| Genre: | Police procedural |
| Creator: | John Edwards Christopher Lee |
| Starring: | Rodger Corser Callan Mulvey Claire van der Boom Josef Ber Nicole da Silva Ashley Zukerman Jolene Anderson Kevin Hofbauer Antony Starr Samuel Johnson Catherine McClements |
| Composer: | Stephen Rae |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Company: | Southern Star Entertainment |
| Num Seasons: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 70 |
| List Episodes: | List of Rush episodes |
| Editor: | Rodrigo Balart |
| Location: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes |
| Network: | Network Ten |
Rush is an Australian television police drama that first screened on Network Ten in September 2008.[1] Set in Melbourne, Victoria, it focuses on the members of a Police Tactical Response team. It is produced by John Edwards and Mimi Butler for Endemol Australia, which was branded as the Southern Star Group during production of the series.
In late October 2011, text phrasing on the cover art of Entertainment One's DVD release of the fourth series first indicated Rush would not return for another series, meaning series four would be its last.[2] Soon after, the production company, known at the time as the Southern Star Group confirmed with TV Tonight that a fifth series had not been commissioned. Network Ten did not issue any press releases stating the wrapping up of Rush. Executive Producer of Drama and Production at Network Ten, Rick Maier, issued a statement on the show's official Facebook page: "While we don't discount a return series, it is not on the cards at this stage – but we do intend to finish season four with a bang, literally."[3]
Rush follows the lives of members of the prestigious Tactical Response team (TR), which is based on the real life Victoria Police Critical Incident Response Team, a highly mobile unit that fills the operational gap between general duties police and the SWAT-like Special Operations Group. The team is seen responding to violent incidents such as carjackings, suicides and armed offences.
Most of the episodes involve at least one main plot, with one or two smaller subplots throughout each episode. In some cases, they will focus on one plot, while the personal lives tend to fall into the form of smaller subplots that span over a number of episodes. Usually the team is divided into two, one team per case, with the team taking the minor subplot meeting up with the major team at some stage throughout the episode. The usual six-person team is split between two vehicles known as TR01 and TR02.
In series four, the composition of the plot was revamped with only one large and extensive arc featured throughout the 13 episodes, as opposed to the story-line structure of prior series.[4]
The pilot for Rush, originally titled Rapid Response, was filmed in 2004 and based on an earlier Police Rescue script.[5] The pilot featured several characters and cast who did not return for the series, including Matthew Le Nevez, Libby Tanner and Corinne Grant. The series was initially rejected but years later was picked up for production when the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike affected Ten's imported shows.[6]
Sergeant Dominic "Dom" Wales, played by Josef Ber, was originally scripted to be killed in the first season, however during production Van der Boom asked to be released. Her US working visa had been approved and being a "Residency Visa", required her to move to the US. As such, the character of Grace was killed off instead.[7] Jolene Anderson joined the cast for the second series, from 16 July 2009.[8] [9] The series is filmed in Victoria in both regional and metropolitan areas.
A third season of Rush was announced by Channel Ten on 25 September 2009. It premiered in the time-slot of 8:30pm on 22 July 2010.[10]
A thirteen-episode fourth season was confirmed by Channel Ten's Executive Producer of Drama and Production, Rick Maier on 12 November 2010. He stated "Rush continues to deliver great stories, great stunts and some of the best performances on TV".[11] Filming for the fourth season began on 6 May 2011.[12]
| Actor/actress | Character | Rank | Past rank/s | Tenure | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodger Corser | Lawson Blake | Senior Sergeant | 2008–2011 | 01–70 | ||
| Callan Mulvey | Brendan 'Josh' Joshua | Sergeant | 2008–2011 | 01–70 | ||
| Claire van der Boom | Grace Barry | Senior Constable | 2008 | 01–11 | ||
| Josef Ber | Dominic Wales | Sergeant | 2008–2010 | 01–51 | ||
| Nicole da Silva | Stella Dagostino | Senior Constable | Constable | 2008–2011 | 01–70 | |
| Ashley Zukerman | Michael Sandrelli | Senior Constable | Constable | 2008–2011 | 01-65 | |
| Samuel Johnson | Leon Broznic | Intelligence Officer | 2008–2011 | 01-70 | ||
| Catherine McClements | Kerry Vincent | Superintendent | Inspector | 2008–2011 | 01-70 | |
| Jolene Anderson | Shannon Henry | Sergeant | Senior Constable | 2009–2011 | 14–70 | |
| Luke Arnold | Elliot Ryan | Constable | 2009 | 34–35 | ||
| Kevin Hofbauer | Christian Tapu | Constable | 2010–2011 | 36–70 | ||
| Antony Starr | Charlie Lewis | Senior Sergeant | 2011 | 58–70 |
See main article: List of Rush episodes.
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | |||
| 1 | 13 | |||
| 2 | 22 | |||
| 3 | 22 | |||
| 4 | 13 | |||
| Title | Format | Date released |
|
| Special features | Distributors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 01 | DVD | 30 July 2009[13] | 13 | 4 | Behind the scenes | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| Season 02: Volume One | DVD | 3 December 2009[14] | 12 | 3 | None | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| Season 02: Volume Two | DVD | 1 April 2010[15] | 10 | 3 | None | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| Season 03: Volume One | DVD | 2 December 2010[16] | 12 | 3 | None | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| Season 03: Volume Two | DVD | 3 March 2011[17] | 10 | 3 | None | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| Season 04 | DVD | 15 December 2011[18] | 13 | 3 | None | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| The Complete Series 1–4 | DVD | 5 December 2012 | 70 | 19 | Behind the scenes (Series 1 only) | Hopscotch Entertainment | |
| The Complete Collection | DVD | 4 August 2021 | 70 | 19 | Behind the scenes (Series 1 only) | Via Vision Entertainment |
Original Broadcast on Tenplay (2008-2012)
Re-Release Broadcast On Tenplay (2019–Present)
| Title | Format | Episodes # | Release date | Streaming Status | Web Extras | Distributors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rush: The Complete Season 01 | Streaming | 13 | September - November 20086 September 2019 (Re-Release) | Expired 2012Current | Behind The Scenes (Webisodes) Rush Premiere Party (Ten News Video) Photo Gallery | |
| Rush: The Complete Season 02 | Streaming | 22 | July - November 20096 September 2019 (Re-Release) | Expired 2012Current | Behind The Scenes (Webisodes) Photo Gallery | |
| Rush: The Complete Season 03 | Streaming | 22 | July - December 20106 September 2019 (Re-Release) | Expired 2012Current | Behind The Scenes (Webisodes) Photo Gallery | |
| Rush: The Complete Season 04 | Streaming | 13 | September - November 20116 September 2019 (Re-Release) | Expired 2012Current | Behind The Scenes (Webisodes) Photo Gallery | |
| Awards and nominations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2011 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actor | Callan Mulvey | |
| Most Outstanding Actress | Catherine McClements | |||
| Most Outstanding Drama | Rush | |||
| Most Popular Drama | Rush | |||
| Screen Music Awards | Best Music in a drama series or serial | Stephen Rae (for episode 3.16) | ||
| 2010 | AFI Awards | Best Television Drama Series | Rush – John Edwards and Mimi Butler | |
| 2009 | AWGIE Awards | Television Series | John O'Brien and Christopher Lee (for episode 1.04) | |
| Logie Awards | Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent | Ashley Zukerman | ||
| Most Outstanding Actor | Callan Mulvey | |||
| Most Outstanding Actress | Claire van der Boom | |||
| Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie | Rush | |||
| 2008 | AFI Awards | Best Television Drama Series | Rush – John Edwards and Mimi Butler | |
| Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | Callan Mulvey |
| Country | Channel | Year | Dubbed or Subtitled? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2009 – | Dubbed | ||
 | 2009 – | |||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 – | Dubbed | ||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 – | Dubbed | ||
 | 2009 – | Voice-over | ||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 – | |||
 & the Arab World | MBC 4 | 2009 – | Subtitled | |
| Subtitled | ||||
 | 2009 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2009 (Pilot) 2010 (Regular broadcast) – | Subtitled | ||
 | Television Tuvalu | 2010 – | ||
 | 2010 | Dubbed | ||
 | 2010 – | |||
 | 2010 – | Dubbed | ||
| 2012 – | ||||
 | 2010 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2010 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2011 – | Dubbed | ||
 | 2011 – | Subtitled | ||
 | 2012 – | Dubbed | ||
| 2012 – | Subtitled | |||
| 2013 – | Subtitled | |||
 | 2013 | Entire series available for streaming on Tubi TV | ||
 | 2014 – | Both | ||
 | 2015 – | Dubbed | ||
 | 2019 – | Series 1–4 shown consecutively, daily, at 5:00pm from 4 February 2019 to 15 May 2019 |