ridiculous rating

Really Surprised!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The first few episodes promised a tightly written and plausible police drama but halfway through the first season the laughably 1 dimensional characters and way too predictable plots began to weigh on the viewer. The female lead detective becomes the ONLY member of the team that seems to have any Sherlockian flashes of brilliance and soon they become a standard feature of her scenes. Sadly this is just another in a series of could have been police shows that failed because of stereotypical characters played too often by characterless actors. Not much more than chum for better shows. The only stand-out in the cast is red-headed photographer Dee who occasionally gets a chance to show her talents.

I liked 'Murder Call'.It was a well crafted,workaday police procedural,except it had one flaw that drove me MAD.Each week Detective Tessa Vance (Lucy Bell) & Detective Steve Hayden(Peter Mochrie) would join forces to solve a grisly murder. Trouble was,the writers seemed to forget that the mark of any good TV police duo is balance- that each should have strengths and weaknesses that contribute to solving the case.Poor old Det.Steve NEVER got to solve the case.Instead of the two of them compiling the clues into a solid block of evidence,each case seemed to be solved by the same maddening plot device: in the final 10 minutes of the show Tessa would stare out to middle distance,have a flash of inspiration and then run to tell Steve of her brainstorm.I watched 2 series of this infuriating show and waited in vain for a single episode in which Steve would be the one to crack the case:he never did.The device got so bad,that every week at 10.20 pm(the show began at 9.30) I would say,"Only 10 minutes to go.Time for Lucy's puzzled expression." I knew it wasn't just me seeing this when a local comedy show parodied it for the very same reason.Clearly 'Murder Call' was in dire need of a good script editor to pick up on these things. A shame,as Mochrie,Bell & cast all gave charming,confident performances.It's too bad it's format wasn't re-tooled to iron out this issue.A good show killed by a lazy plot device.

I found the Australian cop show Murder Call an intriguing one to watch. Although Murder Call had a small cast, it often had great scripts and captivating "who done its". The show, which stared Peter Mochrie as Detective Steve Hayden and Lucy Bell as Tessa Vance, ran for three seasons – from 1997 to 1999 (although some of its last episodes were shown in 2000).Homicide detectives, Steve and Tessa solved crimes which were all out of the ordinary. Their strategies in solving these crimes were on a contrary, as Steve was a by-the-book cop, whilst Tessa had an unusual method, using her intuition to solve the crimes (which got her results).Like many shows on TV, the chemistry between the two main characters in Steve and Tessa was great to watch. And also like many other TV shows, the pair never got together in a romantic sort of way. Although, in the very first episode, "Ashes to Ashes", it was made obvious that the pair cared about each other, when they were locked in a cool room together. Thinking that they were going to die, Steve and Tessa huddled together in an attempt to stay warm. Of course, in the end, they were fine. And their nosy colleague, Constable Dee Suzeraine (played by Jennifer Kent) wanted to know all about their 'experience'. "Come on, Steve. We're talking last moments on the planet here. How'd the two of you keep warm?" It was sad to see an interesting show get axed, and while it didn't have many fans, Murder Call continues to be a favourite of mine.

It's a shame Murder Call lasted for only two series. The lead actors were great, the stories enthralling, the locales and production values fantastic. And the theme song was very catchy!!! It was, at the time, the Nine Network's most-expensive program (if my memory serves me correctly).Why it didn't last any longer than two years is beyond me. But then again, it was in a difficult time-slot on Tuesday nights. Ratings, schmatings!Australians have a knack for producing quality dramas. Think, Flying Doctors, Police Rescue, Water Rats, A Country Practice, All Saints.It's a pity our sitcoms aren't as well-made!