TIFFANY FOX, The West Australian
April 22, 2010

Deciding what to watch in the evening can be a bit like selecting a meal from a restaurant menu – sometimes our tastebuds feel like a special, gourmet experience and other times we just have a hankering for mum’s home cooking.

Sea Patrol star Lisa McCune has no illusions as to which category the high-seas action adventure fits in to.

Now in its fourth season, the series follows the fortunes of the small navy patrol boat, HMAS Hammersley, and its crew as they take on people smugglers, terrorists and drugs off Australia’s coastline.

Honesty, integrity, honour, courage and loyalty are the crew’s watchwords, as they race around the ocean and round up the bad guys.

It is fast-paced, family-friendly Australian television that has attracted its fair share of detractors over the years but McCune says Sea Patrol’s broad appeal should not be seen as a bad thing.

“I think we can get kind of highbrow about our film and our television and sometimes we just want to eat mashed potatoes,” McCune says.

“There are a few dead bodies but you are not looking at anything challenging, you can get up during the commercial breaks and you can watch it with your family. We don’t need a delicacy all the time.”

Audiences obviously agree. The first three seasons drew an average audience of more than 1.3 million viewers nationally per episode and the new series has been extended to 16 episodes, up from the usual 13 of previous years.

Filming can be a hard slog for the cast and crew, who have to spend up to five months on set and weeks at a time on the boat but for McCune the role of coolly professional Lt Kate “XO” McGregor was too good to let go.

“I love it because as a woman in my 30s I was not being put in the kitchen and being made a mother, I was out on the high seas and being put in charge of a crack team of navy guys,” she says.

While she is reluctant to give any plot twists away, McCune says some turbulent romance is on the horizon for HMAS Hammersley’s tough executive officer.

“The last series was interesting because we wanted to focus on the navy side of this and we missed out on the character’s personal development because she was always on the boat,” she says.

“But there is more of that this year, which is terrific because I really like playing that. This series we start talking about women in the navy and when they are starting to make a choice between making a life as a mother or a wife, or whether or not they want to have a career.

“Sea Patrol has a huge teenage boy following, so it is interesting to deal with a character like that who is asking those questions.”

Former cast mate Martin Sacks will also make a guest appearance in a move sure to delight fans of the duo’s Blue Heelers’ characters PJ and Maggie. McCune says the series will move away from the overarching story-lines it has focused on in the past in favour of more stand-alone episodes. The shift in focus will be a test for fans used to the action-driven story-lines but McCune hopes the characters will continue to strike enough of a chord with audiences to see the series come back for a fifth season.

In the meantime, she is working with the Melbourne Theatre Company and spending some time learning how things work behind the camera with the hope of branching out as a producer

“With drama, particularly when you are only making a certain number of episodes a year, you just wait until you see how they are going before you dive in again,” she says.

Sea Patrol airs today at 8.30pm on Nine and 9pm on WIN.

by David Knox TV.com Staff Writer
04/14/10

Action, drama, romance and a reunion with a former cast mate is all in a day’s work for Lisa McCune.

As Sea Patrol enters its fourth series for the Nine Network, Lisa McCune recalls that it was watching another Australian drama that actually helped her make the decision to step aboard the HMAS Hammersley.

“I watched an episode of Blackjack with Colin Friels and I heard people talking about it, and I thought something action-based would get the broad demographic. A couple of months later [producer] Hal McElroy rang me and said ‘We’ve got this thing called Sea Patrol and you’ll be out on the water leading a crack team of navy guys’,” she said.

“I thought, ‘Far out’. I’d just done Marshall Law, which was fantastic because it was a legal drama with lots of words and very studio base. So I thought this would be my last chance as a girl to do something action-based. Kind of a character that you’re not going to get to play a lot. So I thought ‘This is such a great chance’.”

Now returning to the role of Lieutenant “XO” McGregor RAN, she remains just as enthusiastic about the show, even though she knew it would be met with some scepticism.

“Anything that you do that’s commercial and appeals to a broad demographic will attract negativity,” she says.

“I just think when you start these kinds of shows there are those who would prefer to watch The West Wing, which I loved. People might want to watch something a little more high brow. But I thought, ‘What are we making here, we’re making something to try and get Aussie audiences watching Australian TV’, and getting younger audiences to watch. So I thought this feels right.”

This series sees Tammy MacIntosh, Conrad Coleby and Danielle Horvat join the series. McCune is also enthusiastic about the guest cast, one of which sees her reunited with former Blue Heelers cast mate, Martin Sacks. She says it is impossible to ignore how well the two work together on screen.

“I said to Hal, ‘Some people you just have chemistry with, it doesn’t matter what you do. I have chemistry with that man.’

“There’s something about us, we just have it. And I don’t know if it’s because we know each other so well, but you can see it on screen,” she says.

But her character will be at odds with Petty Officer Dylan “Dutchy” Mulholland (Coleby) across the series.

“He’s been a decorated war hero, but he’s quite a damaged character and he and my character don’t get along. So that’s been the source of some great stuff to play. It’s great when people don’t get on.”

So will there be any romance for her character this year? There’s just enough in the 16 episodes to match the action and the drama, but viewers will have to watch to find out who it will involve.

“We’ve got the romance because you need it in a show. Even if it’s not really present I think sometimes when it’s bubbling away underneath you can feel the chemistry. And it doesn’t matter if it’s love chemistry or deep friendship chemistry, it’s the stuff that we respond to as humans.”

Sea Patrol airs 8:30pm Thursdays on Nine.

By David Knox (TVTonight.com.au)
April 15, 2010

When it comes to promoting Sea Patrol, Lisa McCune could almost be photographed at the front of the HMAS Hammersley in a style used for the movie Titanic. Such is her enthusiasm for making Australian drama, and such is the reliance of the network on her star-power to propel the series.

But McCune, who studied as a teenager at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, is defiant in championing the industry and it is her true spirit that has connected her with audiences since becoming a star on Blue Heelers.

She understands her appeal meets a broad demographic, equally as much as she understands footage for promotional campaigns will make the most of her popularity.
“When the Channel Nine Marketing Department get it my face is up the front and I get that,” she tells TV Tonight. “That’s just what happens when you market a show.

“But on a day to day shooting basis I’m there all day most days, and I can’t make that show without the other nine actors or the crew or the brilliant guest actors we have.

“I’m not in it for personal glory. I would have taken my career in a different lurch if I had wanted that. I like working as part of the team.”
McCune says she accepted Hal McElroy’s invitation to join the series at a time when Australian drama needed endorsing.

“I was really insistent on it being an ensemble piece,” she says. “The star of the show is the boat and the navy. And the great thing about the show that keeps it rolling on is that in navy life, characters do transfer on and off boats. So this character could be transferred off and the show still keeps running. So I guess I felt really strongly that it would be a company show.

“I think there’s a real danger about a show being based around one person too much, unless it’s like a Halifax-style show where the show is about that person.
“We’re all in it together, the main cast, and we’ve got a really strong guest cast as well.”

The fourth series has 16 episodes, 3 more than previous years. The first series had FFC miniseries funding which required an ongoing storyline arc. But at 16 episodes this approach has been more challenging to sustain. According to McCune, the end result is more focus on characters, to the benefit of the finished product.

“I think our character development hasn’t been as strong before as this series,” she says. “We see the personalities and the light so much more this time around.”

At the McCune acknowledges that Sea Patrol is a broadly-appealing commercial work, which aims to draw Australians families to Australian drama. As she accelerates her own interest in production, she has also engaged in discussions with Producer Hal McElroy on scripts.

“I said to him ‘I think sometimes it’s a little bit obvious.’ And he’s really smart, he said, ‘This time of night when the family is pretty busy, you just sometimes have to explain a little bit more when the audience is younger.’

“Interestingly too on the flip side of that, our televisions are becoming bigger. And the bigger they become sometimes the less we need to say because it becomes almost filmic.

“I’ve got a family here, and they’re a little bit young, but at 7:30 they’re watching something that’s a little bit more obvious. You haven’t the focus completely of someone who’s just sitting down to watch television,” she says.

“I think for adult drama we’ll have to say less and show more. Which is kind of scary because it’s digital now so when you’re seeing it close you’re seeing it really raw.”

McCune is already pursuing interest in becoming a Producer, developing a project with writers Tony Morphett and Gus Howard. Children’s producer Jonathan Schiff is also mentoring her on another project.

“Now that I’m a bit older and confident I’m a bit more willing to take a risk. I’ve optioned a book, and there’s a play that I’d like to option. I’ve got a lot of people who are giving me good advice. No matter what comes of it, it adds to my sensibilities as an actor to know what goes on on the other side of the camera,” she says.

Such passion for Australian drama even extends to ideas on programming. McCune isn’t at all surprised to see shows like Underbelly pulling big audiences following the end of Daylight Saving.

“When it’s Daylight Saving I can’t get my kids into bed before 9. I look forward to the day when we have a 7pm news bulletin and we can start producing drama from 8 to 9 and then 9 to 10pm. And I think that will help solve the Daylight Saving problem that we have for 6 months of the year, for those states that have it,” she suggests.

“There’s no way I can see a 6pm News. 7pm would be great for me. I know you’ve got it on the ABC, but I think programming on the hour would be great because at the moment when you see a 9:30 drama it doesn’t end until 10:30, but they bleed it over until 20 to 11. So from 8 to 9 and 9 to 10 you can still be in bed by 10 and see a good bit of drama.”

As for the future of Sea Patrol, to which she is clearly pivotal, McCune says its destiny lays with viewers.

“Ultimately something has to work on commercial television. I’m a strong believer that things can artistically work as well as commercially work. Perception is very important. I just hope when people review Sea Patrol, ie. journalists, that they review it as someone with a broad demographic rather than saying ‘I love this kind of television, or that kind of television.’ Sea Patrol is family viewing.

“But at the end of the day the audience decides. They are the power in television and we have to remember that. If they want more Sea Patrol then they’ll watch and we’ll make more,” she says.

“I don’t believe television is dead. We have a strong industry and there’s a lot being made at the moment. It’s very exciting.”

Sea Patrol airs 8:30pm Thursdays on Nine.

Hal and Di McElroy have kindly provided a preview copy of Episode 1 for Sea-Patrol.com. It’s amazing the faith they’ve placed in both me and the site. I admire these two producers considerably. They have defied critics who thought the show would not survive past the first series. They’ve now completed four series and they continue to deliver a bigger and better product each year. 2010 sees more explosions, more romance and, of course, more breathtaking vistas of Far North Queensland.

With the trust the McElroys have placed in me I sat down to view ‘Night of the Long Knives’ (in fact, at the time of writing, I have watched the episode three times). The following day I sent Hal and Di an e-mail that simply said: “WOW!” And I meant that.

Episode 1 opens more slowly than previous series. Normally we’re straight into the thick of things: a boarding to execute; a coup underway; or an oil rig in danger. But this time the opener is slower so we can get to know our new hero, Dutchy. Although he’s not posted to Hammersley yet, we see him getting a shiny new medal to add to his collection. The light banter between the crew watching from Hammersley is very authentic and funny.

A mayday from a woman quickly takes the focus away from Dutchy and a RHIB is sent to intercept. This is where the episode returns to the famous early action sequences we’ve come to love. An explosion. Lives in danger. Opening credits.

I’m sure a lot of people are reading this to gain insight into how Series 4 fills the void left by three very central characters whose alter egos decided not to renew their contracts with the show. Not only does SP4 have to meet the expectations that are raised each season but, this year, also buffer the loss of three much-loved characters. Does Episode 1 feel like something is missing? It is with a tinge of regret that I say this – as I loved Nav, Spider and Buffer as much as anyone – but the answer is ‘no’. Hammersley is getting on with the job and the returning characters are warmly familiar.

Back at Navcom Mike briefs the new boss, ‘Knocker’ (Don’t let her hear you call her that!) White. It’s obvious these two have a history. This scene is the only one with some clunky dialogue – but perhaps this is just a reflection of the awkwardness of the situation for Mike. Promotion is brought up, but Mike doesn’t want to talk about it. He’s got more important things to do!

Dutchy arrives at Hammersley, with two very beautiful women in tow. The crew members take a second glance, especially 2Dads, our resident troublemaker who has to comment on everything. Conrad Coleby has only been on screen for two minutes but he’s got a presence that can’t be explained. This guy is going to take Series 4 to the next level.

Bird, our new Gap Girl is smitten with Dutchy, but Dutchy takes it in his stride. I guess he’s used to the attention. Bird is a character I dearly wish we had in Series 1 because she has lots of things explained to her, and therefore to the audience too. She is briefed about the ship, its role, the equipment on board and more. Better yet, it’s not clunky naval speak; it’s down to earth discussion – something that would have been a great asset in Series 1.

Anyway, Hammersley is busy looking for a missing woman. Dutchy meets the crew, smiles to all of them, shakes their hands – the usual pleasantries. But when he meets Kate the mood changes. An absent smile and hesitant handshake show us he has a problem with her. Perhaps he doesn’t think women should serve on a ship? But then he gets on fine with Bird and Bomber. Maybe it’s an officer thing? Who knows? Obviously that’s for another episode.

Kate is on light duties, so Mike steps into her role. People who love to see Mike in full kit, carrying a gun, won’t be disappointed in this episode. But is it the end of an era? It seems like everyone wants Mike to be promoted – even Kate. He must feel like the whole world is against him.

Dutchy’s first boarding shows he is a cool and calm person. He’s in total control, and he’s getting on with the job. Their boarding is interrupted by people in the water. A dramatic twist in the storyline here means that Mike and Dutchy have to lead a daring takedown at night. This adds something unique to the story, something not done before in the show, and as Mike says, “It’s been used by pirates, with lethal effect”. Mike was always called a pirate: subscribing to the ‘If-you-can’t-beat-them-then-join-them’ attitude. It’s also good to see Charge leading here. If this is any indication of the new series, he’s definitely taking on a bigger role.

It’s obvious that the crew are dealing with terrorists. But what are they up to? Dutchy shows just how brutal he can be when dealing with a detainee. He’s the bad cop – which makes Kate the good cop when she pulls the plug. The tension between these two continues to rise, almost to boiling point. During this exchange I felt Dutchy was about to backhand Kate. This guy has a serious problem.

Hammersley takes the terrorists head on, an RPG is fired and the Typhoon is used with devastating results.

To wind down from a hard day’s work the team party on an island. Fans will be pleased to know that a very drunk RO makes an appearance in this episode: “Robert, stay away from golf buggies – and the transexuals!”. Mike has a close call at the party and hand-to-hand combat leads to Mike being crowned a hero.

As the episode draws to a close, Mike is bullied into promotion in one of the funniest scenes ever seen on ‘Sea Patrol’. The acting here is different from the first scene with Knocker and Mike. They’ve now found middle ground. Mike’s off the ship and in an office next to Knocker. A new CO for Hammersley is on the way and they sail in 30 minutes. Without Mike.

This episode, put simply, is brilliant. All the elements fans love are present, and we also get to see Mike and Kate push their relationship forward. Although slowly, it’s definitely heading forward – something we’ve been waiting for for three years. The acting, which the show is often slammed for, is brilliant. The new cast fit into their roles perfectly. The dialogue feels realistic. Good acting should make you feel at ease, and this whole episode does just that. Critics may say the story is far-fetched; Navy people will probably have a laugh. But thats what fiction is all about – taking us somewhere different and unique. I’m not going to rate this episode with stars. I simply conclude that:

True fans will love the opening of Series 4 and newcomers will also find something of interest. Sit back for an hour of rewarding television!