Vintage Telemovie Of The Week: Blue Murder (1995)

By Erin Free

In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: 1995’s Blue Murder, a big, brassy story of nasty crooks, vicious cops, and real life crime…and also one of the finest pieces of Australian television ever made.

Though the Vintage Telemovie Of The Week column has focused largely on American product, Australia too has a very rich history of both made-for-TV movies and mini-series. And with Australia Day upon us, we opted this week to look back at one of our best-ever small screen works: the searing and utterly compelling crime drama Blue Murder, which first screened on ABC-TV on September 14 and 15, 1995.

Now one of the most notorious, controversial programmes in television history, Blue Murder is famous for something else: its blinding, unfettered brilliance. From its crackling screenplay through to its bold performances and driving soundtrack, this mini-series stands head and shoulders above all other crime dramas produced for local television. Though there are certainly competitors (Underbelly, Scales Of Justice, Phoenix, Janus, The Great Bookie Robbery), none hit the perfect mix of grimy realism and thundering entertainment that Blue Murder provides.

Peter Phelps and Tony Martin in *Blue Murder*.

This big, sweeping tale spans decades in its depiction of the corruption and violence that placed a stranglehold on New South Wales, cutting off all blood supply to decency and justice, and turning the state into a place of wildness and criminal domination. The sprawling story finds its focus in the characters of hero-gone-bad Detective Roger Rogerson (Richard Roxburgh) and infamous standover man, bank robber and drug dealer Neddy Smith (Tony Martin) – though ostensibly on opposite sides of the law, they form an alliance that brings in thousands of dollars, costs several lives, and damages the credibility of an honest cop (Steve Bastoni) who gets caught in the crossfire of their power plays.

Revolving around them are a rogue’s gallery of compromised cops (Gary Day, Steve Jacobs) and hardened crooks (Peter Phelps’ Graham “Abo” Henry), as well as a psychopathic hitman (Gary Sweet’s Chris “Rent-a-kill” Flannery), a whistle-blowing prostitute (Loene Carmen’s Sallie Ann Huckstepp), and her doomed drug dealer lover (Alex Dimitriades’ Warren Lanfranchi). When the whole ugly deal plays out, it will be after a Jacobean litany of murder, assault, betrayal and intimidation.

Blue Murder originated with producer Errol Sullivan, who had previously worked on the television classics Police State, Police Crop and Joh’s Jury, which also looked at corruption and criminal activity, but in a far less dynamic fashion. Drawing on two source books – Neddy Smith’s autobiography Neddy, and Darren Goodsir’s Line Of Fire – screenwriter Ian David was drafted in, and he pulled together what actor Richard Roxburgh calls “an incredible, sprawling mess of a script.”

Director and Unsung Auteur Michael Jenkins (who had helmed the seminal crime series Scales Of Justice) worked intensely with Ian David on the screenplay, while renowned dramaturg Nico Lathouris involved the cast in exhaustive improvisations, which were then absorbed back into the screenplay proper. Director Michael Jenkins has said that “the train was already rolling” before the mini-series was put into production: the script wasn’t completed, but that sense of hectic anarchy informed the shoot itself, with Jenkins taking a spontaneous approach throughout.

Tony Martin and Peter Phelps in *Blue Murder*.

That spiky energy informs the show’s performances across the board, with nearly everyone involved delivering career-best work. Richard Roxburgh – previously best known as a handsome, eloquent theatre actor – disappears completely into the skin of Roger Rogerson, a cold-eyed killer with a penchant for cardigans and club ties whose outward plainness belies a core of profound rottenness. “Prior to Roger Rogerson, I’d never been thought of as a villain,” says Roxburgh, who creates an utterly indelible portrait of moral corrosion.

Tony Martin, meanwhile, applies all of his brusque masculinity to the brutish Neddy Smith, making him a coarse, violent but somehow sad man who is always one step behind the far more wily Rogerson. Loene Carmen is absolutely heartbreaking as doomed prostitute Sallie Ann Huckstepp, while Steve Bastoni expertly prevents honest cop Mick Drury from becoming a lily-white good guy.

Gary Sweet, Peter Phelps, Richard Roxburgh and Tony Martin in *Blue Murder*.

“The first time we saw Blue Murder, I was sitting with my wife,” the real-life Roger Rogerson told The Sydney Morning Herald. “We’d both had a few drinks, and she said to me, ‘You know, when you were a young fella, you were quite good looking.’ I said, ‘Listen, you jerk, that’s Richard Roxburgh. That’s not really me.’ That’s how authentic he played my part. I’ve never met the guy. I made him famous. In fact, most of the actors were good. Gary Sweet was great as Chris Flannery. With the silly wig on, he looked just like Flannery. [Laughs]”

Once completed, Blue Murder hit a major speed-bump. Because the real-life Neddy Smith was on trial for a variety of offences when the series was due to air, a legal injunction was slapped on Blue Murder in New South Wales, and it was pulled from the schedule. It screened everywhere else in Australia, however, resulting in a flood of bootleg VHS tapes (this was the pre-DVD mid-nineties, remember) tumbling across the border into the waiting hands of viewers in the state where all of the action in the mini-series unfolded.

Richard Roxburgh and Tony Martin in *Blue Murder*

By the time Blue Murder finally screened in New South Wales (literally the day after the late Neddy Smith’s trials were complete), anyone who was really interested had already seen it. The series garnered wide acclaim, winning both AFIs and Logies, and a huge cult audience: Roxburgh claims that he’s often bailed up by surfers who like quoting his dialogue back at him. Not everyone, however, liked the show. “Blue Murder was quite bloody stupid, even though it was a good action movie,” said the late Roger Rogerson. “It’s 90% bullshit. None of the scenes happened exactly as they were portrayed.”

Perceived lack of verisimilitude aside, Blue Murder remains a wild, vividly entertaining ride on Australia’s outlaw fringes. “Most filmmakers are drawn to characters who break the rules,” says director Michael Jenkins. “They drag your interest in. By and large, you look for characters with big dimensions who do reckless things.”