Waterloo Station

1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 3 (Australia)
30 x 60 minute episodes

This early 80s Australian soap was about policemen and their problems. Crime and criminals barely got a look-in.

Set partly in a suburban police station, partly in a guest house run by the mountainous but motherly Rosie Wallace (Jennifer West), and partly in the homes of two middle-aged policemen – uniformed sergeant Jack Edwards (Ron Graham) and Detective Sergeant George Logan (John Bonney). Their wives (who were sisters) soothed their problems and gave them new ones.

There was also (of course) a cast of pretty young characters appearing regularly in shorts or swimsuits, drifters, kids from ‘good homes’ with identity crises, romantic troubles and economic problems.

The conflict at the start of the series involved the Edwards family. Plucky blonde Sally (Sally Tayler) wanted to join the police force but her conservative dad was convinced it was no job for a woman. This brought a clash of loyalties for her deeply decent mother Liz (played by award-winning news presenter Pam Western).

Sally’s serious-minded boyfriend David Keller (Malcolm Cork) – a young cop at Waterloo Station – supported her but gallantly worried about her safety after a woman colleague was killed in the opening episode.

Meanwhile, in the Logan household, dedicated handsome George had reluctantly parted from his frustrated childless wife Ann (Jenny Ludlam) and become lumbered with lonely teenager Trevor Brown (Danny Roberts) who would go bad if not helped.

After a few episodes, Jane, a beautiful woman detective, was hoping George would investigate her. But their nights together on duty, though packed with romantic tension, were hardly arresting (boom boom!).

The most entertaining scenes involved big, blousy Rosie. She held court at her guest house in Bondi, a far from luxurious establishment around which ancient, failed club comic Harry McDowell (Robert ‘Tex’ Morton) was always bustling in a flowery pinafore.

One of Rosie’s lodgers was Rick Thompson (Gerry Sont), a truck driver turned police constable. Rick liked girls a lot (hell, he used to be Melvin, Son of Alvin!). He yearned for Sally but got Stacey (Julianne White) who was No Good – but looked great in short shorts.

Big Rosie would look down, through layers of makeup, over her billowing bust and give it to them straight. She could have been Top Dog in Prisoner, she was that tough.

DS George Logan 
John Bonney
Ann Logan 
Jenny Ludlam
Sgt Jack Edwards
Ron Graham
Sally Edwards 
Sally Tayler
Liz Edwards 
Pam Western
Rosie Wallace 
Jennifer West
David Keller 
Malcolm Cork
Rick Thompson 
Gerry Sont
Trevor Brown 
Danny Roberts
Harry McDowell 
Robert ‘Tex’ Morton
Stacey Daniels
Julianne White