What's so good about Water Rats? Well - the actors. The realism. The believable emotions involved. The fallible human face of the police. Years ago, when I watched a lot of television, I often noticed that most of the best TV series were Canadian or Australian. Better stories, better acting, everything just feels more real and more intelligent. Water Rats is a prime example of this. All the characters feel real. When the cops cut corners and reluctantly break the rules, you can understand it. You can sympathize. You can see it from their point of view. Once in a while the good guys have to play dirty, because all the bad guys do. And the performances of everybody involved in this show, from the actors to the directors to the production crew, are just superb.As a dyed-in-the-wool sci-fi freak, I'm actually not a big fan of realism. And certainly not of cop shows. Except when it's done really well! And Water Rats scores on this account. When Goldie died, I totally did not see it coming. Sure, I could see something ominous was building up, but I was sure it was the guy she was with that would buy the farm. How could they kill HER?! I was so upset I had to call up a friend (whom I knew to be watching it at the same time) and talk about it, despite it being close to midnight.I hear the show was produced as a kind of export product, to attract tourists to Australia. Well, lemme tell ya: It works! I haven't been there yet, but the show sure does give me the urge to go. I love the whole Aussie national atmosphere, not least of all the accent! I hope to be able to afford the complete DVD set of Water Rats someday. My life will be pretty much complete if I can slip an episode into the DVD player every night before I hit the sack. Oh yeah!9 out of 10. Only cop show I could ever even consider rating so highly.

When I first moved to Australia, I had very limited choices of what to watch on TV back in 1998 -- as a deaf viewer, I required captionings to be able to follow shows through. "Water Rats" and a few others had captions, so I was immediately hooked to "Water Rats" from the first episode I ever saw. I only saw a couple eps with Colin Friels and it was different once Steve Bisley came into the picture as the replacement, as Jack Christey, still he did a fantastic job. He and Catherine McClements made a wonderful team, both professionally and personally. I stopped watching "Water Rats" after the episode, "A Day At the Office" where Catherine's character, Rachel "Goldie" Goldstein was stabbed to death. :( The story lines and the basis of the show simply fell apart when Goldie departed. I did watch here and there, but it just didn't hold the same intensity as it did before Goldie went. The last ep was a bit laughable when Bisley's 'Christey' died in the ocean after being shot. Still, I reckon the show would've done better if the writers hadn't killed Goldie off and change the layout and story lines.RIP "Water Rats: - that show will always be a memorable part of my heart.

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.

Hooked since day one and hope that one of our national carriers completes the series. A great import that can hold its head high. This is a series that catches your attention and doesn't need a pile of special effects to keep your interests alive. The characters are believeable and admirable. Long live the "RATS".