Ep 27. The Big Picture

The Big Picture is the 27th episode of the fifth season of Blue Heelers, a popular Australian police procedural drama series that ran from 1994 to 2006. The episode originally aired on 13th June 1998 and was directed by Fiona Banks. It featured an ensemble cast that included John Wood, Lisa McCune, Martin Sacks, and Damian Walshe-Howling, among others.

The show is set in the fictional town of Mount Thomas in Victoria, Australia and follows the daily lives and work of the local police officers. In this particular episode, the police force is investigating a series of burglaries that have been plaguing the town. The criminals have been targeting wealthy households and stealing expensive items such as jewelry, antiques, and electronic gadgets. Senior Constable Tom Croydon (John Wood) is assigned the task of leading the investigation.

Croydon is a veteran police officer who takes his job very seriously. He is a gruff and no-nonsense kind of guy who doesn't tolerate any nonsense from anyone. His team consists of young and enthusiastic officers who are eager to prove themselves in the field. These include Constables Wayne Patterson (Martin Sacks), Nick Schultz (William McInnes), and Dash McKinley (Tasma Walton).

As the investigation progresses, Croydon starts to suspect that there might be a bigger conspiracy at play. He discovers that the burglaries are being orchestrated by a group of organized criminals who have a sophisticated operational strategy. They are using high-tech gadgets to evade detection and are constantly changing their modus operandi to avoid getting caught.

Croydon realizes that he needs to up his game if he wants to catch the criminals. He devises a plan to deploy a massive police operation that would involve surveillance, raids, and traps to catch the criminals off-guard. He brings in officers from neighboring towns to assist in the operation and arranges for a media blitz to put pressure on the criminals.

However, things don't go according to plan, and the criminals manage to outsmart the police. They evade the traps, and some of them manage to escape the raids. Croydon is devastated and feels like he has let his team down. But, he doesn't give up; he decides to take a different approach. He realizes that he had been too focused on the operational details and that he had lost sight of the bigger picture.

Croydon decides to start thinking like the criminals. He starts to look at the burglaries from their point of view and identifies a pattern in their behavior. He discovers that the burglaries are not random and that there is a reason why they are targeting specific homes. He pieces together the clues and comes up with a theory of why the burglaries are occurring.

With this new information, Croydon and his team go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan. They decide to focus on the specific homes that the criminals have been targeting and set up a sting operation. Their plan works, and they manage to catch the criminals red-handed.

The Big Picture is a classic episode of Blue Heelers that showcases the intelligence and ingenuity of the police force. It highlights the importance of thinking outside the box and looking at situations from different angles. The episode is well-written and keeps the audience engaged throughout, with some surprising plot twists and turns. It is a testament to the quality of the show and the skill of its writers. Fans of police procedural dramas will definitely enjoy watching this episode.