First Review: Blue Water High
What have they done to Blue Water High?
When this ABC series premiered in 2005 it was a humble alternative to ‘teeny’ soaps like Home and Away and Neighbours. Sure it never had the same budgets. Sure it was no Heartbreak High. But it confidently found a patch of the beach it could call its own.
With Nadine Garner, and newcomers like Adam Saunders and Khan Chittenden, it even got a little cred.
Two series on and unlike dramas that are supposed to improve with age, it feels like we’ve gone back to a pilot. It’s all the more disappointing when Australia prides itself on having a strong pedigree in children’s storytelling.
As with previous intakes at Solar Blue Academy, we have a new batch of surfie kids, keen to take to the water and wade their way through adolescent plots. This bunch don’t yet seem particularly strong in the acting department. Have they been cast for their surfing skills? Doubtful, there are plenty of stunt doubles listed in the credits.
As usual they all look cute enough (the camera certainly loves Eka Darville pictured back row 3rd from left) but that’s not enough to sustain a whole series. Hopefully they will flex a little more acting range than the first ep affords them.
As ‘Bec’, former student now turned Academy director, young Kate Bell doesn’t display enough contrast from the kids. This feels like a forced promotion just to keep a throughline from previous series. Bell’s acting is also too mechanical.
The real disappointment is the script and direction.
Unless there has been a conscious decision to pitch to a younger viewing age, too much of the first episode is sign-posting the bleedingly obvious. There are continuity errors (surfers emerge from the water dry then wet… in another moment a girl orders and is delivered a pizza in the same amount of time a boy puts down his back pack and pick it up again). One scene in which the new recruits silently eye each other off (presumably with competitive edge) could be mistaken for flirting.
It’s a real shame given the drama has such a fresh look about it. Rolling surf, clear blue skies, bright open backdrops -who wouldn’t to study here? Alas, this year, I’m just not convinced I’m going to learn very much.
Blue Water High premieres 5:30pm Thursday April 3 on ABC1.
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Shame. I was really looking forward to this. Oh well…
I wish they’d bring back Heartbreak High or something like it. I vaguely remember watching it when I was younger and really enjoying it.
Give it a go anyway, you’re allowed to disagree lol, and come back and say so! Be interested to see if others think it has dropped the standard…. I’m told it improves after Ep 1.
I don’t think the second episode was that much of an improvement. To be honest the whole thing now reminds me of those educational shows I was made to watch in primary school - but this time I am not learning anything.
Horrible. This season is horible. Horrible acting. Horrible camera. Horrible story. Now Horrible show. Why must everything i love beguin to suck.
WHO THE HELL WON SERIES 4