Stingers (TV series)

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox television

Stingers is an Australian police procedural crime drama television series. It premiered on 29 September 1998, and ran for eight seasons on the Nine Network before it was cancelled in late 2004 due to declining ratings, with its final episode airing on 14 December 2004. Inspired by true events, Stingers chronicled the cases of a deep undercover unit of the Victoria Police. The series also followed their personal lives, which sometimes became intertwined with their jobs. The original cast members include Peter Phelps, Kate Kendall, Anita Hegh, Ian Stenlake, Joe Petruzzi, and Jessica Napier. Phelps and Kendall were the only actors to remain with the show for its entire run.

The show received average ratings during its debut season, but after some major changes, including intensive character development, the series became a success the following year. The series has also aired in 65 countries, including Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Overview

Inspired by true events,Template:Cn Stingers chronicled the cases of a deep undercover unit of the Victoria Police. The series also followed their personal lives, which sometimes became intertwined with their jobs. The original unit was composed of Senior Constable Peter Church (whose real name was Mike Fischer) played by Peter Phelps, Constable (later Detective Senior Constable) Angie Piper (Kate Kendall), Constable Kaye Kelso (whose real name was Emily Shaw) played by Jessica Napier, Constable Oscar Stone (whose real name was Cameron Pearce) played by Ian Stenlake, Detective Sergeant (later Detective Senior Sergeant) Ellen 'Mac' Mackenzie (Anita Hegh) and Detective Senior Sergeant Bernie Rocca (Joe Petruzzi), who led the unit. Kaye left the unit after getting kidnapped and almost dying at the hands of a serial killer early in season one, while Rocca was shot and ultimately retired from police force in season two, with Mac becoming the new head of the unit soon after.

Constable Danni Mayo (Roxane Wilson) joined the unit in season three, while season five saw two casualties: Stone was killed while Mac ran away with a diamond robber. Detective Inspector Luke Harris (Gary Sweet) took over as head of the unit until the end of the series, and Danni quit the force after being enraged by him. Constable Christina Dichiera (Jacinta Stapleton) joined the unit in season six. Her real name is Felicity Mathews, but this was not known to the force, as she had a criminal history under that name. Constable Leo Flynn (Daniel Frederiksen) joined in season seven.

Season eight saw the arrival of Detective Katherine Marks, who was revealed as Harris' daughter from his first marriage. The revelation also ended Harris and Angie's already shaky relationship, which had produced a son.

Characters

Main

• Senior Constable Peter Church, played by Peter Phelps
• Detective Senior Constable (originally Constable) Angie Piper, played by Kate Kendall
• Constable Kaye Kelso, played by Jessica Napier (season 1)
• Detective Senior Sergeant Bernie Rocca, played by Joe Petruzzi (starring seasons 1–2; guest season 7)
• Constable Oscar Stone, played by Ian Stenlake (seasons 1–5)
• Detective Senior Sergeant (originally Detective Sergeant) Ellen 'Mac' Mackenzie, played by Anita Hegh (seasons 1–5)
• Constable Daniella 'Danni' Mayo, played by Roxane Wilson (seasons 3–6)
• Detective Inspector Luke Harris, played by Gary Sweet (seasons 6–8)
• Constable (originally Probationary Constable) Christina Dichiera, played by Jacinta Stapleton (seasons 6–8)
• Constable Leo Flynn, played by Daniel Frederiksen (seasons 7–8)

Recurring and supporting

• Detective Inspector (briefly demoted to Detective Senior Sergeant) Bill Hollister (Head of Homicide), played by Nicholas Bell (seasons 1–4)
• Detective Senior Sergeant Reg 'The Ferret' Masters (Head of Vice Squad/Head of Drugs Squad), played by Richard Morgan (seasons 2–8)
• Samantha Piper, Angie's younger sister, played by Asher Keddie (seasons 3–8)
• Detective Senior Sergeant Bryan Gray (Head of Armed Robbery/Senior Detective for Special Investigations), played by Jeremy Kewley (seasons 3–8)
• Detective Inspector Andrew Bligh (Internal Affairs), played by Russell Kiefel (seasons 3–7)
• Detective Stewart Campbell (Homicide Detective), played by William Houten (seasons 3–7)
• Detective Senior Sergeant Eric Chatterly (Fraud Squad Detective/Senior Homicide Detective, possibly Acting Head of Homicide), played by John Ridley (seasons 4–8)
• Detective Inspector Harry Love (Head of Homicide), played by Martin Jacobs (season 5)
• Detective Nick Jardine , played by Andy Rodoreda (season 5)
• Marty Engle (Informant/Angie's Fiancé), played by Jim Russell (season 5)
• Detective Inspector Frank Callahan (Head of Homicide), played by David Swann (seasons 5–6)
• Criminal Barrister Ingrid Burton, played by Rebecca Gibney (seasons 6–7)
• Sophie Novak, played by Katrina Milosevic (seasons 7–8)
• Detective Katherine Marks, played by Gigi Edgley (season 8)
• Constable Megan Walsh, played by Lisa Chappell (season 8)

Series history and production

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} On Sunday 16 July 2006 at 2 p.m., Executive producer John Wild and script producer Marcia Gardner sat down with an audience at ACMI in Federation Square in Melbourne to "explore the narrative arc and character development from the first episodes to the final series." The event took place in the Screen Pit and was free to the public. Also in attendance was cast member Jeremy Kewley who posted the following rundown of the discussion for the Stingers forum:

It first began airing up towards the end of the year, on Monday nights. It was up against another new show on Channel Seven, Ally McBeal, and Stingers beat McBeal regularly for its first 11 weeks before it went on its Christmas ratings break. When both shows returned after the ratings break, McBeal began to win in the ratings quite comfortably, worrying Nine executives.

At this time Channel Nine and the producers had to work out how to win ratings back, and found that the reason why so many people preferred Ally McBeal over Stingers was because Stingers had a very rough, edgy and realistic feel to it, and that this did not appeal to women of all ages, who preferred the lightness of McBeal. So Stingers was moved to Tuesday night. This helped a bit, but not enough. Channel Nine were thinking about canceling the show, but Nine owner Kerry Packer liked the show and suggested that they keep it on the air. Nine did, but moved it an hour later to 9.30pm Tuesdays, and Stingers started to find its audience (although this was still not a big one). It stayed at this timeslot until the end of 7th season which seemed to be predominately male middle class white collar workers between the ages of 30–55.

By the middle of the second season, ratings were still not spectacular enough and Channel Nine commissioned research which showed that women were not particularly interested in Stingers. As women make up 50% of the audience the producers were told to make the first major change to Stingers: make it more female-friendly. This led to the departure of Joe Petruzzi, making Anita Hegh's character the boss of the Unit. This also led to another female character being introduced, undercover operative Danni Mayo, portrayed by Roxane Wilson. This led to the show becoming more 'lighter' to appeal to the female audiences. Soon after, humour was added to the show, in the form of Jeremy Kewley's character, Bryan Gray. These changes worked well and Stingers steamed through Seasons 3, 4 and 5, but then Anita Hegh and Ian Stenlake decided to leave the show, causing another drastic change in the series.

Channel Nine, on a nationwide cost-cutting drive, hinted at dropping the show because Stingers' was considered too expensive; its budget had crept up from its original $440,000-per-episode cost, to around $480,000. They dropped a bombshell on the producers: shave around $130,000 every week from the budget or the show would have to cease production. A huge ask, but everyone at Stingers was keen to keep going as everyone felt there were still life in the show and plenty of stories to tell.

By the start of the next season the budget was chopped down to $350,000 per episode. Shooting changed from six days per episode to five, stock changed from 16 mm film to SP Betacam Videotape, the crew became smaller, and writers were given less time to write each episode. The location changed from the "Crimplex" (warehouse/studio/offices by the Yarra River) to the studios of Channel Nine in Richmond. Channel Nine spent money on a big new set (plus a new "hospital ward" set and a new "pub/bar" set) and justified the cost by making sure that most of the action on the show now took place inside the studio on the new sets, with a lot less time spent on locations, with less money spent on car chases, stunts and special effects.

Channel Nine also wanted more "star power" in the show, so Gary Sweet was brought in as Luke Harris (and Roxane Wilson decided to leave), and Rebecca Gibney – now out of a job without Halifax f.p. – was cast for the first few episodes of the new season. Most of these major changes worked quite well, and most viewers at home would not have been too aware of the changes to the visual quality of the show (such as using tape instead of film).

But, as Executive Producer John Wild humorously pointed out, "the ratings didn't change one point!" Channel Nine commissioned more surveys that told them the show needed to appeal to younger viewers. So two new characters were added, played by Daniel Frederiksen and Jacinta Stapleton, and, John Wild said, "and the ratings still didn't change one point!" Channel Nine insisted that still more star power was needed to lift the ratings, so Lisa Chappell (Logie winning McLeod's Daughters star) joined the cast. After still no improvement to the ratings, more star power was further added in guest roles with Bill Hunter, Gigi Edgley, Steve Bisley, Tottie Goldsmith. No improvement still.

Stingers was then "rested" for a couple of weeks and replaced by repeats of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and these repeats rated better than first-run episodes of Stingers (screening a repeat episode of CSI probablyTemplate:Vague costs the network about $25,000 as opposed to a first-run episode of Stingers at $350,000).

It became clear what Nine would do: move Stingers to 10.30pm on a permanent basis and put higher-rating repeats of CSI on at 9.30 p.m. Channel Nine in Adelaide did not like this move and moved Stingers to 9:30 Monday nights, however this only lasted for five weeks before it was moved back to 10:30 on a Tuesday night; such a move to a later timeslot caused Stingers’ ratings to drop even lower, giving Nine reason to finally end the show. Stingers’ curse seemed to be that it always rated well, but it never rated spectacularly.

Home media

• 2006–2009: Beyond Home Entertainment released Seasons 1–8 as individual Season DVDs.
• 2013: Beyond Home Entertainment released Stingers: The Complete Collection Boxset.
• 2016: Beyond Home Entertainment released Stingers: Season 1 & 2 Collectors set.
• 2020: In August, 9now began streaming the complete series. However, the series was later removed from 9now in 2022
• 2024: In August, 7plus began streaming the complete series, initially with the first six seasons available from early August, before adding the remaining two seasons of the series two weeks later.

Title	Format	Ep #	Discs	Region 4 (Australia)	Special Features	Distributor
Season One	DVD	22	6	4 September 2006	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Two	DVD	22	6	14 March 2007	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Three	DVD	22	6	4 June 2007	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Four	DVD	22	6	7 December 2007	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Five	DVD	22	6	11 June 2008	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Six	DVD	14	4	6 January 2009	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Seven	DVD	40	10	10 June 2009	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Season Eight	DVD	28	7	4 August 2009	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Stingers The Complete Series	DVD	192	51	1 May 2013	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Stingers Season 1 & 2 Collectors set	DVD	44	13	20 April 2016	None	Beyond Home Entertainment
Stingers (Season 01-04)	DVD	88	24	21 April 2021	None	Madman Entertainment & Via Vision Entertainment
Stingers (Season 05-08)	DVD	104	27	18 August 2021	None	Madman Entertainment & Via Vision Entertainment
Stingers The Complete Collection	DVD	192	51	06 November 2024	None	Via Vision Entertainment

Reception

Series ratings

Season	Episodes	Originally aired		Viewers (in millions)	Rating	Drama Rank
		Season premiere	Season finale
1	22	29 September 1998	1 June 1999	Template:N/a	11.2<ref name="Ratings1-7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	#5<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
2	22	8 June 1999	16 November 1999	Template:N/a	8.4<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	#6<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
3	22	12 June 2000	21 November 2000	Template:N/a	8.3<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	#7<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
4	22	14 August 2001	28 November 2001	colspan=3 Template:N/a<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
5	22	5 February 2002	23 July 2002	1.003<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	7.6<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	#9<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
6	14	13 August 2002	26 November 2002
7	40	25 March 2003	20 April 2004	1.024<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	7.6<ref name="Ratings1-7" />	#8<ref name="Ratings1-7" />
8	28	27 April 2004	14 December 2004	0.646<ref name="Ratings8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4.7<ref name="Ratings8" />	#6<ref name="Ratings8" />

Awards and nominations

Awards

Australian Film Institute Television Awards:

• Best Television Drama Series (2004)<ref name="AFI2009"/>
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Chris Haywood for the episode "Men in the Dark" (2000)<ref name="AFI2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Logie Awards:

• Most Popular Actor – Peter Phelps (2002)

Nominations

Australian Film Institute Television Awards:

• Best Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy – Jacinta Stapleton (2004)<ref name="AFI2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Best Direction in Television – Grant Brown (2004)<ref name="AFI2004"/>
• Best Screenplay in Television – Matt Ford (2004)<ref name="AFI2004"/>
• Best Television Drama Series (2003)<ref name="AFI2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Best Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Travis McMahon for the episode "Rich Man's World" (2001)<ref name="AFI2001"/>
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Rhondda Findleton for the episode "Fool To Want You" (2001)<ref name="AFI2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Aaron Blabey for the episode "Second Chance" (2000)<ref name="AFI2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Daniel Daperis for the episode "Forced Perspective" (2000)<ref name="AFI2000"/>
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Series – Anita Hegh (2000)<ref name="AFI2000"/>

Logie Awards:

• Most Outstanding Drama Series (2005)
• Most Popular New Female Talent – Katrina Milosevic (2004)
• Most Popular New Male Talent – Daniel Frederiksen (2004)
• Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series – Gary Sweet (2004)
• Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series – Kate Kendall (2004)
• Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series – Gary Sweet (2003)
• Most Outstanding Drama Series (2001)

External links

• STINGERS: Undercover Central
• Stingers at the National Film and Sound Archive
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0219457

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• Stingers – "Ratcatcher" at Australian Screen Online