Wikipedia

Blue Water High

Blue Water High is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on ABC1 and on Austar/Foxtel Nickelodeon channel in Australia and on various channels in many other countries. Each season follows the lives of a young group of students at Solar Blue, a high-performance surf academy where several lucky 16-year-olds are selected for a 12-month-long surfing program at Bilgola Beach, Sydney.[1]

Blue Water High
Opening title card (season 1)
Written byShelly Birse
Charlie Richardson
Jennifer Mellet
Kristen Dunphy
Michael Miller
John Armstrong
Marissa Cooke
Noel Price
Chris Phillips
David Ogilvy
Directed byMarcus Cole
Ralph Strasser
Ian Watson
Chris Martin-Jones
StarringSeason 1
Sophie Luck (series 1 & 2)
Tahyna Tozzi
Kate Bell (series 1 & 3)
Mara Scherzinger
Khan Chittenden
Adam Saunders (Series 1 & 2)
Christopher Foy
Season 2
Gabrielle Scollay
Lesley Anne Mitchell
Taryn Marler
James Sorensen
Ryan Corr
Trent Dalzell
Martin Lynes
Liz Burch
Season 3
Cariba Heine
Kain O'Keeffe
Lachlan Buchanan
Eka Darville
Amy Beckwith
Rebecca Breeds
Craig Horner
Don Halbert (series 1–3)
Nell Mitchell
Theme music composerLiam Finn
Opening theme"Aiming for Your Head" by Betchadupa
Ending theme"Aiming for Your Head"
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes78 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersNoel Price
Claire Henderson (series 1 & 2)
Matt Bruce (series 1)
Tim Brooke-Hunt (series 3)
ProducersDennis Kiely
Noel Price
CinematographyRussell Bacon
Brendan Lavelle
EditorsSimon Martin
Patrick Stewart
Michael J. Hagan
Running time25-26 minutes
Production companySouthern Star Entertainment
Original release
NetworkABC1
Nickelodeon
Release11 May 2005 (2005-05-11) –
25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)

There are three seasons in Blue Water High. The first two seasons aired in 2005 and 2006 and the producers did not intend to create a third and final season. However, due to popular demand by fans, they relented and made one more season with only Kate Bell returning in a main role. Season 3 ended with the closure of Solar Blue because of a lack of funding, indicating that the show would most likely not continue.

Plot summary

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Season 1

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The first season consisted of twenty-six episodes. It starred Adam Saunders as Heath (the relaxed joker who struggles with school), Tahyna Tozzi as Perri (resident glamour queen from the Gold Coast), Sophie Luck as Fly (the youngest), Kate Bell as Bec (the local), Khan Chittenden as Edge (the aggressive and competitive teenager), Chris Foy as Matt (the generic 'smart guy') and Mara Scherzinger as Anna (a famous German kiteboarder). At the end of the year, two of them (one girl and one boy) get a wild card spot on the pro-circuit tour. The first season was released on DVD in 4 volumes, though fans are strongly urging for a complete re-release featuring the entire season in one package, as was later done with season 2. Sophie Luck won the 2005 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Young Actor for her role in the series. The winners for season 1 were Fly and Edge.

Season 2

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Filming of a second season began in early January 2006 in Sydney, with a revised cast, which included Sophie Luck (who was back as Fly), Adam Saunders as Heath (who leaves in episode six) and Trent Dalzell as Corey, Ryan Corr as Eric, Lesley Anne Mitchell as Brooke, Taryn Marler as Rachel, Gabrielle Scollay as Amy, and James Sorensen as Mike. It premiered on 28 June 2006. Sophie Luck, Adam Saunders, Kate Bell, Chris Foy, Tahyna Tozzi, Nadine Garner and Khan Chittenden have all reappeared in the second season in various episodes. The winners of season 2 were Brooke and Eric.

The complete second season was released on DVD in Australia on 1 October 2007.[1][permanent dead link‍]

Season 3

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The third and final season began filming in October 2007. Kate Bell returns as Bec for season 3 and is joined by Craig Horner as Garry. The new Solar Blue pupils are Guy (Kain O'Keeffe), Charley (Lachlan Buchanan), Adam (Eka Darville), Bridget (Cariba Heine), Loren (Amy Beckwith) and Cassie (Rebecca Breeds). Season 3 began screening on Rollercoaster on 3 April 2008.

The winners are Bridget and Adam, but Bridget decides to go to university instead of joining the Pro Circuit, so Loren gets the wild card after Cassie literally 'draws the short straw' (as they both have the same number of points in the final surf-off, so they decide who gets the wild card this way). In the last episode, Simmo makes a surprise return as one of the three judges in what is described as "one of the best finals Solar Blue has seen", saving the day as he pulls "not a rabbit out of a hat, but an elephant", ensuring that the winners of the final surf-off still get a wild card invitation.[2]

Cast

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Season one

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Series 1 cast of Blue Water High, from left to right: Back Row: Bec, Heath, Matt, Simmo, Deb, and Anna. Middle Row: Perri Front Row: Edge and Fly

Season two

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Series 2 cast of Blue Water High, from left to right: Back Row: Amy, Fly, Eric, and Corey Front Row: Rachael, Mike, and Brooke

Season three

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Series 3 cast of Blue Water High, from left to right: Back Row: Garry, and Bec Middle Row: Bridget, Cassie, and Loren Front Row: Guy, Adam, and Charley

List of episodes

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Series one (May–November 2005)

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No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleFeatured characterOriginal air date
11"The Contenders"HeathTBA
6 teenagers have been selected for the 1 year long training at Solar Blue academy, Rebecca "Bec" Sanderson, Dean "Edge" Edgely, Matthew "Matt" Leyland, Fiona "Fly" Watson, Perri Lawe and Heath Carroll. The seventh and last is supposed to go to a male contender, but at the last minute Solar Blue decides to pick their own candidate who happens a German girl named Anna Peterson. Bec is upset because her brother, Joe, was supposed to compete for the last spot.
22"Winners and Losers"Anna and BecTBA
Anna feels pressure as Bec continues to be upset at Solar Blue deciding to pick Anna. So much as that Anna decides to have in a surf competition with Joe to decide who get to stay at Solar Blue.
33"Trouble in Paradise"MattTBA
The group has their first day in school where they find themselves in representing the School's surf team. When They found out that their competition happens at same time as a contract party organized by Solar Blue, they have to decide where their priorities lie.
44"Fly Takes a Dive"FlyTBA
Fly is feeling homesick and inadequate, being the youngest in her family and the contesters.
55"Anna Loses Her Way"AnnaTBA
The teens discover where Simmo keeps the coaching files and that their weakness are written in them. They debate if they should there individual files to make their training easier.
66"Edge Wipes Out"EdgeTBA
Edge has been losing competitions and gets in a dangerous situation after overestimating his abilities.
77"Friends in Need"HeathTBA
Heath copies Matt's homework project after falling behind in school, causing them to both lose points in school and in the surf competition.
88"Brothers and Sisters"BecTBA
Bec is struggling with her relationship with Joe when he starts hanging out a group of people pestering the Solar Blue team.
99"Sharks in the Mind"MattTBA
Matt's father wants Matt to join him in the crayfishing businesses.
1010"Timing Is Everything"PerriTBA
Perri is low on money when she get offered a model contract.
1111"Out of Control"Matt and EdgeTBA
Matt and Edge's rivalry for the top of Academy scoreboard escalates when they accidentally put Bec's little brother, Ben, in danger.
1212"Dreams and Dramas"FlyTBA
Fly is nervous as she realizes she has feelings for Heath.
1313"Life on the Line"PerriTBA
Perri bonds with a surfer she saves from drowning
1414"Bad Boy Heath"HeathTBA
Heath falls for a girl, making Fly jealous.
1515"Joker's Wild"FlyTBA
1616"It's Hard to Be Normal"AnnaTBA
Anna decides to focus on having fun instead of constantly training.
1717"Perri Lies Low"PerriTBA
Perri faints due to her diabetes, which she has been hiding to not get disqualified
1818"Winning Isn't Everything"EdgeTBA
Edge races in an endurance test alone.
1919"Right Dance, Wrong Partner"MattTBA
2020"Big Wave Fears"BecTBA
2121"The Kiss"PerriTBA
2222"Behind the Scenes"HeathTBA
2323"Tough Choices"AnnaTBA
2424"The Band Plays On"BecTBA
2525"Suspicious Minds"HeathTBA
2626"And the Winner Is..."TBATBA

Series two (June–December 2006)

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Episodes of season 2 were not named but were numbered from 1 to 26.

No.
overall		No. in
season		Featured characterOriginal air date
271FlyTBA
282AmyTBA
293AmyTBA
304CoreyTBA
315EricTBA
326FlyTBA
337RachaelTBA
348EricTBA
359Rachael and CoreyTBA
3610BrookeTBA
3711Amy and EricTBA
3812BrookeTBA
3913EricTBA
4014AmyTBA
4115AmyTBA
4216AmyTBA
4317EdgeTBA
4418BrookeTBA
4519MikeTBA
4620RachelTBA
4721EricTBA
4822BrookeTBA
4923CoreyTBA
5024AmyTBA
5125FlyTBA
5226TBATBA

Series three (April–September 2008)

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Episodes of season 3 were also not named, but were numbered from 1 to 26.

No.
overall		No. in
season		Featured characterOriginal air date
531CassieTBA
This episode focused on the beginning of the year in Solar Blue for the new 6 intakes for the year, introducing them all: Bridget and Charley (known as "The King") both very seriously intense and engaged to learn and train; Guy, a laid back "surfing machine" that is clumsy the second he steps out of the water; Loren, an extremely friendly yet overly anxious girl with low self-confidence; and Cassie and Adam, two "wildcards" that Simmo had found on offshore beaches that he thought has potential. Despite Cassie's excitement to being in Solar Blue for the year, the day didn't start off well. Solar Blue gets bought by a large corporation, which is mostly represented by "Mr. Lee". Mr. Simmonnds, the renowned coach, decides to leave Solar Blue, and Bec gets offered a job as an administrator for running Solar Blue due to her experience. Cassie and Adam arrive early at Solar Blue to find it wrapped up at the same time; hence finding themselves at the police station for the night after failing to contact those in charge at Solar Blue. The following day, the other 4 arrive and the two do so too, and after careful thinking, Bec decides to take the job in running the academy.
542CharleyTBA
In this episode, Charley openly talks about his generally cold manner towards the others due to his determined strive to do well. In choosing an appropriate surfing coach for the students, Bec decides to leave it to be chosen via voting by the students themselves at Solar Blue, causing heat and rivalry. They meet the two shortlisted candidates - Dave Stretin and Garry Miller; both ex-pros of the Pro Circuit of 10 and 4 years respectively. After the interviews, they find that Dave has a more fun-filled approach, talking about fun stories of his time in the Circuit whereas Garry is brief and almost curt about his past, encouraging good discipline and a boundary-set relationship between the coach and the students. Adam, Cassie, Loren, Guy, and Bridget all vote for Dave, but Charley researches and despite backlash, decides on Garry. In the end, after explaining his reasoning behind his choice, they all go for Garry, and his attitude opens up, and he attempts to be more friendlier to the other intakes.
553LorenTBA
Despite the kickoff and thrill to be at Solar Blue, Loren begins to look around her at her competitors and is completely overwhelmed. Comparing herself with Bridget and Cassie, she finds herself out of place and realizes that she should drop out. After talking with Bec about it, she decides to wait until the competition that was coming the next day, but in her final heat, she rode a beautiful wave, wanting to finish off her time here and making the most of it. An inexperienced competitor, however, drops in on her wave, making her unable to perform at her level best, intent that she should leave Solar Blue. Just as she was about to give up, Bec gives her the score sheet of the judges' marks in the previous heats and she finds that she got a 9 before the final heat, higher than Bridget and Cassie both. This boosts her confidence and she decides to stay.
564AdamTBA
In order to make sure the 6 surfers have what it takes, Bec and Garry decide to push the surfers to the hardest, trying to find whether they wanted to be here. Adam gets frustrated after being 2 weeks in at Garry's attitude as it got built up. On a hot day of 35 degrees Celsius, Garry decides to put them all on tracks carrying heavy dead weight for 4 hours, splitting them up in teams of 2 but offering training points in return. Adam lashes out and refuses to partake in the activity, but when Garry puts Cassie's training points on the line, too, he decides to do it anyway. That following evening, he complains loudly to Bec and Garry, and they admit to pushing them to their hardest right before the term started as a test, so Adam understands and decides to stay at Solar Blue.
575BridgetTBA
Similar to Charley's episode (episode 2), this episode is where Bridget talks about her overcompetitiveness - not only in the water but from academic achievements to something as simple as dishwashing.

International broadcasts

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Country Channel Year
  Italy Nickelodeon (Italy), Italia 1 and Boing (Italy) 2006–2010
  Mexico Boomerang 2005–2008
  New Zealand TV2 2007–2012
  Australia ABC TV 2005–2010
Australia Network 2014–
  Sweden SVT1, Barnkanalen[3] 2007–2011
  Poland ZigZap, TVP1 and Filmy+ 2007–2010
  Germany KI.KA 2007–2010
  Ireland RTÉ Two 2007–2010
  Spain La 2, Neox and Clan TVE 2007–2010
  France Filles TV/June 2007–2010
France Ô 2012–2015
  Norway TV2 Zebra 2007–2011
  Portugal SIC and SIC K 2009–2019
  Netherlands RTL 8 2009–2013
  Brazil Boomerang Brazil and TV Brasil 2006–2014
  British Virgin Islands Falkland Islands Television Service 2009–2013
  South Africa Go 2009
Magic World 112 2010–2013
  Great Britain Boomerang and Pop Girl 2006–2012
  Belgium Ketnet 2010s
  Russia Teen TV 2011
  Romania Megamax 2010s

Africa

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In South Africa, Blue Water High was aired twice a week on Go on the local satellite system, DSTV. After DSTV added more MNET channels, Blue Water High started airing every weekday at 19:30 on Magic World 112 from 1 July 2010.

Europe

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In Germany, the series is called Blue Water High, die Surf-Akademie (which means "Blue Water High, the Surf Academy") and is broadcast on KI.KA (a children's channel). In Ireland Blue Water High was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of The Den and, in Spain, the show was broadcast on La 2, Clan TVE and Neox. In France, it was broadcast on Filles TV as Blue Water High: Surf Academy in 2007 and France Ô has started re-airing the series on 12 November 2012. In Norway the show aired on TV 2 Zebra. In Portugal, SIC also bought the first season, and it aired in the country from Monday to Friday at 5pm in Summer 2009; the show was named Mar Azul ("Blue Sea"). It also started again on SIC K in December of that year, where it has, since, been airing, on and off. The series also began airing on RTL 8 in the Netherlands from 2009 onwards. In the United Kingdom, it was broadcast on Boomerang and later on Pop Girl.

North America

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Blue Water High was broadcast online in USA through the former The WB Television Network, which was resurrected by the Warner Bros. television arm as a website in 2008.[4] Currently, the series is now streaming on Tubi.

Oceania

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In Australia, the country of its origin, Blue Water High aired once every week on ABC3. In New Zealand, Blue Water High currently airs every Saturday afternoon on TV2

South America

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In the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, the show is titled Blue Water High, Escuela del Surf, which translates as "Blue Water High, Surf Academy", and is broadcast on Boomerang Latin America. In Brazil, it is broadcast by Boomerang Brazil and TV Brasil under the title Galera do Surfe (The Surf Crowd). In Falkland Islands, Blue Water High was aired on Falkland Islands Television Service Tuesdays to Friday at 15:00 and Saturday at 11:30.

Home media

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DVD releases

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Season 3 was not originally released on DVD, but in October 2020 a complete collection boxset was released, which included all three seasons.

Title Format Ep # Discs Region 4 (Australia) Special Features Distributors
Blue Water High: Season 1 DVD 26 04 9 February 2007 None Roadshow
Blue Water High: Season 2 DVD 26 04 2007 None Roadshow
Blue Water High: Seasons 1-3 DVD 78 12 7 October 2020 N/A Via Vision Entertainment/Madman Entertainment

Online streaming

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All Seasons of Blue Water High are currently streaming for release on 7plus.

Title Format Ep # Release Date Distributors
Blue Water High: Season 01 Streaming 26 2019 7plus
Blue Water High: Season 02 Streaming 26 2019 7plus
Blue Water High: Season 03 Streaming 26 2019 7plus

References

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  1. ^ Molitorisz, Sacha (11 May 2005). "Roller coasters". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Gallery: Blue Water High". 10 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas (SMDB)". smdb.kb.se. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Warner Bros". thewb.com.
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