Wednesday, May 4, 2016 — The Doctor will be back! ABC is thrilled to announce that our number one locally produced drama series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, has been commissioned for a fifth series.

Starring the formidable talents of Craig McLachlan as police surgeon Dr Lucien Blake and Nadine Garner as his devoted housekeeper Jean, The Doctor Blake Mysteries continues to attract a huge audience year upon year.

ABC Director of Television Richard Finlayson says “We are delighted to commission more Doctor Blake for our audience. Series four has been the most successful to date with an average audience of 1.67 million viewers across TV broadcast and iview*.  Doctor Blake satisfies an appetite for engaging, home grown stories.”

Series Co-creator and showrunner George Adams says “December Media is elated to be returning to 1960s Ballarat once again to bring our loyal audience more tales of murder, mystery, mayhem and a wee bit of love with Blake, Jean and all our favourite characters.”

Series five will see Doctor Blake facing mysteries on every front, from the boxing ring to the vineyards of Victoria, from Gypsy camps to the Debutants Ball.  Loyalties will be tested, friendships will be strained and faiths will be challenged.  Will Blake and Jean finally find the happiness they so richly deserve? And can they then survive the return of an avenging nemesis from the recent past?

The fifth series of The Doctor Blake Mysteries will be filmed later in the year and air on ABC TV in 2017.

* Oztam Metro Consolidated Data, Regional TAM Consolidated Data and OzTAM VPM data.

Production Credits: A December Media Production in association with ABC TV and Film Victoria.  Produced by George Adams.  Executive Producers Tony Wright and Stuart Menzies and Associate Producer Craig McLachlan.  ABC Executive Producers Christopher Gist and Alastair McKinnon.