‘There’s someone on the bridge!’: The new reality series taking viewers behind the scenes of the biggest rescues

September 13, 2026 — 5:30amOver a year that brought horror and tragedy to Sydney’s iconic shores, a television crew has been quietly capturing the unpredictable work of the water police. From busting drug traffickers, to searching for sunken weapons, shepherding swimmers away from sharks and releasing rehabilitated sea turtles – it’s all in a day’s work for the men and women of the NSW Police Marine Area Command.For the first time, this unit, known as “the MAC”, which patrols Sydney Harbour, its inland waters, and the entire NSW coastline up to 200 nautical miles out to sea, has allowed TV cameras on board, for Ten’s new series Sydney Harbour Cops.Sydney Harbour Cops follows the NSW Police Marine Area Command on patrol.In the absence of Bondi Rescue (the 19th season of which Waverley Council has confirmed is on hold due to ongoing negotiations with production company CJZ), Sydney Harbour Cops offers fascinating insight into what goes on beyond the breakers.“Initially, [being filmed] was a bit foreign,” says Senior Constable Brendan Nix, who has been with the MAC diving unit for 23 years of his 36-year policing career. “Towards the end, it was more comfortable. The producers would give you a bit of a heads-up about what they were going to ask, and if you said something silly, they’d do it again.”Nix doesn’t watch other police observationals, preferring Air Crash Investigation or the true-crime series presented by retired Victorian homicide detective Ron Iddles. And forget police dramas. “[Dramas] can’t give a true reflection of the tenacity. It could be years and years of investigation.”In Sydney Harbour Cops, Nix co-ordinates a hair-raising search in Lismore for a World War II grenade tossed into muddy water by a member of the public.“Obviously, as you touch a grenade, or a firearm or a sharp weapon, you’re very careful how you palpate, or feel it, and you secure it safely and surface with it,” he says. “The varied skills that the Marine Air Command deliver, whether it’s entering the water with the divers, or operating small and large vessels and navigating safely for hundreds of nautical miles out to sea to undertake rescues, that skill base doesn’t come overnight.”Senior Constable Matt Calbert, a former surf lifesaver, was just as reluctant to become a reality TV star. He appears in the first episode, whizzing up the Hawkesbury to the water-access-only suburb of Bar Point, to transport a 92-year-old woman to hospital.“I definitely don’t want to be famous … But I feel like a lot of people probably don’t know what we do,” he says. “I’m just excited for the community to get a glimpse into our day-to-day life. And if they can take away a rule or a safety practice that they didn’t previously know, that’d be great.”Sydney Harbour Cops producer Naomi Elkin-Jones on the job.Producer Naomi Elkin-Jones, who worked on UK police drama Blue Lights before moving to Sydney and making Ten’s Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, says the production was tightly controlled by the NSW Police media unit. A filming supervisor was on every shoot, and each final cut had to be approved. “They advise in the moment if a story is going to be OK for us to follow, and we have to go through a formal review process once every episode is made,” she says.Elkin-Jones found the experience eye-opening. “Before I worked on this series, the water police were just the police on the harbour. But hopefully this will make them visible.”She was struck by the composure of the officers during harrowing incidents, such as when a member of the public dangled from the bottom of the Harbour Bridge for more than an hour.“That was very confronting,” she says. “We were doing all our drone shots that beautiful, non-rainy day, and we were about to head back to base for lunch, and then the call came in: ‘There’s someone on the bridge!’ … It’s been an especially challenging year, and for [the MAC], to have us on board at the same time, that could add extra pressure. But they’ve managed it with a lot of grace.”Sydney Harbour Cops premieres at 7.30pm on Tuesday, September 15, on Ten.Want more TV? We’ve got you.Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.September streaming guide: All the exciting new shows to watch this month.Movie guide: More than 200 handpicked hits from all the major streamers.Binge: The streamer is banking on a black comedy starring Miranda Otto, as it unveils its 2027 line-up.SBS: More World Cup football and more Ray Martin: what’s coming to SBS in 2027.Watch: Emmy Rossum talks about her role in the hit thriller Furious.From our partners