Division 4 is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes.

Synopsis

The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success of the earlier Crawford Productions crime show Homicide and dealt with the wide variety of cases dealt with by police in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Yarra Central (modelled on St Kilda). Initial publicity suggested that the 'emphasis throughout is on realism'. Division 4 put a greater emphasis on character motivation than Homicide. The first episode included a human interest story for Frank Banner, played by Gerard Kennedy, whose pregnant wife Joy (played by Kate McKittrick) dies in part due to harassment from criminals pursuing a vendetta against him. This situation was recalled in Episode 20, 'The Threat', and in other early episodes in which Banner is seen to be haunted and troubled. In episode 29, 'The Price', an old flame of Banner's, June Anderson (Margaret Dunbar) attempts to rekindle the relationship they had before he met and married Joy, with no success: his job is too demanding.

Awards

The series won 10 Logie Awards, including two Gold Logies (for Australia's most popular entertainer) for Gerard Kennedy, who played Frank Banner. It was also critically acclaimed, winning a number of Penguin and Awgie awards for its scripts and actors. In 1972 Frank Taylor received the Penguin Award for the Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. After Kennedy decided to leave Division 4, the Nine Network summarily cancelled the series; only one episode was made with his replacement John Stanton.

Theme song

The opening library music theme Power Drive composed by Johnny Pearson in 1967 was sampled by TISM in their 1998 single Thunderbirds Are Coming Out.

Regular cast

Home media

As of February 2017, twelve volumes of this series have been released on DVD through Crawfords/WinTV, representing the entire series run (with the exception of episode 102A "Conspiracy", which exists as a partial episode only and was not included).

References and notes