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Would Bondi Rescue ever consider a drama series?

Hero characters, high drama, a stunning city beach backdrop -would this long-running factual work as a scripted series?

With the US considering a reboot of Baywatch (apparently), has there ever been thoughts to turning Bondi Rescue into a drama series?

“We have,” CJZ producer Nick Murray told TV Tonight.

“The actual show is already so dramatic in the way we film. It is a study of character of the lifeguards…I mean, you could do a version of it but you’d be having to shoot it on Bondi Beach and I can tell you, there’s not a lot of room on Bondi Beach to be doing the real thing and drama at the same time.

“The beach is remarkably small. It’s 800 meters long, which is why it’s so good for us because you can cover the whole beach with two or three crews.”

Bondi Rescue is a remarkable export success story, playing in the US on Netflix, in Europe on Nat Geo, and across 100+ countries worldwide.

In its 17th season, Murray paid tribute to its production team.

Bondi is the longest running show on Channel 10 now. It is an amazing legacy, working with a third party, (lifesaver / creator) Ben Davies has been great. (CJZ producer) Michael Cordell is still hands on. (Producer) Rick McPhee has been involved since the very early days on that show. We’ve had a great long running partnership with Waverly Council too.”

He added, “Access doc is much more difficult than it looks. It’s not just turning up and pointing a camera at something.”

Bondi Rescue screens 7:30pm Fridays on 10.

3 Responses

  1. Oz ‘Chopper Squad’ 1978-supposedly part of the inspiration for ‘Baywatch’. Thing is, rather like BR, setting something in a very limited geographical area with a lot of repeating situations is going to get dull very quickly for a drama.

  2. It seems like a ‘no-brainer’ that a drama would be an idea .

    It’s hard to see how it could evolve and not avoid the usual cliché stuff (think ‘Bayywatch’ , etc ).

    Given good writing and casting though, it could compete .

    1. It is certainly a concept that is worth trying. It could help revitalize the show, which has been seeing lower ratings since it moved to Fridays earlier this year.

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