Heartland

Episode 1

Episode #1.1

Vincent Burunga (Ernie Dingo) leaves his home and his past in Western Australia and makes a fresh start in New South Wales as an Aboriginal Police Liaison Officer, working in the small coastal town of Brooklyn Waters. An outsider to the local Aboriginal people and the white justice system, he finds himself constantly walking on the edge, caught between two cultures - trying to understand each other. When Beth Ashton, (Cate Blanchett) a young radio producer fleeing a broken marriage, arrives to sort out her late grandfather's estate, she finds herself caught up in the same situation. Jock's house backs onto Binbilla, a former Aboriginal reserve where two families still live in a small peaceful community. She finds herself drawn more quickly and more deeply into their lives than she expected, after a brawl at the local Football League final. Her contacts with the Dyer and Carmichael families take her on a journey of self-discovery, as prejudice gives way to respect. She came to Brooklyn Waters for the peace and quiet, and a chance to sort out her life, away from the city; but she finds this disrupted by the competition for her attention between Vincent and Phil McCarthy (Steve Vidler) the young sergeant in charge at Brooklyn Waters. And totally shattered when she finds herself in the centre of tragedy when a young girl from Binbilla is brutally raped and killed, and her boyfriend, Ricky Dyer (Bradley Byquar) is charged with her murder. As the evidence builds, Ricky's grandfather, Alf (Bob Maza) is the only one who believes in his innocence, and he charges Vincent with the seemingly impossible task of freeing "his boy".