Propaganda and nonsense

melwyn

A large amount of the funding for Sea Patrol comes from the RAN, who in turn took their cut from many tens of millions given to the ADF under the Howard Government to "promote" the armed forces. In return for putting up the money, RAN reportedly have a fair amount of say in the scripts.

Nine made Blue Heelers the same way (with the NSW Police Media Liaison Unit having final veto over the scripts). It means they aren't paying all the bills, but it also means the primary purpose of the show is not to provide quality entertainment. The result is a show with poor quality stories and acting. Visually it is very good, but it has no substance. It features a cast of well known faces playing the same kinds of roles they've been playing for years. They have no real emotional investment in their characters and it shows.

The execs involved are happy to let all this slide because none of it matters. There is one purpose only to Sea Patrol, and that is to make life in the Navy look exciting and attractive to impressionable youngsters so they are more likely to join up when they're old enough.

There's enough rubbish on TV. It saddens me that creative options are foregone in favour of what amounts merely to government advertising.

score 2/10

melwyn 28 March 2010

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2227415/