It’s been 20 years since Sergeant Tom Croydon was last in Mount Thomas, but our love affair with Blue Heelers never stopped.
Now, John Wood is back in uniform much to the delight of his many fans.
“It’s sensational to be remembered as everybody’s favourite police sergeant,” John tells New Idea in an exclusive interview to announce his shock TV comeback at the age of 80.
“The day before I was offered the job I finally managed to get onto a pension!”
The actor is leading a cast that includes fellow Gold Logie winner and former Home and Away star Lynne McGranger, 73, comedian Denise Scott, 71, Play School host Jay Laga’aia, 63, and former Perfect Match host Greg Evans, 73.
Big screen stars Matt Day, 55, and Pia Miranda, 53, are the “babies” of this impressive line-up of talent, who have joined forces to star in a new series called The Second Act, which fans can watch on social media.
The stars play themselves in what is being billed as a “micro drama” funded by Aware Super to shine a light on the realities of life after retirement – and poke fun at their old characters.
“I’m prancing around in a police shirt with a water pistol,” grins John, who jumped at the chance to play a cop again, albeit for laughs.
He still has a legion of fans who tuned in during the 12 years he co-starred with the likes of Lisa McCune, Martin Sacks and Julie Nihill on Blue Heelers before it was axed in 2006.
“I was recently in the street in Woori Yallock [near where he has long lived in Victoria’s Yarra Valley] and all these young female coppers came up to me and had their photograph taken with me at the bakery,” he says.
“They posted it online and it made it into the local paper, and I’ve run into several people who saw it online and thought it was terrific. It was nice to be remembered.”
John, who won a Gold Logie in the final season of the police drama, says he still cherishes his time on the show, which made him one of the most famous actors in Australia – and helped boost police morale.
“A lot of young women became police officers because of Lisa McCune (aka Senior Constable Maggie Doyle). She inspired a lot of girls,” he says.
“She’s so serious about her work and so pleasant to be around. She was exactly the same age as my eldest daughter, and I adore her.”
John has starred in many theatre productions and also written episodes for shows like Prisoner and Cop Shop, but the two shows that garnered the most attention were Blue Heelers and legal drama, Rafferty’s Rules.
“It always surprises me how much of my life has been spent on television,” he says, adding that he is almost ready to retire.
The series was filmed at Casuarina in northern New South Wales earlier this year, and for John it was a reunion of sorts as he worked with Matt (briefly!) on Rafferty’s Rules and Denise in ABC comedy, It’s a Date.
“I’ve always loved doing a bit of comedy, and Rafferty’s Rules was notoriously funny,” he says, praising Greg as “wonderful fun” and calling Lynne “gorgeous” and Pia an “absolute treat”.
John enjoys his semi-retired life, spending time with his eldest daughter Meg, 55, and her two children, Thomas, 17, and Alice, 15, and youngest daughter Lexie, 50, and her son Obie, 13, a talented cricketer who is training with Indian Premier League team the Rajasthan Royals.
“They are wonderful kids. I love it,” the actor says.
