One is that, after five simmering seasons of URST (unresolved sexual tension) between Lucien and Jean, they married in the ABC finale, enabling the continuing use of the Blake name in the title. There are a few serendipitous positives amid the upheavals for the drama. 'Jean's always been the font of knowledge of everything local,' notes Adams. But it does feel like a different show.'Īdams says of the reboot: 'We've taken a male-dominated police procedural and turned it into a female-dominated murder mystery series, a Miss Marple or Murder, She Wrote kind of thing.' It's now built around Ballarat native Jean and her knowledge of the town and its history, as well as the skills she learned assisting Lucien. And eight months after Lucien went to Sydney to investigate a case he has disappeared without a trace.Īdams admits that McLachlan's absence has been 'tricky' for plot development and Garner says that she had 'a few wobbly moments before we started', adding: 'We've been so busy trying to get this done in 13 days that I've really had to concentrate on getting through the call sheet. Its production base is still the Port Melbourne complex that houses the substantial, lovingly detailed set for the Blake home.īut, says Wright, 'It feels like a totally new show' as it takes up the story late in 1963, three years after the ABC telemovie, in the dawning era of television and after the assassination of the American president. Writer Paul Jenner has previously worked on the show, as has director Ian Barry and members of the crew.

Many elements of the production remain unchanged. He points to Seven's success with Downton Abbey as a positive sign. With the move to commercial TV comes the chance to introduce a new audience to the world of Blake, along with the hope that those previously devoted to what Wright calls a 'comfort drama' will again engage with it. While shooting the telemovie in a lightning-fast 13 days mid-year, the producers put a positive spin on a problematic situation.

It's an outing that will test the waters and gauge the significant variables: will fans follow Blake to a commercial network and suffer the ads? Can the community built around the good doctor – which again features policeman chief superintendent Matthew Lawson (Joel Tobeck) and newly promoted police surgeon Alice Harvey (Belinda McClory) – exist convincingly without him? And can Garner's Jean carry the show? Now Adams and Wright have refashioned the crime series around the redoubtable Jean, retitled it and boiled it down to a single telemovie. (McLachlan denies the allegations and has taken defamation action against Fairfax Media, publishers of this article). Allegations of sexual misconduct against McLachlan in January put an end to that plan.

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