The Strip: articles


Aaron Jeffery

Aaron Jeffrey

Crime show The Strip is close to real Gold Coast policing: officer

IT'S not as gritty as the hit series Underbelly but Channel 9's new Gold Coast-based crime drama The Strip is "close enough", says one man who should know.

The Sunday Mail asked a long-serving Gold Coast police officer to cast his expert eye over the new show, which Nine says realistically portrays the Coast's crime landscape.

The officer, who asked to remain anonymous, reviewed the first episode, which will premiere on Thursday, about a window cleaner who is killed in a fall from a highrise after witnessing an extortion.

"They've done some research on the local criminals and Gold Coast identities ... the loan shark and surfing legend had something familiar about them," the officer said.

Dialogue between characters, office politics and dynamics of the show were close to real-life policing, he said.

"The male (police) lead is splitting with his wife and the female detective is someone who is cynical on life and love, a realist. Those personalities exist in the job," he said.

"There is the unrealistic side to the show, like everyone walking through crime scenes. That just doesn't happen in real life, but if it was like real life it wouldn't be interesting."

Shots of bikini-clad babes were not overdone and the sweeping, picturesque shots of the Gold Coast and its icons reminded him of the style used in American cop shows.

"It's not as gritty as Underbelly but that's because the crims get locked up by the end of the episode, and in Underbelly it took the whole series."

He said the fictitious Main Beach CIB, which keeps a watchful eye over The Strip, was "a little corny".

The detective senior sergeant has a big malibu surfboard and a picture of the Titans rugby league team. "The surfboard kept in the cop's office was a bit far-fetched ... it would be kept in the locker room," he said.

He likened the hour-long drama to a version of Nine's slick American CSI series with the focus on detectives rather than crime scene analysts. "I give it 3 1/2 stars (out of five)."

The Strip airs on Thursday at 8.30pm on Channel 9.

By Paula Doneman
August 31, 2008
The Sunday Mail