“They are the heroes”

Producer Leonie Lowe well remembers  the day Struggle Street went to air on SBS in 2015.

Pulling 925,000 metro viewers it became the biggest documentary SBS had ever screened.

“I remember (SBS doco exec) John Godfrey rang and said ‘This is unbelievable.’ But there was also panic stations as well, because garbage trucks were surrounding SBS at that point!” she tells TV Tonight.

Publicity surrounding the controversial series, particularly driven by Daily Telegraph stories, had pushed it to #1 in Sydney. But garbage trucks from Sydney’s west protested outside SBS headquarters at Artarmon, calling on the broadcaster to pull the “poverty porn” show.

Newspaper stories even published property details of SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid and Lowe, claiming their own homes were nowhere near Struggle Street‘s Mount Druitt location.

Since 2015 Lowe’s Lune Media has produced titles including War of Waste, Shaun Micallef’s Brain Eisteddfod, Osher Günsberg: A Matter of Life and Death, Taboo, Bullied, and Fight for Planet A.

Tonight Nine premieres Lune Media’s latest series, Police Rescue Australia, a 6 part observational series given camera access to the NSW Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit.

“We were looking at branching out into more ob docs and we looked what was on air and what was missing and that came across as the police rescue unit. We also looked at the Police Mounties as well, but that’s a much smaller unit,” she explains.

“I’d pitched it around for a good 12 to 18 months. Nine were interested but they just didn’t have the budget and then all of a sudden I spoke to Hamish (Turner, Director 9Now and Programming) and he said, ‘Yep, let’s go with it.’

“(The show is) exactly how we pitched it. Working with Tina Diaz (Nine executive producer) and Adrian Swift (Nine Head of Content, Production and Development), it’s actually been a really fun production to work with Nine on. We’ve always been on the same page with the content.”

Narrated by actor, writer, director Brendan Cowell, the series marks the first time the NSW Police have agreed to a series with the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Units, negotiated over a 12 month period via the police media unit.

“Once they got to know us and saw what we did, they were happy for us to have full access. They did warn us some people just didn’t want to be on TV,” Lowe recalls.

“If they didn’t want to be on, they just went around us, but if they were, they were happy to wear GoPro cameras and it was all very harmonious. We were embedded as part of their team but they set the boundaries.”

There is some pixellation of faces of those who did not agree to participate, including members of the public.

“Sometimes, particularly in the mountains, some people were embarrassed and didn’t want to be involved, so we just blurred their faces. It’s actually about the Police Rescue Unit who do a fantastic job saving them, so for us the story still remains the same, whether we see their face or not.”

With its arresting Blue Mountains scenery, sieges, bomb disposals, and abseiling down the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the series benefits from the action and visuals, filmed by a nimble crew. Producers also have access to GoPro footage worn by Rescue Unit staff.

“The vision is spectacular. We had a really great two man crew up there – one shooter / producer and one second camera- and they got all the beautiful pictures,” says Lowe.

“Some of the stories in the later episodes are long hikes. There’s a couple where they actually go out early in the morning and don’t come back til dark. The Police Rescue Unit is absolutely amazing. They are the heroes.

“Only the New South Wales Police rescue unit wear white and that’s how you distinguish the Rescue Unit to everyone else. They often work with the New South Wales Ambulance Service and the fire department. Once they are called to the job, they’re the ones in charge.”

The series also showcases the work of the Tactical Bomb Unit including with obligatory explosions.

“They do get a lot of bombs from garages they have to dispose of. I think in episode two all the bombs they’ve collected, which are sealed, are taken out into a rural area, and they detonate them. So we do capture that,” she continues.

“There is one city bomb story, which has people getting evacuated from the office space. But overall, there’s not a huge amount of bombs we cover.”

Lowe says the biggest challenge for producers was in the crew getting to locations before the police.

“The boys just go in their trucks. We followed in a separate car, but obviously, we haven’t got the sirens.

“I don’t think we missed out on much because the Police Rescue guys have been so great to work. They captured a lot of the footage for us,” she reveals.

“Let’s face it. I don’t think there’ll be garbage trucks surrounding Police Rescue HQ. Like all productions, there are hurdles, but nothing insurmountable.

“I really want this to be part of the Lune library of quality content… just being able to showcase, the Police Rescue Unit and have that access is an absolute privilege.”

Police Rescue Australia 9pm Monday on Nine.