The second season of the Australian drama Sea Patrol premiered on the Nine Network on 31 March 2008 and aired on Monday nights at 8:30 PM. The thirteen-episode season ended on 23 June 2008.

The season introduced a new patrol boat, following the decommissioning of the original, boat in the final scenes of season one. The new HMAS Hammersley (hull number 82) was of the , reflecting the real-life changeover in the Australian fleet. The second season also featured the debut of a new main character, Able Seaman Rebecca "Bomber" Brown, as the boat's new cook.

Though advertised by the Nine Network as Sea Patrol II: The Coup, episodes themselves bore no title other than Sea Patrol, and the ISAN number indicated that the episodes were merely episodes 14–26 of Sea Patrol.

Continuing the format from the first season, episodes generally moved a season-long story arc along. As the Nine Network marketing indicated, this arc involved a coup on the Samaru Islands, a fictional island nation close to Australia. In many ways, the story was evocative of Operation ANODE, a peacekeeping mission to the Solomon Islands that has been called "the [operational] pinnacle for the Fremantle class" by the Australian Department of Defence.

Casting

Main cast Actor Character Rank Position Ian Stenlake Mike "CO" Flynn RAN Lieutenant-commander Commanding officer Lisa McCune Kate "XO" McGregor RAN Lieutenant Executive officer Saskia Burmeister Nikki "Nav" Caetano Lieutenant Navigator John Batchelor Andy "Charge" Thorpe Chief petty officer Chief engineer Matthew Holmes Chris "Swain" Blake Petty officer Coxswain/Chief medic Jeremy Lindsay Taylor Pete "Buffer" Tomaszewski Petty officer Boatswain Kristian Schmid Robert "RO" Dixon Leading seaman Radio operator David Lyons Josh "ET" Holiday Leading seaman Electronics technician Kirsty Lee Allan Rebecca "Bomber" Brown Able seaman Chef/assistant medic Jay Ryan Billy "Spider" Webb Seaman Boatswain's mate

Recurring cast Actor Character Steve Bisley Commander Steven 'Steve' Marshall Alan Dale Ray Walsman Ditch Davey SAS Captain Jim Roth Dajana Cahill Carly Walsman Geoff Morrell Lieutenant-Commander Jack Freeman

Main plot The season-long story arc revolved around a political conflict in the fictional Samaru Islands, which was ultimately shown to be located approximately due east of Cairns. Starting somewhere during a political campaign to elect the nation's president, the season ended literally on the day of the election. Throughout the season, the crew of Hammersley encountered an increasing number of clues that someone was using the waters off northeast Queensland to stage a paramilitary coup of the sitting Samaran government. Ultimately, it became clear that someone meant to stop the impending election from proceeding according to the will of voters. Over the course of the season, Australian businessman, Ray Walsman – an apparent victim of the anti-government forces in the premiere episode – emerged as the leader of the insurgency. His aim was to secure lucrative mining rights from the government which would have been formed had the coup succeeded.

In the season opener, the writers allowed one of the characters to directly reference the real-life events that inspired the story line. Following an initial rescue mission to the Samaru Islands in "The Dogs of War", Hammersleys captain tells his department heads that the Australian government has finalised a peacekeeping arrangement with the Samaran government, and that return visits are therefore likely. Charge says, "Great. That'd be the Solomons all over again."

Ongoing subplots All main characters had at least one subplot which appeared in more than one episode. Among them were: Nav and ET's increasing problems in keeping their romantic relationship a secret, Bomber's anger-management issues, Spider's relationship with Carly Walsman, the negative impact of a naval career on Swain's marriage, the differing ways in which Buffer and Charge dealt with near-death experiences, Kate's relationship with SAS officer Jim Roth, Mike's struggle to choose the best way to advance his career, and ROs continued social isolation from his shipmates.

Production

The season was filmed on the Royal Australian Navy's new . 42 days of the filming schedule were spent aboard , with pickup shooting later performed aboard . The remainder of the 86 days of filming were at studios, and on location at the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Reception Storylines controversies The series caused controversy among some officers of the Royal Australian Navy when they came to believe that "its raunchy storylines" were "making a mockery of the navy".Deery, Shannon; Markson, Sharri. No sex please, we're navy, Sunday Herald Sun, 1 June 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008. Controversy was caused when, in some episodes, there were hints of romance between RAN officers and seamen. These were said to make a mockery of the navy's strict non-fraterisation policy.

Some controversy was also caused with the storylines of the second season of Sea Patrol which feature a political coup in the fictional islands of Samaru.Ellis, Scott. Patrol plays politics, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008. While some critics embraced the new storylines of the show, some were worried that "It's a tricky business when TV dramas stray into real-world politics".

Critical response Reviews of the season were mixed. One reviewer said that the show had learned from its mistakes of "simplicity and stiffness" during its freshman season to deliver a season whose "most striking aspect" was its "naturalness".

Another reviewer recommended the season to his readers as an overall improvement on the first, especially praising the dramatic possibilities inherent in the bigger Armidale-class bridge and the "more contemporary, plot-driven" story arc. But he still highlighted areas of possible improvement. Making the point that the show's dependence on the Australian Navy sometimes made it difficult for the show to indulge in interesting usage of dramatic license, he said that "McElroy All Media appears to have taken a "steady as she goes" approach to change rather than taking hold of the wheel and firmly jumping the shark with a tougher, grittier tone."

Ratings Ratings for this season successfully reversed the trend of the first season. Whereas the first year had been plagued by a generally downward trend, season two was characterised by gradually improving ratings. Only the Brisbane region exhibited a strong fall-off of viewers in the season's final weeks. Although no episode of the season scored as highly as season one's first week, the final five weeks held steady at 1.5 million viewers nationally. The last two episodes of the season gained well over half a million more viewers over the last two installments of season one.

Episode numberProduction number Title Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth TOTAL WEEKLYRANK NIGHTLYRANK 142-01 The Dogs of War 407,000 327,000 227,000 144,000 142,000 1,247,000 21Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 14, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 May 2008. 7Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 14, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 152-02 Fortune Favours 321,000 379,000 218,000 158,000 146,000 1,222,000 26Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 15, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 May 2008. 12Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 15, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 162-03 Takedown 345,000 318,000 252,000 156,000 196,000 1,267,000 20Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 16, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 May 2008. 7Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 16, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 172-04 Heaven Born Captains 387,000 422,000 244,000 153,000 156,000 1,362,000 18Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 17, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 May 2008. 7Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 17, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 182-05 Giving Up The Dead 361,000 352,000 217,000 162,000 169,000 1,260,000 26Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 18, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 May 2008. 9Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 18, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 192-06 Birds 389,000 332,000 237,000 161,000 168,000 1,287,000 21Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 19, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 6Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 19, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 202-07 Hidden Agendas 396,000 405,000 270,000 166,000 157,000 1,394,000 10Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 20, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 5Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 20, TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2008. 212-08 Heart of Glass 418,000 361,000 252,000 153,000 196,000 1,380,000 12Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 21, TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 6Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 21, TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 222-09 Shadow Line 427,000 461,000 252,000 163,000 194,000 1,505,000 6Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 22, TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 June 2008. 4Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 22, TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 June 2008. 232–10 Rules of Engagement 411,000 413,000 304,000 170,000 174,000 1,471,000 10Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 23, TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 June 2008. 5Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 23, TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 June 2008. 242–11 A Brilliant Career 354,000 449,000 321,000 184,000 183,000 1,491,000 8Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 24, TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 June 2008. 4Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 24, TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 June 2008. 252–12 Friends Close, Enemies Closer 415,000 426,000 277,000 169,000 203,000 1,489,000 8Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 25, TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 June 2008. 3Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 25, TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 June 2008. 262–13 Soldiers of Fortune 430,000 467,000 239,000 159,000 191,000 1,486,000 8Knox, David. Network Rankings – Week 26, TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 June 2008. 4Knox, David. Television Ratings – Week 26, TV Tonight. Retrieved 24 June 2008.

Episodes

DVD release The second season of Sea Patrol – Sea Patrol II: The Coup – was released on Region 4 DVD on 6 November 2008.Sea Patrol – Season 2 (complete) DVD summary, ezydvd.com. Retrieved 16 August 2008.

See also

List of Sea Patrol episodes

References

General references