Wildside

- Season 1

(1997)

A ram-raid on a clothes store by a group of homeless teenagers results in a high-speed police chase. Two officers end up dead but the teenagers escape.

Bill McCoy rejoins the police force, tasked with cleaning up the detective squad, and immediately puts a few noses out of joint. Maxine Summers also makes enemies whilst attempting to support local sex workers.

Maxine discovers her husband is having an affair but he promises to end it. The detectives investigate the gang rape of a sex worker and the son of a politician making headlines for his tough stance on prostitution appears to be involved.

Maxine splits with her husband and their daughter decides to move in with him. Bill and Kim, now an item, investigate the murder of a single mother.

While Bill wrestles with his doubts over Reilly who has been accused of corruption, Maxine deals with Ralph, an elderly man with Alzheimer's who shows up at the crisis centre not being able to recall where he lives.

A teenager accuses her father of sexual abuse but Maxine starts to have doubts after learning of the unconventional methods of the girl's therapist. Meanwhile the sexual harassment of Kim by her colleague escalates.

A drug related death in a nightclub leads the police to a bikie gang. Maxine's relationship with her daughter Simone continues to be strained.

Recovering from the shooting, Maxine questions her future at the crisis centre. Kim is under investigation from internal affairs which reveals a link to the bikie gang responsible for the massacre.

Detective Charlie Coustas from the Gaming Squad lends a hand on the homicide of a Chinese high roller linked to the Triads. His and Bill's tactics quickly clash and the situation isn't helped when Charlie makes a move on Maxine.

A prominent HIV doctor is found murdered and Bill discovers a personal connection to his sister. Meanwhile Maxine gets closer to Charlie who helps her deal with a juvenile offender.

Bill revisits an old case when the son of the man he put away is suspected of murder during a servo robbery.

Vince goes the extra mile for a sex worker and when her mother gets involved, it has fatal consequences. Maxine seemingly misdiagnoses the condition of a small child but it emerges that the child's mother was poisoning it.

A 14 year old girl living on the street turns to Maxine for help when she learns she is pregnant. Meanwhile the father of the child is suspected of killing a cab driver.

A young man is found naked chained to the train tracks and Charlie suspects he is a victim of workplace bullying. New detective Ellen Douglas attracts plenty of attention in the squad and experiences some harassment of her own.

A young man is critically injured in a hit and run. Maxine's sister Nina turns to her for help when she leaves her husband.

Nina is found dead and Maxine is convinced the ex-husband is to blame. As a result she relapses, jeopardising the crisis centre and her personal relationships.

The mayor of a council area with a high Vietnamese population is murdered for his outspoken stance against crime and Bill finds himself in the middle of an undercover operation.

Bill assists the drug squad making final preparations for the bust. Gerry struggles with her past when an old friend gets in touch.

Maxine has taken her sister, Nina, under her wing to help sort out her domestic crisis, and Bill and Charlie wrestle with racial violence on a housing estate.

Maxine is convinced that her sister was murdered by her husband but Bill and Charlie play it by the evidence. Bill reluctantly agrees to wire Maxine up, to get the confession they need.

McCoy's plans to nail a Vietnamese drug importer are complicated when a crusading Chinese mayor is gunned down.

McCoy plays a waiting game using millions of dollars worth of heroin as bait for "Mr. Big" while also continuing to look into the murders of Mayor Henry Li and Tran, a kid caught up in the gangster world of Asian drug importations.

Bill and Deakin are searching for three escaped female prisoners, one of whom, Debbie, is a past client of the Centre.

Bill investigates a threat made against Carol Wilson, a State MP who has outrageous views on Aboriginals.

Four Tongans are shot dead in the 180 Club which is a known Islander hangout. McCoy and Deakin investigate the crime scene.

In a story about need to belong, Joe, Bill's son, is out on the edge and alone - an addict, and Bill knows that the only person who can save him is his dad.

Charlie finds himself faced with a conflict of interest when a childhood friend is charged with aggravated assault.

Virginia becomes involved in helping her lover, Alan Sharkey, when his house is shot at in a drive-by.

Charlie's gambling addiction leads him into the clutches of loan sharks and into temptation. Charlie can't lose, he's on a roll. So he borrows ten grand from loan sharks.

Bill and Charlie investigate the murder of the publisher of a fashion magazine but Charlie is distracted by an attractive witness.

Bill and Deakin find themselves in the middle of a tow-truck war after attend a stabbing at a road accident.

The evil crime of paedophilia rears its ugly head in a powerful and moving episode of Wildside.

Bill and Charlie are called to a domestic. Bill witnesses a father, Sean O'Connor, hit his son and gets emotionally involved to the point where he has a complaint laid against him for assault.

An aborigine is mistaken for a wanted man and shot during a police raid. McCoy is left to pick up the pieces. Vince's experience with Naomi, the victim's wife, allows him to discover his own political consciousness.

Charlie goes undercover in attempt to crack a drugs and extortion racket.

Charlie finds himself under pressure on three fronts - his promotion, his relationship with Maxine and his deepening involvement with the criminals he is investigating.

McCoy takes on a new partner as he investigates a series of mutilation murders. Bill is quick to set his sights on a suspect but he is determined to prove the man's girlfriend was involved in the crimes.

After a murder at a male brothel, a colleague of McCoy's comes under suspicion.

McCoy and Charlie pursue an ex-cop they suspect of being a major cocaine importer. While dealing with the news of his ex-wife's death, McCoy is unaware his son has resurfaced at the crisis centre. Jimmy Jago proposes to Gerry.

Bill is investigated by Internal Affairs for his suspected involvement in the shooting of Jimmy Jago.