In this age of modern technology, you can reasonably expect to see most new television series become available on DVD soon after their free to air debut.  Which is why some months ago I didn’t worry after I continually forget to set my VCR to tape the SBS series East West 101. 

So it was with some anticipation I recently loaded the first disc of the series into my DVD player.  I remember seeing the promos and reading the accompanying press about this 'groundbreaking' police drama.  Plus it was debuting on SBS, so it had to good, right? Well, not quite. 

East West 101 focuses on two detectives working the streets of Sydney's western suburbs.  There's Zane Malik, played by Don Hany, the young, upcoming and also Muslim detective and Snr Detective Ray Crowley, played by William McInnes, the tough, old bastard copper who calls a spade a spade. The two clash, despite working towards the same objectives. Yet, dear viewer, are they really all that different?  Hmmm. Malik is the cop that wears his heart on his sleeve.  He’s yet to avenge the man who he witnessed 20 years earlier shoot and subsequently brain damage his father during a store robbery gone wrong. 

Malik, now a father himself, still feels responsible for his father's state, despite being a child at the time of the attack.  Crowley is from the old school of policing.  Not a bad bloke, just misunderstood – he’s somewhat bemused, working the police department in these more PC times.  Crowley also has his own demons to deal with, which are revealed as the series unravels.  

Too much of East West 101 seems to focus on showing that Malik, while being a Muslim and a detective, is well 'really just like everyone else'.  There's even a bedroom scene with Malik and his wife.   

Unfortunately the script never really delivers what should have been a much stronger show.   Most of the tension I felt was wondering how much longer each episode would run for. There are moments of great viewing, but these are literally just moments.  Was it terrible?  No, but it just wasn't great.  If the script had been fine tuned and the direction improved, then maybe this could have been better. 

I could see what the producers were trying to do, but for me it just never delivered.  Veteran Australian actors William McInnes and Susie Porter carry a largely unknown cast, with Hany doing his best along the way.