User Reviews

Frankly, I'm an American watching this show "second hand" via the internet, 72 minutes at a time. This means my frame of comparison is typical American cop dramas.

I really like this show.

Unlike most US cop dramas, City Homicide is an actual ensemble show without a true "top billed" personality and a more realistic focus on the case, investigation, and legwork instead of the type of action real cops would call a SWAT team in for. Also, the plots suffer little in the way of "creep" towards outrageous plots like half of the CSI: Miami plots.

Another credit for City Homicide is the fact the actors don't come across like clothes models reading scripts. While most of the cast are attractive, they're believably so.

As far as characterization goes, City Homicide paints the characters as human with flaws that have to be lived with or worked around and not-- like many American shows--show up once out of the blue and are resolved in a single two-episode arc.

This is also a refreshing change.

If you like police dramas, give it a try. If you're an American and you somehow can watch this show, definitely give it a try.

(And don't worry, you'll pick up on the accent pretty quickly...)

I am always quite skeptical about Australian made dramas (and comedies for that matter). In my opinion it has never really been our forte, the writing talent hasn't been there. Fly-on-the wall, variety and reality: sure we excel but not in scripted stuff. But the times are changing, well on some networks at least.

City Homicide is a beautifully executed piece of television. In every way. The writing is strong, snappy and fast paced and is peppered with subtle Aussie humour. The dialogue is excellent. The acting (lead by Noni Hazelhurst and Shane Bourne) is first-class. This can be a real rarity on Aussie TV. The cinematography, editing and music is superb. I have never been so impressed. The Seven Network has done us proud with this production. All Saints isn't bad either, though it is no CH.

Compare all this to the tripe the Nine Network dishes up (and subsequently sells overseas): Sea Patrol. SP is the WORST piece of television I have seen. They spent records amounts of money on it, and for what? Writing? Doesn't appear to be any. Good dialogue? Next. Good acting? Not when Lisa McCune is around. Cinematography? Editing? Music? Mmm the less said about the first two the better and as for the music, it sounds like Mrs Hahn's year 8 music class did it on a synth keyboard. But wait the show is filmed on a real Navy patrol boat. Well then it must be good.

I digress. CH is excellent in every way.

I've binged my way through many American, British, and a few Australian cop shows and this is one of the best. I'm about halfway through season 2.

If I could describe City Homicide with one word, the word would be "lean." The plots are interesting and the detective work is straightforward. Some of the police work is techie, but most of it is good, old-fashioned research, door-to-door canvassing, and just plain following up leads. And the show avoids injecting unnecessary tension into the process with false leads and red herrings. There's no fat in this show-- just good police work by a capable and compatible ensemble.

There are some character back stories, but they don't shove the crime story to the back burner (as happens in many programs).

When I started watching this show I was very sceptical of what I was going to fine. I haven't watched virtually any Australian shows in recent years, as almost all that are touted as drama are soaps instead (e.g. All Saints, Blue Heelers).

By the end of the first episode I was in love with this show. Having grown up hearing stories about the police force from people who know, this show seems to represent the realism that is sorely lacking in most other cop shows.

The acting is terrific, the humour is spot on and the gore level is just right. The cases are interesting and the way they are presented are sometimes destined to break your heart. This show sticks to drama instead of swaying into melodrama.

This is a must watch.

I have been a dedicated viewer of "City Homicide" for quite some time now. Each week I religiously turn on to Channel Seven and prepare to enjoy an episode. In the time that I have watched the show, I have come to recognise a gradual progression towards improvement in all areas of production. Recently however, two of the main characters from "City Homicide", Shane Bourne, (Daniel Wolfe) and Daniel MacPherson (Simon Joyner), have made a quiet exit beneath the radar so to speak. In their absence, the remainder of the cast have been left to look after the ship. The tight, enthralling episodes that were to be looked forward to each week have been replaced with weak characterless insipid plots featuring the very worst performances from the cast. However, with such tedious scripts being allocated to the actors, who could blame them for being a little lack-lustre? The episode that went to air this evening AEST, Wednesday 6th October, 2010, almost sent me to sleep in the first 10 minutes. I ended up turning it off. The previous episode, a week earlier, had the same effect. I ended up not seeing the conclusion. Please don't get me wrong; I look forward to watching this show each week. But, I'm telling you it "ain't making it" at the moment. And if I'm loosing "my" interest, I wonder how many others are as well? One other thing; the new detective that has been brought into the show, (can't recall his name at the moment), is obnoxious! The character he plays, or tries to, educated at Oxford, is just so unbelievable. This character is ruining what was becoming a top-notch crime series. Suggestion, recast him in an occasional appearance role as a gay CSI tech. Yes, it would work!

So, what to do? · Scriptwriters get your act together. Start producing some of the exhilarating material we know you are capable of. Fire up your imagination etc. · Get the original cast back and start interacting and acting! · What's the best source for scripting crime stories?

I'm a big fan of Homicide life on the street and loved Detroit 187 and other shows like them. If you like those too you will live this. The first show almost lost me. It had really dorky music but a good story line so I watched a few more and fell in love.

This is a very real gritty cop drama. They only delve into the characters personal lives as proprietary. Like with Simon's intricate story line that plays out in a most impressive fashion at the end of season three through the begging of season 4.

The few Aussie shows I have watched before sucked. I thought this was British at first. This could have even done fine on USA TV. I've found it addicting.

Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed this series to binge watch but felt it had many flaws. The plots were well-written and interesting, some of the acting was great, some dreadful, but the production values were very poor and the decision to shoot it in a "reality" show camera style left a lot to be desired although was a popular, innovative choice for that period. The signature use of a quick-cut montage of close-ups of pointless objects when cutting to a new location or story point deterred from the action rather than adding any drama or suspense to it. It was really ridiculous. Acting wise, Nadine Garner relies on three rather "weird" facial stares in lieu of actual acting which quickly becomes tedious. Noni Hazelhurt also relies on a repetitive combination of facial and verbal stammering techniques but combines them with just enough acting to render them less irritating. Aaron Pedersen is so wooden, he just seems to be reading his lines as fast as he can off the page.... absolutely no acting involved at all. Daniel McPherson, Damien Richardson, Shane Bourne and Terry Jarvis form the core that make the show really worth watching. The violence became Increasingly more graphic over the course of the two seasons I watched on Prime which was disappointing because I felt they had been successfully conveying the crimes without the need for that. But it was still kept to a minimum compared to other cop dramas although, perhaps quite graphic for the time period. Overall, it's an enjoyable show with intriguing plots, mostly likable characters and interesting guest stars and an air of realism. They catch the criminals with good "old-fashioned" police work and the show isn't bogged down by implausible stunts and car chases. The characters' backstories showed signs of developing at first but that seemed to come to an abrupt halt and only a rare reference to "Emma" with nods and smiles in "Matt's" direction reminded us that these detectives might actually have lives outside of the office. The show isn't really "dated" given as early as it was produced, but certainly suffers from aspects of it. It reminds me of "Boone"... definitely enjoyable but just falling short of the mark somehow.

Didn't expect to like it. Now I can't stop watching. Especially good plot lines and strong performances. Why haven't I ever heard of this show???

Hats off to the Aussies...!

Last September, Mount Gambier's WIN Television station had a bit of a shakeup: WIN had signed an affiliation agreement with Seven (which people are still whining about almost ten months later), and we'd been getting the new programming. I'd started enjoying most of the new programming.

Anyway, One night, I had come home from visiting my grandparents, and saw City Homicide (I think it was the third episode). It was a brilliant show! Shane Bourne is an excellent actor, and with another Australian acting great, Noni Hazelhurst, it was sure to be an excellent show.

It's a well written show, better than CSI or all those other ones.

Someone else compared this show to Sea Patrol: I agree fully with their remarks. Sea Patrol was a rubbish show (We'd had Channel Nine programming beforehand). The acting wasn't there, there was no plot, it was just "ugh!", to sum it up in a word. City Homicide, on the other hand, had me on the edge of my seat on every episode. The adds annoyed me badly, simply because they got in the way of a brilliant, well-written plot.

If you see this show, watch it. (Oh, and if anyone from Channel Seven is reading this, Release Season Two already! And make it much, much, longer! Please?)

Pretty unimpressive. There's no depth to it and just not engaging at all. It's sort of over dramatic and the acting is pushed too hard. Cheesy music too.

I like to watch shows from around the world. I found this show after watching Mystery Road, which stars Aaron Pederson. I really enjoyed that series, so I looked to find what else he had been in - hence I came to this show. Once I started watching it, I was quickly hooked. Only problem is the final 6 part series "No Greater Honour" does not appear to be available anywhere, which is frustrating. However, this is a great show, well written, with a great cast.

I started this on Amazon Prime and was not happy they only had two seasons. Luckily, my daughter gets Hulu free with her Spotify account. I'm watching season 3 now and absolutely love it. Why can't the United states figure out how to make a crime series so good? Keep it about the crime and the investigation and not all about the investigators love lives and personal issues maybe?

Australian television series can be hit or miss but this one is a few grades above the rest. Buoyed by superior scripts and crisp direction, each episode unravels without the drawn-out emotional drama of other such shows. Yes, there are soap opera moments but they are brief and tightly written.

The acting, especially from Shane Bourne, Nadine Garner, Noni Hazlehurst and Marshall Napier, is top notch although the three actors playing the main male detectives tend to guilty of overacting (and bad coiffures), losing some credibility from this otherwise excellent show. Aaron Pedersen is almost almost laughable in his role: he has one expression (rage) and one tone of voice (bellowing).

That the show retains its edge and intelligence throughout is remarkable but the real beauty of this series is the wicked wit that alleviates the tension at the precise moment where it is needed. A wonderfully disciplined show.

This will be the SECOND time that I've binged this show, the first time having been WELL over a year ago. I'm remembering just barely enough to think "Oh, right, I remember this little bit" but they STILL manage to turn me round with the quick bursts of laughter and the endings. "I didn't recall THAT person being the 'bad guy'!! WOW" Like that and all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SHOW FOR BINGEING on Hulu (where it can now be found)

I was 17 years late to this party, but it bore the years wonderfully. Both character and plot driven, this is a rare gem that will be just as enjoyable a decade from now.

Crime shows are among my favorites and this one is compelling watching start to finish, every episode. The core cast is strong, the crimes often creepy, the criminals eventually get their just desserts, even if it isn't in the courtroom. Most are stand alone episodes, and those that aren't always leave you with anticipation for what happens next.

In America, Law & Order SVU has been hanging on for two+ decades, and how I wish this Aussie drama were still giving us new episodes! I'm not going to say why I gave eight stars rather than ten, not wanting to influence others with my spoilers.

No one needs to watch this program out of desperation, because it's great entertainment, deserving more reviews than it has. Try not to miss this rare diamond.

City Homicide is the worst programme being made in Australia today.

The plots are unoriginal, the scripts are awful and the acting is poor. Shane Bourne is at best a C-grade actor, yet he manages to eclipse the rest of the cast who seem to be just showing up to collect their paychecks. None of them come close to being believable, and I sincerely hope this programme continues for a long time just to keep the cast from polluting anything else. The pathetic attempts at humour miss the mark entirely, and the show takes itself so seriously that you cannot help but cringe.

City Homicide is even worse than Sea Patrol, a frankly astounding achievement.

Awful, Just Awful. Avoid at all costs.

I just finished watching the last show of the series. I waited to write a review until I saw the entire run. Yes, this isn't the strongest Australian show out there, but overall it was a very good show. The entire cast was used equally with no one major "star" coming to the front. For me that is a plus. everyone had an equal part to play. One complaint, when the show ended it left everything up in the air. It could have run at least another season or two. All in all a very good show , well worth your time.

Just finished 2 seasons on Prime and want to see more! Any ideas where it can be seen?

I liked this show from the first episode and it kept getting better. The characters are likable and the acting is good. There's a large cast and the focus is spread around so there isn't one main prima donna character; everyone pretty much shares the spotlight. There were a few shows that weren't as great as others but overall the stories were interesting and well done. My only complaint was season 5; it was only 6 episodes but focused almost exclusively on the "Dane Majors" case. After the first couple of shows it just got tiresome. They kept adding more and more to the story and kept dragging it on, and on, and on, and after a while it was more annoying than interesting and I started to lose track of what had happened, who the hundreds of people involved were, and I honestly just didn't care anymore. Except for season 5 I would have given this a 10/10 rating.

Australia does it again with this fantastic show. I am so glad I clicked on it because it is now in my top 10 crime/police procedurals. It is great to see so many Aussie and Kiwi guest stars early in their careers. One episode had The lead actor of the Dr Blake Mysteries as a guest, and he was in lots of scenes with the detective who eventually played his wife in the show.

This is as good as the best of the cop dramas. Very gripping mysteries each episode, plus the character developments are second to none; Dt Simon Joyner is palpable and hard not to feel in your bones the pain. Kudos to the entire team on this show- directors, casting, writing, acting,...etc.

I loved it until Allie and Nick appeared. it seems they became the main focus of the series. I never cared for either one and in my opinion they were the reason for the dip in viewer approval and ratings. I started watching because I loved the original team of 4. Matt, Simon, Jennifer and Duncan.

In this show the police actually do investigations the way police actually do investigations. Great characters, very realistic scenarios. I enjoyed this show very much.