The Changing Face of Tammy

The Police Rescue star reflects on how her personal and professional life has evolved in the past few years.

 

While her Police Rescue character’s career sours, Tammy MacIntosh’s personal life could not be sweeter.

Professionally, she has just completed her first play – Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo – in Perth, with a Sydney season tipped for later this year.

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And as the latest series of Police Rescue currently screens on the ABC, she’s about to start filming further episodes in what she says will be the highly successful show’s final series.

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On screen Tammy’s character, Constable Kathy Orland, faces a crisis in the episode Damage Control (to screen on June 8). Kathy suffers emotional meltdown and considers quitting the squad, after a set of circumstances push her to the edge.

In this episode Kathy deals with a fatality, a grieving spouse who will not believe what she has to say, and with delivering a baby.   

“For Kathy, it’s a growth from being that childlike rescue cop, to learning the real value of things in life,” Tammy says. “This is one of those fantastic lessons in life where, from now on, pennies will keep dropping for Kathy. We all know that at certain ages things start to change – relationships, people, your ideas, your home, what you actually want for yourself. There’s the realisation you’re finally going to have to face reality – and that’s terrifying.”

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Tammy faced just such a personal test in Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo. The play, by acclaimed writer Tim Winton, tells the story of two teenagers on the threshold of growing up. Tammy plays 13-year-old Vicki, the first love for Lockie,

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“I’ve found the transition from television to the stage quite easy – and the instant gratification you get from the audience is a real buzz. There’s a strong possibility the play will open in Sydney in October, so I’m really looking forward to that.” By then, Tammy will be filming the fifth – and final – series of Police Rescue.

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“It will definitely be the end,” she says. “The writers have done a great job, but you can only have so many accidents and rescues before you start tripping over yourself and repeating them. The final episode will be a beauty though, won’t it!”

Tammy laughs when she compares the woman of today with the teenager who once lived, briefly, with JoBeth Taylor and her Perth family.

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That’s when the pair were singing and dancing on C’mon Kids, before Tammy went east to take roles in the Flying Doctors, Chances and Bingles.

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“I’ve calmed down a bit. In fact, I’ve calmed down a lot,” she says. “I’m aging, but I think it’s a beautiful process – I’ve even discovered two nicely defined lines under my eyes. I look in the mirror and think, ‘this is what I’ve learned’.”

Tammy regards being part of Police Rescue as invaluable experience.

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“Gary Sweet’s tuition has been remarkable,” she says. “Now, leaving his wing and doing the play. I really couldn’t be happier with my life at this point in time, I feel really free and strong and confident in whatever destiny is going to lay before me.”