phone one morning (while in bed with him), when she thought that it was hers. Now that the affair was out, just about everyone at the office was giving them a hard time (particularly Michael to Rachel). By the end of the episode, Rachel is stabbed and dies in the arms of Jack ... her lover. What was even sadder about the ending was Rachel's last words "Is that Frank?"

With that, came, what I think, the death of Water Rats. I watched as it struggled to capture its audience as it once did, and was quite disappointed with its final episode, Cats and Pigeons. Still, Water Rats will always have a place on my TV screen, even if it's only repeats of the first four seasons.moreless

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3 0
Disappointing, but watched anyway.

5.4

"Mediocre"

By Blugis, Jul 14, 2006 Report Abuse

I started watching this because of an interest in Australian shows and a mild curiosity over Colin Friels. Sadly, I had trouble watching this show and stopped after a while. But then I watched a later episode and liked it better. After watching the series again, I realized what it was I liked and what I didn't.

For one thing I have trouble when the Water Police officers get reprimanded for situations beyond their control. Their superiors treat them like wild children, even though some of the incidents were not their fault.

The other problem I had was that the episodes with Colin Friels (Frank) weren't as good as the ones with Steve Bisley. I'm not sure why, but I think when Catherine McClements acted opposite Colin, she was more brash. More of a tomboy or an in your face tough gal. With Steve Bisley, she was softer. More feminine. The shows were less harsh and much more in depth than when he was on. Even before Steve joined and Colin was away, the show was much more palatable.

I wish the show was more like Police Rescue and less like a bad soap opera.moreless

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I thought that I can only get on tilt when playing poker. This movie has the same effect...oddly.

9.0

"Superb"

By Shadow_Girlexe, Jun 14, 2006 Report Abuse

I thought that I can only get on tilt when playing poker. This movie has the same effect...oddly. This is definitely a pleasant surprise. I will surely look forward to more of Water Rats from now. It just shows you that on any given day, you can discover something refreshing and new. Lucky moi.

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Water Rats - Number One Cop Show in Aust
Any 'Water Rats' fans here? if so you can discuss the show at oztvtalk.com thanks

By hawker_au, Aug 29, 2006

08/03/08

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