As young man, Tamborine Mountain local David Bartlett was always interested in film and television, but he could never have imagined he would end up on TV.
David – now Dr David Bartlett the criminologist – features in the ABC’s new six-part series, Crime Night! which started on November 5 and airs each Wednesday at 8.30pm.
In the show, hosted by Julia Zemiro, Dr Bartlett is part of an expert panel of criminologists and comedians who dive beneath the surface of crime to discover the science and psychology behind it all.
The Tamborine Mountain News got the news tip before the show first aired from Dr Bartlett’s understandably proud father, John Bartlett OAM.
Dr Bartlett’s family, including his father, flew to Melbourne to be part of the live studio audience when the show was filmed in August.
When the opportunity came up to be part of the show it felt like a full circle moment for Dr Bartlett, whose high school passion for film and television nearly led him to study it at university before he deferred and never took it up.
“I got accepted into film and TV at Griffith, it would have been the first year HECS came in, public transport between Beaudesert and Brisbane was terrible and it just wasn’t the right time to go to uni – I was still only 16,” he said.
“I thought I’d just look for a job and my first job ended up being over at the courthouse in Boonah. These were the old days where you could literally jump straight out of high school into the public service.”
Dr Bartlett fell in love with courts and criminal justice. After six weeks at the Boonah Courthouse, he was transferred to Beaudesert Courthouse, where he worked for three years.
Fast forward to today, he is a consultant criminologist and risk expert with qualifications in psychology, criminology and business and more than 25 years’ experience working in criminal justice agencies and academia.
He served as Director of Governance at Gold Coast Hospital and Director, Postgraduate and Continuing Education at Griffith University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
As an acclaimed lecturer, he shaped the current generation of criminal justice professionals, teaching more than 10,000 criminology students nationwide.
You never know
Reflecting on how grateful he has been to work on the Crime Night! show, Dr Bartlett said it was one of life’s unexpected opportunities.
“I think about all the grade 12s sitting exams and you just never know where life is going to take you – doors open in the strangest places,” he said.
“Just because you have your heart set on something after you finish school, if you don’t get it or you don’t get there it doesn’t matter.
“There are so many different pathways and opportunities in life, and I think I’m a great case study for the fact that you just never know how things are going to play out, where your interests intersect, so don’t stress too much if things don’t go to plan.”
Dr Bartlett and his wife Katherine returned to the Scenic Rim 20 years ago and are part of the Tamborine Mountain community with their children Ethan 18, and Mia, 14.
