Cops L.A.C. (Channel 9 2010, Kate Ritchie, Martin Dingle-Wall)

Crime drama series COPS L.A.C follows the professional and personal lives of a group of coppers working out of Seaview Local Area Command, a pretty busy metropolitan police station. Detective Senior Constable Samantha Cooper and Detective Senior Constable Rhys Llewellyn are the guiding lights at the station when it comes to solving murder and the like. Head of Detectives is Detective Inspector Diane Pappas but the overall head of LAC is Superintendant Jack Finch.

Also working out of the station are Senior Sergeant Graeme Sinclair who is in charge of organising the stations daily work load as well as senior constables Nathan Holt and Roxanne Perez and newbies Priscilla Smith and Daniel Van Der Mark.

Filmed in the Sydney area the show looks at a completely new way of policing within Australia. Lots of smaller stations being subsumed to create one large scale station operating out of a big city. There are lots of the usual suspects amongst the cast but it does offer up a good chance for Kate Ritchie to make her mark as a proper lead.

Unfortunately as the series progressed it failed to make it’s mark with either the critics or the viewers. The final four episodes were shown as double bills over the space of two weeks.

A rare in house drama production for Channel 9.

production details
Australia / Channel 9 / 13×50 minute episodes / Broadcast 2 September – 11 November 2010

Theme Music: Howlin’ For You by The Black Keys / Producers: Diane Haddon, Lisa Scott

cast
Kate Ritchie as Det. Senior Constable Samantha ‘Sam’ Cooper
Martin Dingle-Wall as Det. Senior Constable Rhys Llewellyn
Ria Vandervis as Det. Senior Constable Roxanne Perez
Tom O’Sullivan as Senior Constable Nathan Holt
Kelly Paterniti as Constable Priscilla Smith ‘Smithy’
Graeme Squires as Probationary Constable Daniel van der Mark
Gary Sweet as Superintendent Jack Finch
Denise Roberts as Det. Inspector Dianne Pappas
Roy Billing as Senior Sergeant Graeme Sinclair
Damian De Montemas as Senior Constable Matt ‘Matilda’ Hilton

THE EPISODES
1. THE LEARNING CURVE (2 Sep 10)
2. A VEIL OF TEARS (9 Sep 10)
3. RUNNING SCARED (16 Sep 10)
4. I’LL SEE YOU (23 Sep 10)
5. THE KILLER WORE SNEAKERS (30 Sep 10)
6. LOST GIRLS (7 Oct 10)
7. KILLER SECRET (14 Oct 10)
8. BLOOD TYPES (21 Oct 10)
9. OLD LOVE (28 Oct 10)
10. GHOST HOUSE (4 Nov 10)
11. ILLEGAL DUMPING (4 Nov 10)
12. LADIES NIGHT (11 Nov 10)
13. LIFE IS A RODIO (11 Nov 10)

Head of film reviews at The Viewers Guide with an erudite, insightful, slightly sardonic, deep appreciation for classic cinema. Has a habit of quoting obscure lines from old films in everyday conversation. He keeps a meticulously organized film logbook. He's a bit of a tea snob.