Matlock Police

Matlock's town matriarch, Grace Falconer, is brutally attacked and robbed. Suspects include a group of hippies who become involved in town affairs when a local girl's horse is shot, two yobbos on a hunting trip who are found trespassing, and a handyman recently sacked by Mrs. Falconer - who refuses to account for his movements on the night in question.

Local tough guy Brownie Merkle becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a man and the disappearance of another when he suddenly begins paying his debts, and Det. Sgt. Maddern finds his attention diverted from his marital problems.

The search for a trio of prison escapees, Carol Price, Judy Bennett and Bob Pollard, endangers many lives when searchers and escapees alike are caught in a bushfire.

At the end of the hop picking season, an Italian worker resorts to a Mediterranean custom of abducting a young local girl to force her parents' consent to a marriage.

Matlock police appear to be stumped while investigating the mysterious death of a woman; the strange relationship between a successful businessman and a schoolgirl; the rape of a 40-year-old spinster; a business power game; and an attempted blackmail.

James Ivan Murray is a name known to most police. When he suddenly turns up in Matlock to work as a strapper at a racing stable, Det. Sgt. Maddern is not terribly happy. Murray's major profession is that of a safe cracker, and Maddern is not satisfied with Murray's innocent attitude toward a robbery and bashing in Melbourne. When three youths attempt to blow open a bank with a land mine, the attempt goes wrong and one of them is trapped with an unexploded mine nearby. Murray is enlisted to defuse the mine.

When William Morgan escapes from a prison farm he heads for Matlock seeking the aid of a friend, but his friend's wife informs him that her husband has been jailed, and it is the fault of Det. Sgt. Maddern. She supplies him with a rifle and he flees to the ranges.

Patti Anderson and Ian Forbes are in love, but the boy is dominated by his wealthy father, a stud farmer who owns the property which Patti's father manages. Patti cannot understand Ian's attitude to marriage, for unknown to her, he believes his father would never condone a marriage with his employee's daughter. Then Patti disappears, and she is found brutally assaulted and close to death. The Matlock police organise a search for the culprit, but when all else fails an Aboriginal tracker, Jack Winter, is called in. Jack tracks the culprit down, but before he can reveal his identity, Jack has to make an agonising decision.

Cathie Prentice returns to Matlock with a 4-day-old illegitimate baby which was born in Melbourne to save the reputation of the family. Her intention was to try and marry the father, Ray Turner, but he has since become engaged to a wealthy grazier's daughter. Then a shy Brian Woods arrives in Matlock and seeks the help of the police in finding Cathie, as her departure from the hospital was most irregular. In her disturbed psychological state of mind, Cathie leaves the baby at a deserted farmhouse and goes in search of her former lover. The Matlock police launch a desperate search to try and save the life of the baby.

Gay Lincoln is a Matlock girl who has become a celebrity in the Melbourne entertainment world. She returns to Matlock for a charity concert but before it starts, she receives a death threat. The police are also kept busy with a blackmail attempt, a brutal wife basher, and his son who has robbed a service station.

A strike is caused by the sacking of a small time organiser at the local cannery. When the strike enters its fourth week, it brings crime and tragedy to Matlock.

Ron and Sandy Fuller move to Matlock from the city to escape the embarrassment of a forced marriage due to a pregnancy. When the arrival of Sandy's baby approaches, she wonders whether Ron will accept it, and at this crisis point they become involved with two men running from an armed hold-up when they almost collide with their getaway car.

Stewie Hall has been caretaker of the Old Pioneer’s Cemetery since the war. When the local council decides to evict old Stewie from the caretaker's hut so that a reserve can be constructed there, they seek the assistance of the Matlock police. Sgt. Kennedy faces danger when a mentally unstable Stewie arms himself with a rifle to keep the eviction party at bay.

An apparently routine assault and robbery investigation triggers a large-scale probe into Maddern's conduct, both private and professional, after Maddern is forced to investigate a friend, Bob Ryan.

A series of burglaries occur in Matlock, but when a woman's body is found the investigation is almost brought to a halt - until a connection is found between the crimes. A further connection is made when Clem Davidson alleges a new school teacher in Matlock molested his step-daughter.

A young protester throws paint over the Matlock war memorial, and tempers flare in the town with the approach of the Anzac Day march.

Because her husband is frequently away, Nora McKellar feels trapped on their isolated farm, and her irrational behaviour leads Det. Sgt. Maddern to believe that she may need help. She tries to kill her husband when he agrees to have her committed to a psychiatric hospital. To complicate matters for the police, a fugitive from New South Wales carries out an armed robbery in Matlock.

Investigations of a large scale hijacking operation from transport trucks leads to small time criminal 'Buttercup' Sands. At his home, shared with his de facto wife Edie, the police discover an autistic child, Monty, who is confined to his room by a leg rope. His mother tells police it is the only way she can control him. The child also has a crippled leg which the mother believes is due to the child's autism, but a chiropractor, Tony Carboni, is convinced there is a spinal complaint. Later, the boy runs away and inadvertently helps police stumble on a vital clue when they have to rescue him from an abandoned mine shaft.

The opening of the duck-shooting season brings trouble with stolen guns and out-of-hours drinking. The efforts of a self-styled protector of wildlife to thwart the activities of prospectors and duck shooters has disastrous results, and a young camper, Jenny Fisher, is held hostage by an escaping criminal.

It appears that a group of gypsies have bashed and robbed a local Matlock man, and one of them is sprung from the lock-up when his wife is having difficulty giving birth to a baby.

During the investigation of a series of baffling car thefts, the Matlock police encounter a moody high school student who is obsessed with guns.

A Matlock youth, who has become the boyfriend of a motor cycle gang leader's old flame, is tortured and beaten by two yobbos from the gang. Police investigations lead to a youth centre run by Rev. King. Church members are not happy with the progressive means King uses at his meetings, but he has gained the confidence of young people. King's information leads police to the chase and capture of two bike-riding offenders.

When police look into strange events on a farm they find a five year old mystery and a seemingly supernatural occurrence: the sighting of farmhand Freddie Olsen's ghost, who was killed by farmer Jenkins when he found out about Olsen's affair with his wife, Ester.

Doug Bennet's financial and marital problems take a back seat when he shoots a thief on the roof of a factory and is labelled a killer, and his brother seeks vengeance. Later a man is assaulted who wants to take Bennet's wife and son away.

A young policeman is shot in a mountain town. The Matlock police investigate and encounter bitter hostility steeped in history that leads to a violent death and a gruelling pursuit into snow-clad ranges.

Matlock police become involved with a domestic problem, racial trouble and personal tragedy when an itinerant Aboriginal worker returns to his wife Betty and son Marty after several years of chasing work; and a half-caste woman who, through ignorance, had mistreated her child and thereby provoked the bigots in the community to burn her house down.

A mysterious hermit, Herman, has lived in a shack outside Matlock for seven months. Suddenly, his past and present catch up with him, when he is terrorised by three local youths. When one is accidentally blinded, Chip Richardson burns down Herman's shack and later blames him for the accident. Herman takes off in a panic and the police mount an intensive search for him.

A skilfully planned raid on a security firm in Melbourne nets a haul of $170,000 for Dave Collier and his partner. He returns to his home town of Matlock to hide away in a vacant farmhouse. All seems to have worked out perfectly until a curious old farmer starts poking about.

When a wealthy farmer is killed in a hunting accident, his daughter seems a prime target for a con-man unless the Matlock police can prevent it.

Following a robbery at a motel, a young police constable is killed in a car accident, and the personal conflicts of several people in the town of Matlock are revealed.

Matlock police investigate a complaint of carnal knowledge involving an itinerant artist and a young girl, but the accused has his own way of extricating himself from the situation.

The Matlock saw-millers are a tough breed, but the builders of the new dam claim to be even tougher. A series of ugly incidents lead the two groups towards a violent showdown.

A broken down ex-heavyweight boxer, Dan Regan, is in Matlock on a sinister assignment. Unforeseen events cause Regan's past, present and future to meet head-on in the biggest battle of his career.

An important businessman, Eric Schneider, wants to set up a deal with a Matlock company. However, when he is arrested for assaulting a young girl, public feelings rise up against Det. Curtis who may have made a serious mistake. Schneider, with his lawyer Harrison, puts his money and his pressure in the right places to beat the charge.

When Johnny Marcelli returns from the Vietnam war on compassionate leave, he is told that his father has committed suicide. He refuses to believe it and sets out to solve the mystery.

The investigation of a series of wool thefts in the Matlock district uncovers the problems of one of the suspects, and provides some surprises for the police - especially Const. Hogan.

Ron Grey, an ex-Spitfire pilot, embarks on a dubious mission as a courier to gain some quick money, because he only has a few years of active life left - he is a chronic diabetic who daily keeps coma and semi-blindness at bay with insulin shots. While flying a light aircraft with his girlfriend Betty Holmes, the plane strikes trouble and they have to crash land in the Candowie Ranges. When the plane is found by a police search party, they discover that Grey and Holmes have both fled into the bush.

A feud among some Albanian immigrants in Matlock starts to get out of hand, and police are soon investigating an attempted murder.

Matlock police search for two dangerous snipers when a couple at a campsite are shot and injured without any apparent motive. The snipers hold a farmer's wife, Vicky Thompson, as a captive.

When salesman Frank Ross finds himself in serious financial difficulties, he takes an illegal way out and starts an unexpected chain of events that bring surprises to the Matlock police.

A prison escapee is loose in Matlock and the police follow his trail of violence and fear, which ends at the farm of a young widow who guards a secret.