Murder Call

1997

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1

7.1| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

Murder Call was an Australian television series, created by Hal McElroy for the Southern Star Entertainment and seen on the Nine Network between 1997 and 2000. The idea to the series was born by the books of Tessa Vance by Jennifer Rowe: Suspect/Deadline and Something Wicked. Both books were integrated as episodes in the TV series. The series dealt with the cases confronted by an unconventional team of homicide detectives, Tessa Vance and Steve Hayden.

Director

Producted By

Southern Star

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Peter Mochrie

Reviews

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film
VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
geordiesdad 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.
jkuras2010 I was so disappointed to see that Season 3 was the last Season. The characters and actors were terrific. This really could have gone somewhere, but like the reviewer before me stated, there needed to be an even distribution of strengths and weaknesses in the solving of the murders. They gave a good deal of character development, without getting too involved with their personal lives, which I appreciated. They kept the language clean and maintained integrity in each episode.I loved the fact that in each episode, they began with a murder. The music for each beginning murder was really well scripted and the theme music of murder call was classy.I will follow up on the real life actors and actresses to see what they are doing now. I really enjoyed their roles and the particular murders presented in each episode. They were creative and not copied from other movies or series, and I have seen plenty!I will really miss this show.Joyce
kidboots I just picked up "Deadline" by Jennifer Rowe at a garage sale and on the cover it proclaimed "Introducing "Murder Call"'s Senior Detective Tessa Vance. I was instantly transported back 10 years. Even when it was first on television the station mucked about with the times - often it was on at 9.30 or later. But I persevered. It was so unlike any police show before or since. It was very "noirish" - the sets were often suffused in amber, the venetiansmade the shadows slanted, the rooms were often dark - exactly like a 1940s detective movie. Lucy Bell's beauty was in keeping with the theme - dressed in Armani suits (or was it Gucci??) she had a blonde loveliness that set her apart. It was advertised "Detective Steve Hayden (Peter Mochrie) solves crime by the book but Detective Tessa Vance (Lucy Bell) uses intuition" and each episode usually ended in a voice over from Tessa putting all the clues together and then calling Steve (usually in the small hours of the morning) with her solutions - which were always right!! The gruff Det. Inspector Malcolm Thorne was played by Gary Day, who cut his teeth on "Homicide" one of Australia's first police drama series. There was also Geoff Morrell as Lance Fisk in forensics, Glenda Linscott as "Tootsie" Soames - she did the autopsies and Jennifer Kent as Dee Suzeraine, the police photographer. They were all great and perfect in their roles. In the tradition of "Midsomer Murders" there was never just one murder - the crazy killer always had several people to dispose of. I wish I had this series on DVD - I'd even settle for VHS!!!Highly Recommended.
skottyrock 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!