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Star confident about City Homicide

City Homicide star Nadine Garner is confident Seven's new police drama can be a hit.

But she's also well aware it could flop when it premieres with a two-hour episode on Monday.

City Homicide has been given the full weight of Seven's promotional support, has a stellar cast and has already been given the thumbs up by critics.

But Garner isn't getting ahead of herself. It's the viewers who will decide its fate, she says.

"They keep saying that if it doesn't pull the sort of numbers they're after by the fifth episode they will start reconsidering things, so let's hope people connect with the characters," Garner said as she prepared to shoot a siege scene at a Melbourne warehouse.

She is referring to Seven Network executives, who like all commercial TV programmers now demand immediate results from new programs.

"It can be pretty intense, but if people get through the first night I think it's the sort of thing you can get hooked on," she said.

"If a show doesn't pull the right numbers it can disappear pretty quickly these days, that's the reality," she said.

In City Homicide, Garner plays Jennifer Mapplethorpe, the newest addition to a tight-knit yet competitive unit of homicide detectives, alongside Daniel Macpherson, Aaron Pederson and Damien Richardson.

They work cases in a "metropolitan city" which looks distinctly like Melbourne, where it is filmed, under the watchful eye of their superiors played by Shane Bourne and Noni Hazlehurst.

They form the basis of a rich tapestry of characters which are the main focus of City Homicide, a fact which distinguishes the show from the procedural forensics of American shows such as CSI and Numbers.

"I think the Americans fall for a bit of glamour," Garner said.

"With City Homicide the characters are flawed, not necessarily beautiful and viewers can relate to them."

The writers introduce their stars quickly during the show's opening hours as the detectives investigate a tricky murder which involves children being burned to death in their homes before their mothers also meet their maker.

"There are intricate journeys that you can take with characters like this," Garner said.

"If we get the green light for another season, there are so many stories to be told. I just hope it gets a chance," she said.

August 24, 2007
AAP