Murder Call was an Australian television series, created by Hal McElroy for the Southern Star Entertainment and seen on the Nine Network between 1997 and 2000. The idea to the series was born by the books of Tessa Vance by Jennifer Rowe: Suspect/Deadline and Something Wicked. Both books were integrated as episodes in the TV series. The series dealt with the cases confronted by an unconventional team of homicide detectives, Tessa Vance and Steve Hayden.
Murder Call (Season 3)
Dead Offerings (Episode 1)
Air date: 1999-04-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve investigate when a young blind man is found dead in a swimming pool.
Evil Chances (Episode 2)
Air date: 1999-04-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A sports teacher is found impaled at a boarding school and is found by Fisk's older sister. Tessa and Steve investigate, but Fisk is frustrated when his sister is interviewed, and he is excluded.
Tongue Tied (Episode 3)
Writer: Peter Gawler
Air date: 1999-05-05
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A mutilited body is found near a church, with identical markings to the victims of a serial killer 15 years ago- Thorne's first case. Experiencing a sense of deja-vu, Thorne heads the investigation. Has the killer returned, or is this a copycat crime?
Dying Day (Episode 4)
Air date: 1999-05-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Steve and Tessa investigate when a young woman is found hanging from a tree limb in a popular city park, and Tootsie's preliminary findings indicate it was not suicide.
Death in the Family (Episode 5)
Air date: 1999-05-19
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A vagrant is found dead at an inner city underpass surrounded by the corpses of poisoned sparrows. When Tootsie diagnoses death by strychnine, Tessa, Steve and Thorne fear that someone is out there trying to purge the streets of the homeless. But the investigation takes a twist after Fisk finds $10,000 hidden in the vagrant's mattress.
Death Down Market (Episode 6)
Air date: 1999-06-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When a woman is found murdered in a neighbourhood that is terrorised by a local gang, Steve and Tessa are called in to investigate.
A Blow to the Heart (Episode 7)
Air date: 1999-06-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve are called in to investigate a series of murders revolving around a prominent bio-chemistry lab.
Bad Business (Episode 8)
Air date: 1999-06-30
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve investigate what appears to be a routine case, but soon uncover a dangerous web of blackmail and righteous fanaticism.
Hide and Seek (Episode 9)
Air date: 1999-07-14
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Following the suspicious death of an elderly worker, Tessa and Steve must race against time to avert another tragedy growing from the ruins of the first.
Booming Business (Episode 10)
Writer: Peter Gawler
Air date: 1999-07-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve uncover a web of intrigue surrounding businessman Brian Hart's horrific death when he is killed as he commutes to work by train when a letter bomb concealed in a card explodes. Tessa and Steve are confronted by a bewildering array of suspects and motives to finally apprehend the person they believe to be the killer, only to realise at the last moment that they only have it half right.
Cut and Dried (Episode 11)
Air date: 1999-08-04
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve investigate a murder where nothing is as it seems.
A Stab in the Dark (Episode 12)
Writer: Peter Mackervey
Air date: 2000-08-14
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When horror novelist Sebastian Tombs is found lying dead with a knife in his back, Tessa and Steve must investigate the four people closest to him, each of whom has a strong motive for committing the murder.
Grave Matters (Episode 13)
Air date: 2000-08-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: As a crypt is opened for an interment, the funeral goers are shocked to discover the sarcophagus already occupied by the corpse of a young woman holding a rare orchid in her hand.
Paid in Full (Episode 14)
Air date: 2000-08-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A man's body is found floating in a spa, a large roll of cash stuffed into his mouth. Steve and Tessa discover that almost everyone who knew him had a reason to kill him.
Last Act (Episode 15)
Air date: 2000-09-04
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A busker suffers from hallucinations while performing mime outside a train station. When he collapses and dies, Tootsie's autopsy points to poisoning.
Scent of Evil (Episode 16)
Air date: 2000-09-11
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A woman is ripped to shreds by savage dogs on the grounds of an empty house. Steve and Tessa must determine whether her death was an accident, or if the dogs were trained to kill by someone with a grudge and a vicious streak.
Still Life (Episode 17)
Air date: 2000-09-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: At the opening night of his exhibition, artist Vincent Osborne's head is discovered inside his own death mask.
Absent Friends (Episode 18)
Air date: 2000-09-25
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: While attending a school reunion, Tessa is called to a homicide on the school grounds. The victim is one of her friends — stabbed in a reenactment of a Muckup Day prank, leaving Tessa as either a suspect, or another possible victim.
House of Spirits (Episode 19)
Air date: 2000-10-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tessa and Steve investigate when a psychic conducting a séance in a storm-swept house is shot dead by the ghost of the man he was trying to contact.
Done to Death (Episode 20)
Air date: 2000-10-09
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The cleaner at an up-market beauty parlour makes a gruesome find — the proprietor strung up in a tanning booth and roasted like a pig-on-a-spit. Tessa and Steve's investigation uncovers a wealth of secrets and resentments harboured from birth.

Seasons

Episodes 16

Episodes 20

Episodes 20