14 February 1995 (1995-02-14) – 9 May 1996 (1996-05-09)
Fire is an Australian television series transmitted on the Seven Network between 1995 and 1996. It was shown in the UK and Ireland on Sky One. In 1999 and 2000, the series was shown on Channel 5.
The series starts with new female recruit Morgan Cartwright (Georgie Parker) joining the ranks of South East Fire station in Brisbane. Morgan has to face prejudices in the male dominated profession, mainly from the icy platoon sergeant "Spit". Other characters include The Boss (Peter Phelps), Grievous, Banjo (Aaron Jeffrey), Dinosaur, Repo (Andy Anderson) and Giraffe.
The local arson squad also play a very prominent part from the beginning of season 1. Detective Sergeant Jean Diamond (Liddy Clark) has been investigating a series of fires for over a year, which she believes to actually be the work of a firefighter. Knowing that Morgan has just joined South East, Jean approaches Morgan and puts her theory to her. She asks that Morgan will be her "eyes and ears" in the fire station. This makes life complicated for Morgan.
Ultimately, Detective Diamond's theory is proved correct. It is revealed that one of the firefighters from South East has been lighting fires.
Season 1 was made with the cooperation of the Queensland Fire Service and their appliances were used during filming as well as their logos. The two main appliances used at South East were an International ACCO Teleboom and a Firepac appliance.
Season 2
Season 2 was centred on a different fire station. However, three fire fighters from the original series, Repo, Grievous and Spit, were retained and joined by new characters at West End fire station. After the death of Repo's father, he decides to apply for the rank of Station Officer at West End. He gains the promotion much to the disgust of Spit, the Senior Station Officer. After some events that take place at fire scenes, Repo decides that he would be happier just being a firefighter. He steps down from the position of Station Officer and this vacancy is taken by Seldom, who has recently passed his tests.
Meanwhile, Tex finds out that she is pregnant and is confused as to what to do. She talks to Repo's wife, Dolores and her doctor and decides to terminate.
The station is a mix of various characters. Grievous is the womaniser who loves to fight fires and finds out that he has a son from the turkey baster incident in season 1. Nugget is the veteran who just likes to get on with the job. Mary, the Army wannabe loves regiment and discipline and looks up to Spit. TNT is the union rep at the station who seems to always look on the negative side of everything (hence the nickname "Totally Negative Tommo").
Seldom gets himself into disciplinary trouble with Spit, when his vendetta against Jimmy Runyon (Kym Gyngell) becomes far more than job related. After TNT makes some disparaging remarks towards the Commissioner, he finds himself transferred to the bush. His replacement is Greta Fazio who just happens to be Grievous' cousin. She is a bit of a daredevil (earning herself the nickname "Garbo") and takes a little while to settle in. She becomes involved in a sexual harassment case with Nugget, which ultimately ends in tragedy.
Season 2 was made without the support of the Queensland Fire Service. The made-up name of Queensland Fire Brigade was used during this season with a different logo. Appliances used were purchased/loaned to make the show. The two main appliances used at West End were an International ACCO Pumper and a RFW Wormald Simon Snorkel appliance. The withdrawal of support by the Queensland Fire Service was the result of concerns raised by the United Firefighters Union and Fire Service management about the way firefighters and the fire service were portrayed in the first season.
Unlike Season 1, which featured 13 episodes, Season 2 only had six episodes, although Episode 5, "Vendetta", was divided into five parts, and episode 6, "War of the Worlds", into four, giving the season a total of 13 separate "episodes".
List of episodes
Episode information retrieved from Australian Television archive.[1][2]
Season 1 (1995)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
1
1
"The Curse"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh
14 February 1995 (1995-02-14)
2
2
"United We Stand"
Megan Simpson
Tony Cavanaugh
21 February 1995 (1995-02-21)
3
3
"Doppelganger"
Gary Conway
Tony Cavanaugh
28 February 1995 (1995-02-28)
4
4
"The Rip Off"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh
7 March 1995 (1995-03-07)
5
5
"The Bushfire"
Megan Simpson-Huberman
Deborah Cox
14 March 1995 (1995-03-14)
6
6
"Hellfire"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh & Deborah Cox
21 March 1995 (1995-03-21)
7
7
"Crazy Horse"
Geoffrey Bennett
Deborah Cox
28 March 1995 (1995-03-28)
8
8
"Galileo and Da Vinci"
Megan Simpson
Tony Cavanaugh
4 April 1995 (1995-04-04)
9
9
"Evening Star"
Catherine Millar
Tony Cavanaugh & Deborah Cox
11 April 1995 (1995-04-11)
10
10
"Sanctums"
Peter Fisk
Everett de Roche
18 April 1995 (1995-04-18)
11
11
"Glory Days"
Donald Crombie
Everett de Roche
25 April 1995 (1995-04-25)
12
12
"The Father of Paradox"
Peter Fisk
Everett de Roche
2 May 1995 (1995-05-02)
13
13
"Shadows"
Peter Fisk
Everett de Roche & Tony Cavanaugh
9 May 1995 (1995-05-09)
Season 2 (1996)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
14
1
"Down the Barrel"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh & Peter Schreck
14 February 1996 (1996-02-14)
15
2
"The Accident"
Geoffrey Bennett
Tony Cavanaugh
21 February 1996 (1996-02-21)
16
3
"The Responsibility"
Ross McGregor
Tony Cavanaugh
28 February 1996 (1996-02-28)
17
4
"The Big Bang"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh
7 March 1996 (1996-03-07)
18
5
"Vendetta (I)"
Geoffrey Nottage
Tony Cavanaugh
14 March 1996 (1996-03-14)
19
6
"Vendetta (II)"
Ross McGregor
Tony Cavanaugh & Graham Hartley
21 March 1996 (1996-03-21)
20
7
"Vendetta (III)"
Peter Fisk
Tony Cavanaugh
28 March 1996 (1996-03-28)
21
8
"Vendetta (IV)"
Geoffrey Bennett
Graham Hartley
4 April 1996 (1996-04-04)
22
9
"Vendetta (V)"
Ross McGregor
Graham Hartley
11 April 1996 (1996-04-11)
23
10
"War of the Worlds (I) - Who's Afraid of Greta Garbo?"
Peter Fisk
Everett de Roche
18 April 1996 (1996-04-18)
24
11
"War of the Worlds (II) - Fools Paradise"
Geoffrey Nottage
Everett de Roche
25 April 1996 (1996-04-25)
25
12
"War of the Worlds (III)"
Ross McGregor
Everett de Roche
2 May 1996 (1996-05-02)
26
13
"War of the Worlds (IV)"
Peter Fisk
Everett de Roche
9 May 1996 (1996-05-09)
Home media
Both Season 1 and 2 were released on DVD as separate boxed sets by Beyond DVD/Force Entertainment in Australia.
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