be seen across a wide number of episodes. Throughout the series it is remarked by various characters that the town has been in trouble commercially, or will be in trouble in the future due to lack of employment. However, the sheer number of these actual businesses seen tends to imply that the town is thriving and in an excellent economic position. There are Coles, Safeway and IGA supermarkets; a Fosseys store and a Target Country. Mount Thomas has branches for the Commonwealth, ANZ and Bendigo banks, a BP, Mobil and at least two Caltex and two Shell service stations. There are Mazda, Ford and Holden auto dealerships, an ABC Shop, a Hog's Breath Cafe, Bakers Delight, Hungry Jack's, CSR Gyprock and Bridgestone Tyre Centre. An obvious oversight with the multiple filming locations also makes it apparent that Mount Thomas has no less than three Beaurepaires outlets. Several real-life real estate firms are seen, including LJ Hooker, The Professionals and Elders. Amcal Chemists have at least two branches. There is a Retravision store, a Cheesecake Shop, Blockbuster Video, Video Ezy, Thrifty-Link Hardware, Home Hardware, and Mount Thomas even appears to have its own homemaker centre, housing Mitre 10, Capt'n Snooze, Forty Winks, Supercheap Auto and Barbeques Galore, to name a few. Mount Thomas is close to a national park and is largely surrounded by open farmland. There is a river nearby, and also a lake, Lake Widgeree. Etymology In the third season it is revealed that the town was settled by a person called Colonel Thomas. The town is presumably named in his honour. Mount Thomas is sometimes jokingly referred to as the "Crime Capital of Australia" due to the constant stream of murders, thefts, kidnappings, explosions, shootings and assaults which happened on Blue Heelers on a weekly basis. The town was described by character, Roz Patterson (Ann Burbrook), as "the place where elephants go to die". Nearby locations St Davids Mount Thomas and the nearby small settlement of Widgeree are overseen by the St Davids police district, based in the larger town of St Davids (also fictional), which has a population of just over 68 000. Successive inspectors, Ted Faulkner and Russell Falcon-Price, are based there, as is Inspector Monica Draper of Ethical Standards Division (E.S.D.). The C.I.B. in St Davids is supervised by a Detective Sergeant who is also responsible for the detectives based at Mount Thomas, though this