Lucien Blake

"'Are you a copper, or a doctor?' ""- This time and this place (S03e03)"

Lucien Radcliffe Blake is a general practitioner and police surgeon in Ballarat, and the main protagonist of the series. He is portrayed by Australian actor Craig Mclachlan and has appeared in every episode.

Early life
Lucien Blake was born around 1909 to French artist Genevieve Etienne and general practitioner and police surgeon Thomas Blake. His year of birth can only be speculated, as he was ten years old when his mother died in 1919. He had developed a strong attachment to her as she was gentle and understanding, while his father proved oppressive and demanding, urging his son to master the piano from an early age.

At Genevieve's passing, Thomas immediately sent him to a boarding school, for which Lucien never forgave him. In his twenties, the young man left for Scotland where he studied general medicine as well as surgery (as evidenced by his qualifications on the wall of his examination room).

Military service and marriage
He obtained a position in a London hospital and, when the war broke out, enrolled as a military officer in the British army and was deployed to China. There, he met Mei Lin, whom he married and conceived a daughter with in Singapore. However, at the fall of Singapore in 1942, they were separated and he lost their track until many years later.

He then moved to Thailand, where he (along with his friend Derek Alderton) was imprisoned in a Ban Pong POW camp. His incarceration was so harsh and brutal that Alderton broke and surrendered to his fate. Only Lucien kept him alive and sane through the ordeal, as he himself hadn't surrendered to the torture.

During his stay at the camp, Lucien was once imprisoned in a very cramped space for forty days for trying to steal a can of pineapples, after which he developed a perpetual claustrophobia.

For an undetermined number of years after the war, he was involved in secret service work for the Australian government, which led to him assassinating two men..

Return to Ballarat
In 1959, Lucien Blake returned to his hometown of Ballarat, taking on the position and surgery of his late father.

His first interaction with the community as far as we are shown was to hang a nude painting above the bar of the Colonists club, immediately sparking Patrick Tyneman's resentment because of his defiant attitude and the picture being considered offensive. Thus, their feud was introduced, even though it clearly dates back to some time earlier (even their respective fathers had some unfortunate dealings).

Appearance
The doctor keeps his hair short, parted on the left and neatly combed to the side. He also sports a short boxed beard, also neatly groomed.

The trademark outfit of Lucien Blake comprises a woolen three-piece suit in navy blue, brown or medium gray paired with a white cotton shirt with barrel cuffs and one of many neckties. The jacket has notch lapels and three buttons, which are usually left undone over the waistcoat, which has all of it five buttons fastened. When he engages in his nightly drinking, the tie is loosened or disposed of and the sleeves are rolled up.

The suit is worn with a pair of chocolate brown wingtip brogues or, later in the series, plain black cap-toe derbies. To complete the look, Lucien dons a medium grey felt trilby and a fawn-colored trench coat, single breasted with four brown buttons.

From 1 May to 9 June of 2014, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka in Ballarat hosted The Doctor Blake Mysteries costume exhibition and according to the labels, the shoes were manufactured by venerable English shoemaker Loake, the trilby by Australian hatters Akubra, the necktie by Lanvin of Paris and the shirt by Phillips, a Melbourne company founded in 1952.

Personality
Lucien is shown time and again to be instinctive and sometimes impulsive, which can help in crime-solving but may also lead him to take rash decisions under stress or anger (for example, prompting Joy to discredit the lack of safety in Tyneman's factory in print).

His passion for crime-solving often leads to him interfering with the work of the police. He goes to all lengths he deems necessary to solving the case, including unauthorized examination of crime scenes, unorthodox experiments with animal parts or dangerous chemicals, breaking and entering, intimidation and tampering with evidence. This tendency to overstep his position of police surgeon may land him in hot waters with his superior, most notably in season 3 with chief superintendent Munro. In addition, his insistence on finding answers is ill-received and deemed rude or indiscreet by most people he talks to.

With his circle of close friends, however, he is very jovial, genuinely caring and protective, especially shown when one of them is in danger (Danny bitten by a snake, Mattie and Jean harassed by a lynch mob). Still, the few friends he has are always ready to help, even if it implies jeopardizing their career or reputation. The attachment he elicits in those close to him goes to show how his good nature as a doctor counterbalances his annoying eccentricity.

He seems to have a drinking problem which, more or less noticeable depending on the extent of his dejection, can get in the way of human relations. It is illustrated by a very well-supplied minibar, a hip flask (several different ones make an appearance) constantly carried in his inside pocket and one or more bottles of liquor in his desk drawer. His drink of choice is scotch whisky.