Rafferty's Rules (1987)
Rafferty's Rules was an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1990 on the Seven Network. Rafferty's Rules was one of the first programs undertaken by the Seven Network's then new in-house drama unit, going into production in May 1985 as "a 15-part courtroom drama". The program had started out as a pilot episode, recorded in early 1984 with the actor Chris Haywood in the lead role. When the pilot episode was remounted later in 1984, Chris Haywood wasn't available and the lead role was re-cast to John Wood. This second recording was eventually broadcast as the program's first episode.
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Episode 1 - Security
Release Date: 1990-02-09Michael sees the law from another perspective after he becomes the key witness in Flicker's prosecution against an arsonist.
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Episode 2 - That Old Black Magic
Release Date: 1990-02-16Michael begins to wonder if someone is trying to put a spell on him after a number of suspicious run-ins with a member of a religious commune.
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Episode 3 - The Plague
Release Date: 1990-02-23Lisa confronts the prejudices of society when she defends a man with AIDS who has committed an armed robbery in order to ensure his wife's future following his death.
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Episode 4 - In For a Penny
Release Date: 1990-03-02Michael is drawn into the world of a struggling young family after he witnesses a woman being hit by a car.
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Episode 5 - Out of Line
Release Date: 1990-03-09Lisa finds herself at odds with her colleagues when she defends an anti-nuclear activist whose family and the police are determined to have detained for his own safety.
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Episode 6 - One for Us
Release Date: 1990-03-16Rafferty decides to expose a Chilean military attaché following charges for torturing political dissidents in Chile.
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Episode 7 - Politburo
Release Date: 1990-03-23Flicker is horrified after he discovers just what conditions are faced by those in the police cells awaiting trial.
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Episode 8 - One Consideration With Another
Release Date: 1990-03-30Racial tensions erupt when two Asian men are accused of murder, while Michael questions his capacity as a magistrate after an act of leniency has dire consequences.
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Episode 9 - Home
Release Date: 1990-04-06Flicker and Lisa find themselves dealing with a particularly challenging court case when a girl alleges that she was raped by her father four years earlier.
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Episode 10 - The Book of Love
Release Date: 1990-04-13Lisa defends a singer who has beaten his wife, but her personal involvement in the case is made more difficult when he brings a gun into the courthouse.
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Episode 11 - On the Barricades
Release Date: 1990-04-20Michael revisits his past as a university radical and conscientious objector when he is forced to decide the fate of a man who he once protested alongside.
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Episode 12 - Funny Peculiar
Release Date: 1990-04-27Flicker confronts his own prejudices when he prosecutes a case involving the assault of a female impersonator; however, it is Michael who finds himself at the centre of a controversy after the verdict is given.
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Episode 13 - Whatever Gets You Through the Night
Release Date: 1990-05-04Lisa is drawn into an organisation known as Life Force after a man is arrested for break and enter and assault.
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Episode 14 - Whistling in the Dark
Release Date: 1990-05-11Flicker finds himself wandering into a murky world of corruption when he prosecutes a case against a police officer who has broken the law and where the key witness is a serial whistleblower.
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Episode 15 - Blood, Sweat and Paycheques
Release Date: 1990-05-18Fulvio and Sandra's marriage comes close to breaking point after Sandra is arrested for shoplifting.
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Episode 16 - Home Again Kathleen
Release Date: 1990-05-25Michael, Flicker and Lisa are dragged into a murky political world when they discover that the conflict between the British and the Irish is alive and well in Sydney.
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Episode 17 - Driven to It
Release Date: 1990-06-01An act of vandalism by the member of an animal rights group leaves Michael becoming emotionally involved with the accused's mother.
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Episode 18 - A Fair Day's Work
Release Date: 1990-06-08A man seeks Lisa's help when he is sacked after complaining about the work conditions; however, she soon finds herself defending him when he assaults his former boss.
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Episode 19 - Lies
Release Date: 1990-06-15Lisa is drawn to an attractive young lawyer; however, she is forced into an ethical dilemma when his personal life unravels.
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Episode 20 - Consciousness Raising
Release Date: 1990-06-22The feminist movement comes to the courthouse when a prominent feminist runs a group of pigs through the shop of a man accused of sexual harassment.
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Episode 21 - Free of Passion
Release Date: 1990-06-29Flicker finds himself at the crossroads of a major life decision after he falls in love with a young female Constable, but his excitement at finding new love may see him lose it all.
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Episode 22 - Many Happy Returns
Release Date: 1990-07-06A convicted criminal whose ex-wife is about to marry a police officer comes before the court accused of assault.
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Episode 23 - In Custody
Release Date: 1990-07-13Lisa assists a young woman whose boyfriend has been arrested; however, she is horrified when she learns that he has been detained without charge and suspects that the police are fitting him up because he is Aboriginal.
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Episode 24 - Lost Empires
Release Date: 1990-07-20Lisa fights to save an Indian couple who are facing deportation, only to discover that the collapse of the British Empire means that they have no real home to go back to.
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Episode 25 - The Sea, the Sea
Release Date: 1990-07-27Michael and Flicker befriend the beachcomber and poet, Snowy White; however, their admiration is crushed when it begins to appear that Snowy may be guilty of murder.
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Episode 26 - Up, Up and Away
Release Date: 1990-08-03Lisa is charmed by a client accused of appropriating money from elderly women; however, Michael and Flicker cause conflict when they question her judgement.
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Episode 27 - Punch Ups
Release Date: 1990-08-10A prominent radio host has been charged with brawling. Michael is faced with the consequences of his judgements when he sentences a man accused of assault, only to later learn that the man's employer has sacked him.
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Episode 28 - Best and Brightest
Release Date: 1990-08-17Michael is reunited with an old classmate in the lead-up to a school reunion; however, he is left wondering if they've come very far at all since the schoolyard.
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Episode 29 - Unaccompanied Bark
Release Date: 1990-08-24An elderly journalist is arrested for shoplifting.
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Episode 30 - Guilty
Release Date: 1990-08-31Michael is consumed by guilt after he hits a man with his car; however he starts to wonder if maybe there are deeper issues at play when he seeks guidance on how to deal with his feelings.