Tom Croydon

Thomas Arthur "Tom" Croydon is a fictional character in the long-running Australian police drama Blue Heelers, portrayed by John Wood. A long-serving member of the police force, Tom has decades of experience of being a police officer in a small country town, and an attitude which earns him the respect, trust and even affection of his subordinates. As the most senior officer in the country town of Mount Thomas, he frequently acts as a mentor and father figure to the junior members of the station, but eventually a series of personal tragedies put him into a downward spiral which threatens both his personal and professional lives. He is one of two characters, along with Chris Riley, to appear in all thirteen seasons of the show, and is the only character to appear in all 510 episodes to air. Development and casting The character of Tom Croydon was created by Hal McElroy and Tony Morphett to be the senior officer at the Mount Thomas Police Station. His early characterisation is that of a tough, chauvinistic police officer who has lived most of life in the same country town and sees policing in the bush very differently from the way it is handled in the city. John Wood was drawn to the role by quality of the scripts he had been given, including an audition script where two young constables entered the sergeant's office and inform him that they'd just shot someone's dog. Wood, who was three years removed from starring in legal drama Rafferty's Rules, cited the scripts as the best he had read since leaving Rafferty's. In later years, a change in direction of the show resulted in Mount Thomas becoming a darker, grittier place. A number of personal tragedies, including the loss of a colleague and the murder of his second wife cause the character's whole outlook to change from affable country peace-maker into a revenge-driven lone wolf.