Wildside: Volume 1
It is more than a decade since the last episode of Australian police drama series Wildside was produced, and yet the series is as innovative as ever.
We are drawn into the series via a sub-plot concerning an ex-policeman (Tony Martin as Bill McCoy), who returns to Sydney after discovering that his son is in trouble.
His journey introduces us to a police station in inner Sydney: its detectives, as well as the local welfare centre, at which a socially conscientious and courageous doctor Maxine (Rachael Blake) works.
Although technically a police drama, Wildside gives us an insight into the intersection of various players on either sides of the law.
There are police who use unscrupulous methods, and the heroic doctor, dispensing health advice to those in her care, is a recovering alcoholic.
The characters are complex and flawed, and the morals are a satisfying shade of grey.
As with the drama that drives the opening of the first series, there are ongoing sub-plots that imbue the main characters with even greater depth. There are also many occasions where the characters are at odds with each other: Maxine Summers is struggling between wanting to protect her daughter, and wanting to be a liberal mother. Her experience with the drug addicts and street kids she works with, has made her all too familiar with the fate that befalls children who flee the family home.
To what extent is her obligation towards her clients obstructing the work the police are trying to do?
The dialogue is outstanding: as in real life, the characters occasionally talk over each other. The hand-held camera work isn't as cutting edge nowadays as it was when the series first aired, but it, along with the natural dialogue and excellent acting, lends an air of authenticity to this outstanding series.
With series one of Wildside now available on DVD, this ecstatic viewer will no longer have to stay up late to watch the re-runs on TV. Also, watching episodes back-to-back is even more gratifying.
Rachael Blake and Tony Martin are outstanding. Look out for a young Abbie Cornish as the doctor's daughter.