Emma Santa is one of The Doctor Blake Mysteries’ most committed fans.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And to prove it the market analyst and mother of two has travelled almost 13,000km from her home in Grass Valley, California, on a pilgrimage to visit Doctor Blake locations in Ballarat.
In a stroke of luck, her visit has coincided with several Doctor Blake Mysteries events and the start of filming of the final telemovie.
“When I first saw the show I started getting intrigued by the little historical pieces that came out and it was really interesting for me learning about Australia. We don’t know a lot about Australian history in any way,” she said.
Determined to visit Ballarat to see the Doctor Blake sites, Ms Santa timed her trip to be able to see Nadine Garner, who plays Dr Blake’s housekeeper Jean, and Belinda McClory, who plays Dr Alice Harvey in the series, in the Melbourne Theatre Company production Di and Viv and Rose which she will see in Melbourne on Monday.
It is also the closing weeks of The Doctor Blake Mysteries exhibition Dr Blake’s Ballarat, and on Saturday she’ll take part in the Gold Museum’s Doctor Blake’s Murder Mystery Night where attendees are given clues and must work together to solve a murder case.
Several tours around Ballarat to learn its history and visit the Doctor Blake locations are also on her itinerary.
In a happy twist, a catch-up of Blake’s Army members lobbying to secure the future of the show also fell during her visit and she met local and interstate fans at Pipers yesterday.
The ABC announced earlier this year that, despite drawing more than a million viewers per episode and being shown in 130 countries, the show would end with season five, which will air from September 17, followed by a final telemovie which is currently being filmed.
The fans’ coffee date was brightened with a glimmer of hope from series creator George Adams who told an online entertainment site that the current telemovie would not be the end for Blake and the mystery of the show’s future would soon be solved.
The Doctor Blake Mysteries is set in the late 1950s when Craig McLachlan’s character Dr Lucien Blake returns to Ballarat to take over his late father’s medical practice and role as police surgeon after a 30-year absence.
Ms Santa said the similarities between her home town of Grass Valley and Ballarat made her feel closer to The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
“Growing up learning all of our goldrush history, it’s a nice bonus that Ballarat shares that.
“My parents were the ones that introduced me to the show and now my children watch with me,” Ms Santa said.