Rush (series 1)

Rush (series 1)
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Original release	2 September 2008 – 25 November 2008

Series 1 of Australian police drama Rush premiered on 2 September 2008 on Network Ten. The series was commissioned paritlally due to the shortage of series caused by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.^[1] It followed the lives of two teams employed with the prestigious Tactical Response Unit in Victoria, Australia.

The series first pilot was filmed in 2004 and had the working title of Rapid Response, additionally using an old Police Rescue script.^[2]

Cast

Regular Rodger Corser as Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake Callan Mulvey as Sergeant Brendan "Josh" Joshua Claire van der Boom as Senior Constable Grace Barry (until episode 11) Josef Ber as Sergeant Dominic "Dom" Wales Nicole da Silva as Constable Stella Dagostino Ashley Zukerman as Constable Michael Sandrelli Samuel Johnson as Intelligence Officer Leon Broznic Catherine McClements as Inspector Kerry Vincent

Recurring Todd MacDonald as Connor Barry Kate Jenkinson as Nina Wise Maia Thomas as Sandrine Wales Zen Ledden as Brian Marshall Adam Zwar as Marty Gero

Episodes

No.	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Australian viewers[3] (million)	Rank[3] (weekly)	Original air date
1	1	"Pilot"	Andrew Prowse	Christopher Lee	1,161	37	2 September 2008
After rescuing two children, Josh's rage spills onto their father, who may have attempted to kill them. The new inspector challenges Josh's position on the team.
2	2	"Series 1 Episode 2"	Geoff Bennett	Alice Bell	0,912	63	9 September 2008
Lawson and Grace try to talk-down a troubled teenager when she threatens suicide, trapped on a rooftop with her young boyfriend. She was later found to have killed her boyfriend's father. Grace's inexperience is quickly revealed when she tries to fix the situation, which ends in the young woman jumping to her death.
3	3	"Series 1 Episode 3"	Geoff Bennett	Justin Monjo	1,014	51	16 September 2008
The TRG is called out to a sports oval, where a heavily armed gunman shoots Stella, who is saved by her kevlar vest. When the gunman requests to meet with a senior officer, Lawson approaches him and finds he was actually a former weapons-master who intends on suicide-by-cop. The situation ends when, after trying to avoid shooting him, Lawson is forced to shoot and kill the man when he pulls a handgun on him.
4	4	"Series 1 Episode 4"	Erin White	John O'Brien & Christopher Lee	0,883	70	23 September 2008
A criminal in custody escapes from the prison van he is being transported in, and makes an audacious break for freedom. In doing so, he assaults Grace and takes a woman hostage. He then forces Josh to drive him around town before playing a little Russian Roulette. However, Josh is saved and the criminal is arrested.
5	5	"Series 1 Episode 5"	Erin White	Alice Bell	0,871	62	30 September 2008
When the TR team intercepts a known drug dealer, they discover that a robbery is about to take place, which then turns into a siege when the robbers take hostages. One of the criminals falls into a basement beneath the bar and later dies. Dom goes in to try to convince the robbers to stop, but the owner of the bar is shot by a spear gun. Eventually, one of the criminals gives up while the other is arrested.
6	6	"Series 1 Episode 6"	Andrew Prowse	Tim Alexander & Christopher Lee	0,833	70	7 October 2008
Josh, Grace and Michael investigate when an alarm is going off at a high-security laboratory. They find that an animal rights activists group calling themselves 'Freedom From Torture' has freed almost all of the research animals from their cages. Michael is bitten by a monkey who is later found to have herpes.
7	7	"Because I Got High"	Andrew Prowse	Shelley Birse	0,927	62	14 October 2008
Michael is found cleared of the herpes. The team arrives at a big suburban party and find a group of teenagers have stolen a gun from a security guard. Stella and Michael then go undercover to try and retrieve the stolen weapon. Michael then saves a high school boy from being severely beaten by kids from a rival high school.
8	8	"Get Lucky"	Geoff Bennet	Tony McNamara & Christopher Lee	0,969	50	21 October 2008
When a politician’s daughter and her school friend are kidnapped, the team is asked to run a covert operation to get the girls back safely. After it goes wrong, the team discovers the daughter and her friend set the ransom up, before they need to be saved from a lying con-artist.
9	9	"Series 1 Episode 9"	Geoff Bennett	Kylie Needham	0,941	50	28 October 2008
Lawson is a part of a high speed chase involving a group of carjackers, Kerry is pulled over for drunk driving, and Josh, Grace and Michael are involved in a fatal car accident.
10	10	"Series 1 Episode 10"	Emma Freeman	Alice Bell	0,886	55	4 November 2008
TR is called to a media centre, where a man has locked himself in a room and has planted a number of paint bombs throughout the building. Michael is hit, but not injured. Dom discovers where the bombs really are, and he and Grace are both hospitalised after the explosions.
11	11	"Series 1 Episode 11"	Emma Freeman	Justin Monjo	0,883	57	11 November 2008
Lawson and Stella deal with a suicidal ex-footballer, Michael and Josh chase burglars through a series of complex tunnels, and Kerry is kept busy at the hospital where Dom and Grace are recovering. Grace unfortunately dies abruptly, while Connor confronts Josh after Grace revealed to him she was cheating on him with Josh.
12	12	"Series 1 Episode 12"	Andrew Prowse	Christopher Lee	0,898	56	18 November 2008
After a nasty domestic dispute, the TR team are called to look for a man, who has hospitalized his wife after an argument. The team reveals he has a gun, as well as his son. Lawson has the job of calling him down from a rooftop.
13	13	"Series 1 Episode 13"	Andrew Prowse	Christoper Lee	0,846	61	25 November 2008
TR is given the responsibility of protecting an underworld figure, who is testifying in court. A decoy is used, with an actor playing the man, but it goes downhill after the actor is shot dead. Several more attempts were made, and Kerry comes up with a unique way of protecting the man. Josh takes the man by himself, but is later cornered by the people trying to kill the underworld figure. As they leave, TR shows up and the men are arrested. The episode ends with Michael kissing Stella as she sleeps, and Kerry and Lawson having a conversation about the report on TR that Kerry wrote.

DVD Releases

The entire first series Region 4 DVD was released on 30 July 2009.^[4]

References

1. Knox, David. Rush – First Review, TV Tonight, 28 August 2008.
2. Knox, David (23 August 2008). "Police Rescue DNA in Rush". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
3. "Rush Series one: Episode guide". Australian Television Archives. 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
4. http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/806348

External links

• Official website
• List of Rush episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Rush season 1 episodes at TV.com
• Rush at epguides.com