The Doctor Blake Mysteries: actors remain tight-lipped
Jeremy Venosta and Derrick Krusche
Fans of hit Australian crime show The Doctor Blake Mysteries have been told to stay positive about its future.
The murder mystery series set in Ballarat was cancelled by the ABC earlier this year.
Although they remained tight-lipped, lead actors Nadine Garner and Craig McLachlan said there was possibly some good news ahead.
McLachlan said the decision to axe the show had not made sense, but there was hard work being done to keep it alive.
“I can’t give anything away yet, but you potentially will see something,” he said.
“I took a meeting with someone from another network last week who can’t get their head around it at all.
“They said to me, ‘if we could get half of the Doctor Blake audience for any of our shows we’d be happy’.”
Garner said it was unheard-of for a show with such high ratings to be cancelled.
“I was really sad, disappointed and a little bit confused, because we were doing such strong figures,” she said.
“It does not make a lot of sense to do what they have done – you pull back from the fury and a little bit of sadness, but we have been in the industry a long time and nothing surprises us.”
The duo were at the Ballarat Gold Museum to open a new exhibit featuring props, sets and costumes from the show on Monday night.
Dr Blake’s vintage car has also been parked on the museum’s lawn until the exhibit ends in September.
McLachlan said The Doctor Blake Mysteries belonged to Ballarat and the exhibit was their chance to see more of it.
“When you bring a film crew to a town you never know how they are going to be received, because you do stop traffic and get in the way,” he said.
“The people of Ballarat have supported us, they have encouraged us and we love Ballarat.”
Series creator George Adams said he could not think of another show that received its own exhibition in its home town.
“Early on we wanted to be part of the process for the exhibition,” he said.
“We are very lucky that our costume designer Carrie Kennedy was involved as well.”
Mr Adams said the Ballarat community had shown as much support for the exhibit as they had for the show.
“Everyone in Ballarat has been supportive from day one,” he said.
“All the residents, all the stakeholders are behind it.”
The Doctor Blake Mysteries indoor scenes are shot in a studio, but the outdoor shoots involve many Ballarat locations, including Lake Wendouree, Lydiard Street and the observatory.
Residents well accustomed to the show’s exterior will be able to also view interior sets at the exhibit. It includes the lounge room from Dr Blake’s house and his office.
Mr Adams said the look and feel of the show was driven by the Ballarat streetscapes. “Even the train station, which is quite hard to shoot in, is beautiful,” he said. “The community are very understanding of what we do, even when we close down Lydiard Street.”
Source: The Courier
Some pics from the site (courtesy of The Courier)
