Blue Water High is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on ABC1 and on Austar/Foxtel Nickelodeon channel in Australia and on various channels in many other countries. Each season follows the lives of a young group of students at Solar Blue, a high-performance surf academy where several lucky 16-year-olds are selected for a 12-month-long surfing program at Bilgola Beach, Sydney.
There are three seasons in Blue Water High. The first two seasons aired in 2005 and 2006 and the producers did not intend to create a third and final season. However, due to popular demand by fans, they relented and made one more season with only Kate Bell returning in a main role. Season 3 ended with the closure of Solar Blue because of a lack of funding, indicating that the show would most likely not continue.
Plot summary Season 1 The first season consisted of twenty-six episodes. It starred Adam Saunders as Heath, Tahyna Tozzi as Perri, Sophie Luck as Fly, Kate Bell as Bec, Khan Chittenden as Edge, Chris Foy as Matt and Mara Scherzinger as Anna. At the end of the year, two of them (one girl and one boy) get a wild card spot on the pro-circuit tour. The winners for season 1 were Fly and Edge. The first season was released on DVD in 4 volumes. Sophie Luck won the 2005 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Young Actor for her role in the series.
Season 2 Filming of a second season began in early January 2006 in Sydney, with a revised cast, which included Sophie Luck (who was back as Fly), Adam Saunders as Heath (who leaves in episode six), Trent Dalzell as Corey, Ryan Corr as Eric, Lesley Anne Mitchell as Brooke, Taryn Marler as Rachel, Gabrielle Scollay as Amy, and James Sorensen as Mike. It premiered on 28 June 2006. Luck, Saunders, Kate Bell, Chris Foy, Tahyna Tozzi, Nadine Garner and Khan Chittenden all reappeared in the second season in various episodes. The winners of season 2 were Brooke and Eric.
The complete second season was released on DVD in Australia on 1 October 2007.
Season 3 The third and final season began filming in October 2007. Kate Bell returns as Bec for season 3 and is joined by Craig Horner as Garry. The new Solar Blue pupils are Guy (Kain O'Keeffe), Charley (Lachlan Buchanan), Adam (Eka Darville), Bridget (Cariba Heine), Loren (Amy Beckwith) and Cassie (Rebecca Breeds). Season 3 began screening on Rollercoaster on 3 April 2008.
The winners are Bridget and Adam, but Bridget decides to go to university instead of joining the Pro Circuit, so Loren gets the wild card after Cassie literally 'draws the short straw' (as they both have the same number of points in the final surf-off, so they decide who gets the wild card this way). In the last episode, Simmo makes a surprise return as one of the three judges in what is described as "one of the best finals Solar Blue has seen", saving the day as he pulls "not a rabbit out of a hat, but an elephant", ensuring that the winners of the final surf-off still get a wild card invitation.
Cast Season one
Kate Bell as Rebecca 'Bec' Sanderson Khan Chittenden as Dean 'Edge' Edgely Chris Foy – Matthew 'Matt' Leyland Sophie Luck as Fiona 'Fly' Watson Adam Saunders as Heath Carroll Mara Scherzinger – Anna Peterson Tahyna Tozzi as Perri Lawe Martin Lynes as Craig 'Simmo' Simmonds Nadine Garner as Deborah 'Deb' Callum Liz Burch as Jilly Matt Rudduck as Joe Sanderson Clae Whitelaw as Simon Heart Don Halbert as Mr. Savin
Season two
Ryan Corr as Eric Tanner Gabrielle Scollay as Amy Reed James Sorensen as Michael 'Mike' Kruze Lesley Anne Mitchell as Brooke Solomon Trent Dalzell as Corey Petrie Taryn Marler as Rachael Samuels Adam Saunders as Heath Carroll Sophie Luck as Fiona 'Fly' Watson Kate Bell as Rebecca 'Bec' Sanderson Martin Lynes as Craig 'Simmo' Simmonds Joe Ireland as Dave Jones Liz Burch as Jilly Natasha Sitkowski as Greta Don Halbert as Mr. Savin
Season three
Kain O'Keeffe as Guy Spender Lachlan Buchanan as Charley Prince Eka Darville as Adam Bridge Cariba Heine as Bridget Sanchez Amy Beckwith as Lauren 'Loren' Power Rebecca Breeds as Cassandra 'Cassie' Cometti Craig Horner as Garry Miller Kate Bell as Rebecca 'Bec' Sanderson Tom Fisher as James Cassidy Erol Cimen as Michael De Santa Don Halbert as Mr. Savin
List of episodes Season 1 (2005)
Season 2 (2006) Episodes of season 2 were not named but were numbered from 1 to 26.
Season 3 (2008) Episodes of season 3 were also not named, but were numbered from 1 to 26.
International broadcasts Country Channel Year Nickelodeon (Italy), Italia 1 and Boing (Italy) 2006–2010 Boomerang 2005–2008 TV2 2007–2012 ABC TV 2005–2010Australia Network 2014– SVT1, Barnkanalen 2007–2011 ZigZap, TVP1 and Filmy+ 2007–2010 KI.KA 2007–2010 RTÉ Two 2007–2010 La 2, Neox and Clan TVE 2007–2010 Filles TV/June 2007–2010 France Ô 2012–2015 TV2 Zebra 2007–2011 SIC and SIC K 2009–2019 RTL 8 2009–2013 Boomerang Brazil and TV Brasil 2006–2014 Falkland Islands Television Service 2009–2013 Go 2009 Magic World 112 2010–2013 Boomerang and Pop Girl 2006–2012 Ketnet 2010s Teen TV 2011 Megamax 2010s
Africa In South Africa, Blue Water High was aired twice a week on Go on the local satellite system, DSTV. After DSTV added more MNET channels, Blue Water High started airing every weekday at 19:30 on Magic World 112 from 1 July 2010.
Europe In Germany, the series is called Blue Water High, die Surf-Akademie (which means "Blue Water High, the Surf Academy") and is broadcast on KI.KA (a children's channel). In Ireland Blue Water High was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of The Den and, in Spain, the show was broadcast on La 2, Clan TVE and Neox. In France, it was broadcast on Filles TV as Blue Water High: Surf Academy in 2007 and France Ô has started re-airing the series on 12 November 2012. In Norway the show aired on TV 2 Zebra. In Portugal, SIC also bought the first season, and it aired in the country from Monday to Friday at 5pm in Summer 2009; the show was named Mar Azul ("Blue Sea"). It also started again on SIC K in December of that year, where it has, since, been airing, on and off. The series also began airing on RTL 8 in the Netherlands from 2009 onwards. In the United Kingdom, the show was originally broadcast on Toonami. Once the channel closed, it was moved over to Boomerang. It later aired on Pop Girl.
North America Blue Water High was broadcast online in USA through the former The WB Television Network, which was resurrected by the Warner Bros. television arm as a website in 2008. Currently, the series is now streaming on Tubi.
Oceania In Australia, the country of its origin, Blue Water High aired once every week on ABC3. In New Zealand, Blue Water High currently airs every Saturday afternoon on TV2
South America In the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, the show is titled Blue Water High, Escuela del Surf, which translates as "Blue Water High, Surf Academy", and is broadcast on Boomerang Latin America. In Brazil, it is broadcast by Boomerang Brazil and TV Brasil under the title Galera do Surfe (The Surf Crowd). In Falkland Islands, Blue Water High was aired on Falkland Islands Television Service Tuesdays to Friday at 15:00 and Saturday at 11:30.
Home media DVD releases Blue Water High has been released in its entirety on DVD. Originally distributed by Roadshow Entertainment, the first series was made available over four individual volumes in 2005 (omitting "Life on the Line" due to licensing rights), before a complete first series set was released in 2007, followed by a complete second series set in the same year. The third and final series remained unreleased, until 2020, when Via Vision and Madman Entertainment acquired the rights for home distribution of the series, releasing the complete series on DVD.
TitleRelease dateEp #Discs # Region 2 Region 4 Volume 1 23 September 2005 Volume 2 23 September 2005 Volume 3 11 November 2005 Volume 4 11 November 2005 The Complete First Series 9 September 2016 7 February 2007 The Complete Second Series 7 February 2007 Seasons 1–3 7 October 2020
Online streaming All Seasons of Blue Water High are currently streaming for release on 7plus. Title Format Ep # Release date Distributors Blue Water High: Season 01 Streaming 26 2019 7plus Blue Water High: Season 02 Streaming 26 2019 7plus Blue Water High: Season 03 Streaming 26 2019 7plus
References
External links Blue Water High at the Australian Television Information Archive
Blue Water High - "Winners and Losers" at Australian Screen Online