Blue Water High (2005 - 2008)
Children's series
78 episodes x 30 minutes
Series synopsis:
Each year, a small but diverse group of teenage surfing champions are selected to take part in an intensive 12-month residential school program at the elite Solar Blue Surf Academy at Blue Water in Sydney. The stakes are high – at the end of the year, only two of them will qualify to surf the pro circuit and win a three-year sponsorship contract. The girls and boys live, learn and train together and become best friends along the way, as well as fierce competitors. It is a fun, challenging and sometimes unexpected journey for each of them.
Curator’s Notes:
The first series of this highly successful Southern Star Entertainment children’s drama was produced in 2005 for the ABC, in association with German production company Norddeutscher Rundfunk (North German Broadcasting), a public radio and television broadcaster based in Hamburg. This partnership brought about the inclusion of a German cast member, Mara Scherzinger who plays Anna. Sophie Luck who plays Fly, the youngest member of the team, won the AFI Young Actor Award in 2005. Blue Water High also won the award for ‘Fave TV Show’ at the Australian 2006 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, and the ‘Most Outstanding Children’s Program’ Logie in 2006.
Other than Kate Bell (from Home and Away, 2008), the rest of the young team in series one were mostly unknown actors. They were supported by established actors Nadine Garner (from City Homicide, 2007, and Raw FM, 1997), Martin Lynes (from All Saints, 2008) and Liz Burch (from The Flying Doctors, 1991). Garner was returning to children’s television drama as an adult, after starring as a child as Tamara Henderson in the long-running television series The Henderson Kids (1987).
Series two and three are all-Australian productions from Southern Star Entertainment in association with the ABC. The transition of the successful first series into a second series was made easier with the retention of some of the key original young cast. Now moved into positions of responsibility in the surf academy, Fly (Sophie Luck) returns as the group leader to the new recruits, Heath (Adam Saunders) acts as a house supervisor and local girl Bec (Kate Bell) has also stayed around. Kate Bell returns again as Bec for series three, which began shooting in October 2007 and screened in 2008.
Each episode stands alone but the overarching story in each series builds to the final episode climax in a surf competition that determines which girl and boy will be selected as wildcard entrants for the international professional surfing circuit. The action unfolds to a spot-on soundtrack of independent Australian music.
Titles in this series
Blue Water High – Winners and Losers 2005
Six lucky Australian teenage surfers have fought hard to win a place in an intensive, 12-month residential surfing and schooling program at Solar Blue Surf Academy on Sydney’s northern beaches. The last minute inclusion of the unknown German kiteboarder Anna ...
