Dr Blake returns
Since starring in the ABC series The Dr Blake Mysteries, Craig McLachlan has attracted a whole new fan base.
"It's changed. These days there are not so many screaming fans singing Mona," he chuckles, referring to his early 90s hit.
"Now I get people coming up who love the mystery genre and want to chat about it."
The charismatic star relishes his role as the crime-solving, maverick country doctor Lucien Blake in the popular series, returning today for a third season, set in 1950s Ballarat.
"Season three is bigger and better than ever," he says on the phone from Sydney. "All of the episodes are fantastically textured; we have managed to squeeze just that bit more in.
"Apart from the team coming up with more intriguing, cracking good mysteries, the situation between Dr Blake and Jean Beazley (Blake's housekeeper, played by Nadine Garner) reaches a critical point where decisions have to be made."
Could this mean the romantic tension between the pair will finally be resolved?
"I can hear thousands of people out there saying 'about bloody time'," McLachlan laughs. "Me being an old smoocher from way back, I would have been smooching Mrs Beazley from day one. But that would have destroyed the wonderful tension between them.
"I have known Nadine for almost 30 years, since she was a Henderson Kid and I was the mulleted, overalled Henry from Neighbours. We adore each other, so to be at this point in our lives and careers playing opposite each other is a delight."
Whether Lucien and Jean finally get it together or not, it won't be the first time the actors have shared a screen kiss.
"We did an American project years ago, a really trashy thriller," McLachlan reveals. "I was a charming and diabolical character who managed to plant a big smooch on her before she twigged how rotten he was.
"You won't find it though because my agent purchased and destroyed every copy. We all have the odd stinker up our sleeves."
Dr Blake came at the right time for McLachlan, who has also won fans for playing Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. While grateful for the Henry-like surfer roles that came his way, he yearned for something different.
"I am a big fan of 50s cinema and TV, so leading up to the show I immersed myself in movies from the era," he says. "People spoke differently then. In this instant world everything is abbreviated but it was nothing like that in the 1950s.
"Often when we audition young people for guest roles we have to tell them to just slow it down.
"The attention to detail is phenomenal so when you go on the set you are instantly transported back."
He finds the vintage car the doctor drives, dubbed the Blake mobile, helps him get into character. "People love the car; it gets more fan mail than I do!"
McLachlan says now the series is also seen in Canada and Britain, Ballarat is being added to more tourist itineraries.
"This lovely couple told me when they first travelled to Australia 20 years ago they had to visit Ramsay Street and this time round they had to come to Ballarat to see where Lucien and Jean live.
"It's just nice to still be here and to have brought some people along for the whole ride from that golden Kylie-Jason era of Neighbours."
Speaking of the soap, McLachlan will appear on the 30th anniversary special airing next month.
"They came and filmed me reminiscing and telling a few funny stories. I have never shied away from talking about Henry because I had such a hoot playing him."
But there is one ongoing rumour he is keen to put to rest.
"Dr Blake has very short hair, neatly combed, and a whole movement has arisen suggesting Henry had a perm.
"I can tell you; the curls are all mine! There is straightening required every morning and if it rains on Dr Blake, a lot of hairspray comes out."
'All of the episodes are fantastically textured; we have managed to squeeze just that bit more in.'
