The Characters

Danny Wilder

Detective Sergeant, early thirties, driven, known by those who cross him as a hard bastard, he has wide-ranging experience as a cop and diverse qualifications – he’s got a commercial launch-master’s ticket and is a Navy-trained diver. He’s got good instincts and acts quickly and decisively  –  good attributes for a Roughies CO. But he can easily overstep the mark between being unorthodox and out of line. His humour is dry, particularly when he’s around Zack. Since the death of his wife, he’s neatly parcelled out his life between his work and his 11 year old daughter, Sophie.

Jane Durant

Senior Customs Officer. Late twenties.  Jane’s a charming live-wire with a tendency to over achieve – illustrated by her rank at Customs at such a young age, to go with her Masters in Criminal Pysch. She’s had time in Sydney on exchange and NDIB experience in Bangkok, returning with reasonable fluency in Thai and Mandarin. She’s her father’s daughter, an overgrown tom-boy at home on and under the sea, and seems unaware of her effect on men. Her life so far has seldom seen Jane go short of anything, boyfriends included. She’d be the last to admit that she’s looking for something, or someone to anchor her a bit, but if, as her widowed mother constantly tells her, she was half as good at self-analysis as she is at profiling, it’d be as clear as the aquiline nose on her beautiful face. Maybe this is that something: a new job, a new challenge, new colleagues…

Zack Wiki

Detective Constable. Strong sense of right and wrong, which he’s needed during protracted undercover work, which has put his marriage on a knife-edge. His wife, Donna, is desperate to feel settled enough to have kids, and Zack has sold the Roughies  to Donna as a means to a more stable and secure life. Zack’s bonds with Danny are deep -  they have watched each other’s backs so often it’s second nature and their almost telepathic communication is an inherent strength, but also a challenge to anyone who works with them.

Tom Bowden

Detective Constable. Like Zack, Danny and Jane, commercial dive certificated. Served two years with the Police Task Force in the Solomon Islands, an experience he’s still trying to get over. Like Danny and his mate Zack, Tom’s a tough and zealous cop, but unlike them, he’s struggling to keep a lid on things.

Ron Maddock

Superintendent. Ron has a lot invested in the Roughies. He can be avuncular and sometimes even paternal, but is basically pretty tough and uncompromising in trying to execute his vision of an inter-agency task force which can pull together the often disparate threads of Police and Customs and give the bad guys a much harder time than they’re currently getting. Ron knows there’s a war going on out there for this society’s soul, and that if they have any chance of winning it, they’ve got to try new methods. Ron’s Roughies are part of that. Ron is sure of his Roughies and their ability to do the job. He’s sure of his ability to point them in the right direction. What he’s not so certain of is his ability to fend off the political forces who don’t want the lines blurred between Police and Customs. Political forces which include his own superiors.

Noel Bullerton

Currently with MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry), Noel’s a uniform chaser from way back -  Cubs, Scouts, Sea Scouts, fire brigade, St John Ambulance, Ministry of Transport. Noel is the perennial joiner, but hasn’t risen high – yet. His heart is in the right place and due to his experience with Ag and Fish and more recently, Forestry, he’s not without skills. Noel’s imposed on Danny by Ron Maddock, as a sop to Jane, who wants less Police domination. Noel’s keen as mustard, and while he may never be the Alpha male he aspires to be, his bottomless enthusiasm has its pluses, particularly when there are shit jobs to be done…

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