Water Rats was an Australian TV police drama broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based around the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fought crime across Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour.
Water Rats premiered on 12 February 1996 and ran for six seasons and 177 episodes. Colin Friels and Catherine McClements were the original stars of the series and were instrumental in the show's early success. They both departed the show in 1999. In later seasons, Steve Bisley, Aaron Pedersen and Dee Smart became the show's main stars.
For the sixth and final season in 2001, the show concentrated more on the cops' personal lives rather than just focusing on the crimes committed. The Nine Network cancelled the show after six seasons. Executive Producer Kris Noble blamed escalating costs for the cancellation. However, Bisley and Smart had also just quit the show, and the series had already been suffering a ratings battle following the departure of Friels and McClements in 1999.
It has been reported that Water Rats had a worldwide viewing audience of 200 million and at one point was the most sold series internationally worldwide.
The final episode was broadcast on 7 August 2001.
The series is currently being re-run in Australia on Pay TV on the Hallmark Channel and in the UK on FX.
Beneath its surface exists a playground for the murky underworld, a place of illicit rubbish dumps. pollution hazards, the remnants of huge drug hauls, and a graveyard of bodies from years of suicides, accidents and murders. That's the world of the WATER RATS, and elite bunch of 70 brave men and women guarding the harbour against all the elements that threaten to foul the blue waters. With the breathtaking actions stunts, thrilling races against time, chases across both waves and wharves, intrigue mystery, triumphs, heartbreak, love, lust and laughter, WATER RATS is a compelling drama from Southern Star and the Nine Network. Written by Rayne Constatine
