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 (although Kendall is the only actor to appear in every episode, while Phelps appeared in 191 of the 192 episodes; absent from only one episode in season seven).
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.
Contents
Overview
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 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 being 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 (now permutated into the newly-formed Special Investigations squad) until the end of the series, and Danni quit the force after being enraged by him. Probationary Constable (later Constable) Christina 'Chris' Dichiera (Jacinta Stapleton) joined the unit in season six. Her real name is Felicity 'Flick' Mathews, but this was not known to the force, as she had a juvenile criminal history under that name - having been a street kid during her teenage years prior to joining the police. Constable Leo Flynn (Daniel Frederiksen) joined in season seven, soon after initially been wrongly investigated by the unit.
Season eight saw the arrival of Homicide 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 (Homicide Detective), 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)
Episodes
Series history and production
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:
Stingers came about in a very fast manner. John Wild had to get the show from a concept 'jotted down on paper' into a television series in just 11 weeks and in an 8.30pm time slot!
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.
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.
Reception
Awards and nominations
Australian Film Institute Television Awards:
Best Television Drama Series (2004)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Chris Haywood for the episode "Men in the Dark" (2000)
Logie Awards:
Most Popular Actor – Peter Phelps (2002)
Australian Film Institute Television Awards:
Best Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy – Jacinta Stapleton (2004)
Best Direction in Television – Grant Brown (2004)
Best Screenplay in Television – Matt Ford (2004)
Best Television Drama Series (2003)
Best Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Travis McMahon for the episode "Rich Man's World" (2001)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Rhondda Findleton for the episode "Fool To Want You" (2001)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Aaron Blabey for the episode "Second Chance" (2000)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Daniel Daperis for the episode "Forced Perspective" (2000)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Series – Anita Hegh (2000)