TV Soap, Vol 3 No 10 (October 1997)
But soap star Peter Mochrie hopes to be the next Mulder!
Fame is not all it's cracked up to be, according to Peter Mochrie, the star of Nine's new drama, Murder Call. In fact, 10 years ago the veteran Aussie TV actor decided he needed a complete break from the industry which made him a household name.
"I'd been working since I left school, starting off in The Restless Years, then the movie Winter of Our Dreams with Bryan Brown, Neighbours and Sons and Daughters," Peter said.
"I got to be famous, but it's not everything you think it's going to be. You find out your priorities get misguided and you do things you wouldn't normally do."
"I decided I needed a new vision and left to go and study acting at NIDA. I'd had a taste of the star system and got sick of it. It was also the time when I was introduced to Buddhism, which changed my life."
Peter was out of the limelight for more than four years before he scored the role of crooked cop "Knocker" Harrison on Nine's police drama Water Rats, and it was that part which he credits with helping him get Detective Steve Hayden on Murder Call.
"Knocker was the first stage of my second career. I had changed a lot from the person I was when I started working on Water Rats. Hal McElroy, the producer of Water Rats and Murder Call, told me about the role of Steve."
"We discussed the role, I auditioned and got it."
As Detective Steve Hayden, Peter works with acclaimed stage actress Lucy Bell. She plays Tessa, his sidekick in homicide investigation.
"When I first read the script for the show I envisaged a sort of X-Files Mulder/Scully relationship between Steve and Tessa. As yet it hasn't happened because we've been concentrating on the procedural aspect of police work, but I hope in the future that sexual tension will develop between the characters."