Matlock Police

- Season 1

(1971)

The town matriarch, Grace Falconer, is attacked and robbed.

Local tough-guy Brownie Merkle becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a man and the disappearance of another when he suddenly begins paying his debts, and Det. Sgt. Madden finds his attention diverted from his marital problems.

The search for a trio of prison escapees, Carol Price, Judy Bennett and Bob Pollard, endangers many lives when searchers and escapees alike are caught in a bush fire.

At the end of the hop picking season, an Italian worker resorts to a Mediterranean custom of abducting a young local girl to force her parents' consent to marriage.

Matlock police appear to be stumped while investigating the mysterious death of a woman; the strange relationship between a successful businessman and a schoolgirl; the rape of a 40-year-old spinster; a business power game; and an attempted blackmail.

James Ivan Murray is a name known to most police. When he suddenly turns up in Matlock to work as a strapped at a racing stable, Det. Sgt. Maddern is not terribly happy.

When William Morgan escapes from prison a farm he heads for Matlock seeking the aid of a friend, but his friend's wife informs him that her husband has been jailed, and it is the fault of Det Sgt. Maddern. She supplies him with a rifle and he flees to the rangers.

Patti Anderson and Ian Forbes are in love, but the boy is dominated by his wealthy father, a stud farmer who owns the property which Patti cannot understand Ian's attitude to marriage.

Cathie Prentice Returns to Matlock with a 4-day-old illegitimate baby which was born in Melbourne to save the reputation of the. Her intentions was to try and marry the father, Ray Turner, but he has since become engaged to a wealthy grazers daughter. Then a shy Brian Woods arrives in Matlock and seeks the help of the police in finding Cathie, as her departure from the hospital was most irregular. In her disturbed psychological state of mind, Cathie leaves the baby at a deserted farmhouse and goes in search of her former lover. The Matlock Police launch a desperate ...

Gay Lincoln is a Matlock girl who has become a celebrity in Melbourne entertainment world. She returns to Matlock for a charity concert but before it starts, she receives a death threat. The Police are also kept busy with blackmail, attempt a brutal wife basher, and his son who has robbed a service station.

A strike is caused by the sacking of a small time organizer at the local cannery. When the strike enters it's fourth week: it brings crime and tragedy to Matlock.

Ron and Sandy Fuller move to Matlock from the city to escape the embarrassment of a forced marriage due to pregnancy. When the arrival of Sandy's baby approaches, she wonders whether Ron will accept it, and at this crisis point they become involved with two men running from an armed-hold-up when they almost collide with their getaway car.

Stewie Hall has been caretaker of the Old Pioneer's Cemetery since the war. When the local council decides to evict old Stewi from the caretakers hut so that a reserve can be constructed there, the seek the assistance of the Matlock Police. Sgt. Kennedy faces danger when a mentally unstable Stewi arms himself with a rifle to keep the eviction party at bay.

An apparently routine assault and robbery investigation triggers a large-scale probe into Madden's conduct, both private and professional, after Madden is forced to investigate a friend, Bob Ryan.

A series of burglaries occur in Matlock, but when a woman's body is found the investigation is almost brought to a halt-until a connection is found between the crimes. A further connection is made when Clem Davidson alleges a new school teacher in Matlock molested his step-daughter.

A young protester throws paint over the Matlock war memorial, and tempers flare in the town with the approach of the Anzac Day March.

Because her husband is frequently away, Nora McKellar feels trapped on their isolated farm, and her irrational behavior leads Det. Sgt. Madden to believe that she may need help. She tries to kill her husband when he agrees to have her committed to a psychiatric hospital. To complicate matters for the police, a fugitive from New South Wales carries out an armed robbery in Matlock.

Investigations of a large scale hijacking operation from transport trucks leads to a small time criminal 'Buttercup' Sands. At his home, shared with his de facto wife Edie, the police discover an autistic child, Monty who is confined to his room by a leg rope. His mother tells police it is the only way she can control him. The child also has a crippled leg which the mother believes is due to the child's autism, but a chiropractor, Tony Carboni, is convinced there is a spinal complaint later, the boy runs away and inadvertently helps police stumble on a vital clue when...

A skilfully planned raid on a security firm in Melbourne nets a haul of $170,000 for Dave Collier and his partner. He returns to his home town of Matlock to hide away in a vacant farmhouse. All seems to have worked out perfectly until a curious old farmer starts poking about.

During the investigation of a series of baffling car thefts, the Matlock police encounter a moody high school student who is obsessed with guns.

It appears that a group of gypsies have bashed and robbed a local Matlock man, and one of them is sprung from the lock-up when his wife is having difficulty giving birth to a baby.

A Matlock youth, who has become the boyfriend of a motor cycle gang leader's old flame, is tortured and beaten by two youths from the gang. Police investigations lead to a youth centre run by Rev. King. Church members are not happy with the progressive means King uses at his meeting, but he gained the confidence of the young people. King's information leads police to the chase and capture of two bike-riding offenders.

The opening of the duck-shooting season brings trouble with stolen guns and out-of-hours drinking. The efforts of a self-styled protector of wildlife to thwart the activities of prospectors and duck shooters has disastrous results, and a young camper, Jenny Fisher, is held hostage by an escaping criminal.

When police look into strange events on a farm they find a five year old Mystery and a seemingly supernatural occurrence; the sighting of farmhand Freddie Olsen's ghost, who was killed by farmer Jenkins when he found out about Olsen's affair with his wife, Ester.

Doug Bennet, shoots a thief on the roof of a factory and is called a killer, and his brother seeks vengeance. Later a man is assaulted who wants to take Bennet's wife and son away.

Matlock police become involved with a domestic problem, racial trouble and personal tragedy when an itinerant Aboriginal worker returns to his wife Betty and son Marty after several years of chasing work, and a half-cast woman who, through ignorance, had mistreated her child and thereby provoked the bigots in the community to burn her house down.

A young policeman is shot in a mountain town. The Matlock police investigate and encounter bitter hostility steeped in history that leads to a violent death and a gruelling pursuit into snow-clad rangers.

A mysterious hermit, has lived in a shack outside Matlock for seven months. Suddenly, his past and present catch up with him, when he is terrorised by three local youths. When one is accidentally blinded, Chip Richardson burns down Herman's shack and later blames him for the accident. Herman takes off in panic and the police mount an intensive search for him.

When a wealthy farmer is killed in a hunting accident, his daughter seems a prime target for a con-man unless the Matlock police can prevent it.

A motel robbery and the death of a young police constable in a car accident lead to the revelation of several Matlock townspeople's personal conflicts.

Matlock police investigate a complaint of carnal knowledge involving an itinerant artist and a young girl, but the accused has his own way of extricating himself from the situation.

The Matlock saw-millers are a tough breed, but the builders of a new dam claim to be even tougher, A series of ugly incidents lead the two groups towards a violent showdown.

A broken down ex-heavyweight boxer, Dan Regan, is in Matlock on a sinister assignment. Unforseen events cause Regan's past, present and future to meet head-on in the biggest battle of his career.

An important businessman, Eric Schneider, wants to set up a deal with a Matlock company. However, when he is arrested for assaulting a young girl, public feelings rise up against Det. Curtis who may have made a serious mistake. Schneider, with his lawyer Harrison, puts his money and his pressure in the right places to beat the charge.

When Johnny Marcelli returns from the Vietnam war on compassionate leave, he is told that his father has committed suicide. He refuses to believe it and sets out to solve the mystery.

The investigation of a series of wool thefts in the Matlock District uncover the problems of one of the suspects, and provide some surprises for the police - especially Cont. Hogan.

Ron Grey, an ex-Spitfire pilot embarks on a dubious mission as a courier to gain some quick money, because he only has a few years of active life lift - he is a chronic diabetic who keeps coma and semi-blindness at bay with insulin shots. While flying a light aircraft with his girlfriend Betty Holmes, the plane strikes trouble and they have to crash land in the Candowie Rangers. When the plane is found by a police search party, they discover that Gray and Holmes both fled into the bush.

A feud among some Albanian immigrants in Matlock starts to get out of hand, and police are soon investigating an attempted murder.

Matlock police search for two dangerous snipers when a couple at a campsite are shot and injured without any apparent motive. The snipers hold a farmer's wife, Vicky Thompson, as a captive.

When salesman Frank Ross finds himself in serious financial difficulties, he takes an illegal way out and starts an unexpected chain of events that bring surprise to the Matlock police.

A prison escapee is loose in Matlock and the police follow his trail of violence and fear, which ends at the farm of a young widow who guards a secret.