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"Water Rats" has been one of my small guilty viewing pleasures these past few years. It plays at 1500 hrs each weekday, a time I am rarely home. I don't tape it, prefering to accidentally stumble across it on the few occasions I might be home in the afternoon. Aside from the great characters and the magnificent Sydney harbour, what I most enjoy is the view, hopefully reflective of the lives of Australians, of the city, the lives of the people, and the similarity to what I imagine many Canadian lives are like. Well, without the amazing amount of crime they seem to have. This has been a very satisfying show to occasionally glimpse. Like many, the sudden passing of the Rachel Goldstein character a couple of years ago was a challenge to this soap opera patron's emotional equilibrium. As a final note, I would like to suggest that this show would do well in Canuck prime time.

When it first came out it was quite an intriguing concept - a police drama that centered on a special group of police, namely the Sydney Water Police, which added a breath of fresh air to most of the other police dramas out there. Unfortunately as time has worn on the novelty wore off and they began to go for more and more standard police stories. Here's where the problem lies. Whilst it's great to see the 'Rats' not entirely dependant on Sydney Harbour for their storylines the producers have come up with the ridiculous idea that they must regularly have a cutback to the harbour for at least 5 minutes of every second episode as if to try and validate the 'Water Rats' tag. I wouldn't have minded if it was a rare kind of thing but it's all too regular for no real reason.

If the producers are serious about keeping the series going for a few more years yet then please, either: a) Don't be afraid to stay on land if need be. b) Get another name for the series so you don't feel tied to the harbour all the time or c) Just stick to the water and be done with it.

Having 5 minute throwbacks to the water every second episode for no reason other than to remind the audience why the series is called 'Water Rats' is quite annoying.

I know that "Water Rats" was over a while ago now in Australia, but it's playing here at the moment and I'm completely hooked to it. It's entertaining, the stories are usually well written and keep the interest until the final credits, and the characters seem and act like real people not just some stereotypes you throw in to make an action-police show. My favorite is Rachel Goldstein. I like the personal stories of all the characters too.

I have to admit that another reason why I love this show so much is the beautiful sceneries of Sydney. I've heard that one of the aims was to attract more tourists to Sydney, and I wasn't surprised to hear that it worked.

I must say, I loved this show - it was very much an Australian show of its time. Everything from its stories that would always build up to end-of-season climaxes to the dodgy eighties-alike guitar music, let's not forget any 'love' scenes with Colin Friels where the turned blue... But if you have to admire some great stories and some excellent performances from Colin Friels, Catherine McClements and later on Steve Bisley in the leads roles of Frank Holloway, Rachel Goldstein and Jack Christie respectively. In Ireland it is currently being repeated and is bringing back a lot of good memories and I just hope it gets released on DVD other here soon.

• Leigh O'Gorman

Watching season 3 right now but the episodes don't match up with the episode blist. So I'm not sure if I am watching them in order. For example episode 4 is listed as "behind closed doors" but the episode comes up as "old dog old tricks"