The writer, actor and musician Patrick Marlborough, a regular contributor to Vice, Gawker and The Guardian, joins me from Perth in Western Australia for a show about the groundbreaking 1995 miniseries Blue Murder, starring Richard Roxburgh.

Blue Murder tells the true story of corruption in the New South Wales police department and the friendship between the hot-headed detective Roger Rogerson and the Sydney crime kingpin Neddy Smith, who was given the “green light” by Rogerson to commit crimes, including murder, with police protection. This bombshell series, produced by the public broadcaster ABC, was banned from the airwaves in New South Wales for 6 years.

We discuss this terrific miniseries, the inferior recent sequel Blue Murder: Killer Cop (2017), produced by the private channel Seven Network, and Patrick offers some insights into Toxic Masculinity, Aussie-style, and the landscape of media culture Down Under that these two miniseries represent.

Both Blue Murder and the sequel are currently available to stream on Prime Video in Canada, and can also be found on YouTube.

Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter

You can find Patrick Marlborough on Twitter and Patrickmarlborough.com

“Blue Murder: Nothing Has Exposed Australia’s Mean Streak Better Than This Sleazy Drama” by Patrick Marlborough, for The Guardian, July 26, 2022

Ad for the DVD release of Blue Murder (Michael Jenkins, 1995)

Ad for Blue Murder: Killer Cop (Michael Jenkins, 2017)