SECOND SERIES: Craig McLachlan says he is thrilled to be returning as Doctor Lucien Blake in a second series of The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
PERIOD drama The Doctor Blake Mysteries is on track to return to Ballarat, after ABC TV commissioned a second series for development.
The show, which is set in Ballarat during the 1950s, has been rating strongly for the ABC, with an average five city audience of 1.2 million people.
Its peak was a national audience of 1.8 million for the first episode.
Head of drama at December Media George Adams is the creator of the series.
He said the location of The Doctor Blake Mysteries had been a big factor in its success.
"I think it's been a real enhancement to have it based on a real city. Not only locally, I think people around the country have loved the idea of it being based in a place like Ballarat," he said.
Scripts for season two are currently being written, said Mr Adams, with filming due to start in July. Season one of the show still has four episodes left to run.
The show's writers toured Ballarat before Christmas with an eye for bringing some more of the city's historical landmarks to the screen.
Mr Adams said he had found some interesting locations but "didn't want to give too much away".
"I wanted them to get a feel for the place, picking up those well-known landmarks around Ballarat. We had a long hard look at the Town Hall and its beautiful staircase, for example."
Star of the show Craig McLachlan thanked those who had tuned in to watch Doctor Lucien Blake solve crimes around Ballarat.
"I can't even begin to express how thrilled I am to be traveling back to late '50s Ballarat for another round of The Doctor Blake Mysteries," he said in a statement.
Mr Adams said he had been "blown away" by the reception given to The Doctor Blake Mysteries so far.
As well as solid TV ratings, the show has attracted 160,000 plays on ABC iview over four episodes.
"We all hoped it would do well, but it's safe to say we never expected it to do quite so well."
