Peter Church

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“	You do not want to mess with me, Kaplan. You end this now, or I'll end it for ya.	„
	~ Church issuing a warning to Denny Kaplan to leave him and Danni Mayo alone.

Senior Constable Peter James Church, otherwise known by his real name Mike Fischer, is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Angie Piper) and the lead male protagonist/anti-hero of Stingers. Church is a tough, dedicated and at times brutal operative of a deep undercover unit of Victoria Police, who is willing to do whatever it takes to take down his targets, even if it means taking matters into his own hands, ignoring orders from his superiors or getting into fights, earning him a reputation as a maverick.

He is portrayed by Peter Phelps, and James Hanson as a child during flashbacks in season three.

Early History

Church’s real name is Mike Fischer. His childhood was rough, as he was often a victim of his father Ossie’s violent and abusive behaviour, which has led to his bitter resentment towards his father, to the point that he doesn't talk to Ossie for almost 20 years until shortly before his stroke that ultimately kills him. His relationship with his sister Debbie is friendly but distant, losing contact completely for a while after Church joined the Undercover unit.

Church was a police officer long before joining Undercover, and he was engaged to a fellow police officer named Alice. However, Alice was tragically killed by a gunman (who was later revealed to be Aaron Fielder) while on-duty, leading Church into a downwards spiral, resigning from the police force and isolating himself from society for several years, before Bernie Rocca convinced him to join his Undercover unit.

Personality

Church is a very proficient and effective undercover cop, who can easily infiltrate criminal operations and gain the trust of his targets. He is also shown to get along quite well with the rest of the unit. However, he is shown early on to be a bit gruff, short-tempered, and arrogant at times, sometimes ignoring orders from his superiors, getting into fights, and even resorting to calculated risks to take down his targets. Despite this, he is also shown to be a kind-hearted, caring and compassionate person, which he later shows more often as he mellows out as the series progresses. He is especially compassionate and supportive towards victims of domestic violence, as it's later revealed that he himself was a victim of his father's abuse, and later becomes a mentor-of-sorts to runaway teenager and car thief Carlo Giuseppe.

Church had a close friendship with his boss Bernie Rocca, mainly as Rocca was the person who helped Church regain his meaning in life when he convinced him to join the undercover unit. Despite this, they sometimes clashed with one another, more specifically when Church goes rogue during an intestigation towards extremist Aaron Fielder after he is revealed to be responsible for the murder of Church's fiancee Alice 10 years prior, as well as when Church originally resigned from the unit during the Rossi investigation due to his relationship with Christina Brock. When Rocca is shot and almost killed, Church goes to extreme lengths to find the shooter. Church is devastated when Rocca leaves the unit after the shooting, and later loses contact with him for some time. They later reconnect some time later, when Rocca accidently blows Church's cover when he is investigating Martin Kelly. Church is saddened to hear that Rocca's family had left him, and although they later team together to take down Kelly, the man who ruined Rocca's life, Church becomes disappointed with Rocca when he resorts to dirty tactics to ensure Kelly's arrest while almost getting himself arrested too, fracturing their friendship in the process.

For most of season one, Church has a romantic relationship with Ellen "Mac" MacKenzie, which has it's complications due to them both being at odds with each other on a professional level during investigations due to Church sometimes not following her orders, as well as having to keep their relationship a secret from Rocca as it breaks police protocol. Eventually, Church and Mac are forced to break up after Rocca finds out about their romance. Despite this, they still care about each other very much, as Church and the rest of the unit supports Mac when she is forced to wait to see if she's HIV-positive or not after being stabbed with a needle with HIV-contaminated blood in in while taking down a suspect in season three, with Church and Mac celebrating when she is given the all-clear. Church and Mac even contemplate getting back together late in season four when it seems that Mac will be transferred to the Homicide unit. Although this is rendered moot when Mac remains in Undercover, and she later finds out about Church getting Danni Mayo pregnant. When Mac takes long-service leave following Oscar Stone's death, Church is the only one who realizes that she is leaving forever, and they part ways with a hug before Mac leaves.

Throughout the show, Church gets along quite well with Angie Piper from the beginning, often working together in many undercover sting operations, and have saved each other's lives numerous times. Unlike his relationships with the other women in the unit, Church and Angie have often maintained a mostly professional relationship, with Church acting more as a protective brother-figure to Angie. However, they have occasionally clashed with one another at times, most notably in season five when Church uses Angie's informant (and later fiancée) Marty Engle, in several dangerous stings that put Marty's life at risk, the final time almost resulting Church nearly getting shot by Angie when it seems he had inadvertantly caused Marty's death, although this goes no further Marty is unharmed. Church and Angie become closer following the death of Oscar Stone and the resignations of Mac and Danni. However, he remained completely unaware about Angie's romantic feelings towards him until after she confesses that she had fallen in love him at one point prior to her relationship to Luke Harris, causing Church to realize his own romantic feelings towards Angie, bringing them even closer despite their relationship remaining platonic.

Church has an on-off adversarial relationship with Mac's replacement, Luke Harris, with neither of them getting along initially when Harris joined the unit, and was complicated further when both men mistakenly believed that the other was working for Stig Enquist, leading to Harris almost killing Church. However, when Church later discovers that Harris is suffering from bipolar disorder, he and Harris start to begrudgingly get along on a professional level. However, they still often clashed with one another regarding each other’s decisions during investigations, as well as later becoming rivals over Angie's affection.

Notable storylines

Towards the end of season one, Church infiltrates the Rossi crime family under the alias Dan Ryder, where he soon gains the trust of Bruno and Dino Rossi; in spite of their enforcer Terry Collis’ bitter distrust towards him. He also becomes attracted to a woman named Christina Brock, who is later revealed to be Bruno’s daughter and Dino’s brother. Church tries to keep his distance from her after being threatened by Collis, but after Bruno dies of a heart attack, Church and Christina start a romantic relationship around the same time that Dino murders Collis for disrespecting him, and assigns Church as his right-hand man. Church hands over Sam Guiness, whom Dino ordered to be killed, to Rocca to offer him witness protection, while also informing Rocca about Collis’ disappearance. When Collis’ body is found in a river, Dino is charged with his murder, Church is able to record a confession from Dino over Collis’s murder while visiting him in jail. However, he decides to resign from the unit as he’s fallen in love with Christina, much to the anger and objections from Rocca and the rest of the unit (except for Stone), especially as Dino is relased due to a lack of evidence following Church's resignation. However, things become more complicated thanks to a seemingly corrupt detective named Mick Foley, who is later revealed to be on Dino's payroll, as well as Guiness escaping from witness protection, placing Church in danger. Rocca and Mac later discover that Church had secretly been collecting evidence that would help them send Dino to jail, proving to them that he's remained loyal to the unit. Dino and Foley later capture Guiness when the latter tries and fails to ambush him at gunpoint, forcing Guiness to reveal to them both that Church is an undercover cop, reiterating this again when Dino brings Christina to Guiness moments before he is murdered by Foley. Christina later confronts Church with a gun intending to kill him, she fires three shots but deliberately aims away from him. Despite his cover being blown, Church returns to Christina's home later that night, where he explains to her that his love for her is genuine, leading to them reconciling their relationship. They then plan to leave town the next day, only to be confronted at the pier by Dino who tries to shoot Church, but Christina gets in the way and she is shot in the chest. Church is left distraught as Christina dies in his arms while Dino is arrested by the unit.

In the season two premiere, one month after Christina’s death, Church is visiting her gravesite when Rocca shows up offering him his job back, only for Church to turn him down. However, he is later visited by Mac at his home, as she reveals to him that she’s being blackmailed over their previous relationship, which prompts Church and Mac to inform Rocca about the blackmail, and Church decides to investigate where the source of the blackmail is coming from. While trying to find the blackmailer, Mac observes that Church seems to enjoy being back in work, which he silently agrees. After Mac finds the blackmailer in the Homicide division, Rocca asks Church if he’s officially back in the unit, which he confirms by saying “I’ll see you tomorrow”. Some time later, Church is tasked with testifying against Dino Rossi in his murder trial, which despite being targeted for assassination, he manages to do, leading to Dino's conviction for Christina's murder. Church later speaks to Dino outside his prison cell, as Dino wants to avoid going to prison by making a deal to give information on Foley. However, Church and Dino are soon confronted by Foley, disguised as a prison guard, who first aims his gun at Church, before suddenly aiming towards Dino and shooting him dead, before aiming his gun back at Church and shooting him a couple of times as well. Foley then tries to escape, only to be arrested by Mac and Rocca. Mac then rushes to Church's side, where she discovers that Church is only bruised as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Towards the end of season two, Church is angered when Rocca is shot and almost killed by an unknown assailant, prompting him to get involved with Stone's sting operation against Graeme Wilkins, who Rocca had prior history with several years back in Western Australia, despite facing possible disiplinary action from the acting head of Undercover, Susan Abbott. Church and Mac later discover that Wilkins had nothing to do with Rocca's shooting, forcing them to look for someone else who Rocca arrested in Western Australia. They then find out that Anthony Howarth is the likely suspect, leading Church to ambush and confront him. After a brief fight, Church forces Howarth at gunpoint to confess to Rocca's shooting. Rocca later recovers, but tells Church that he's leaving the police force so that he can spend more time with family, devastating Church. Some time later in season three, Howarth fronts trial for Rocca's attempted murder, but the magistrate dismisses the charges against Howarth as a result of Church's excessive force in obtaining the confession, prompting an Internal Affairs investigation against him. Some time later, Howarth attacks Angie in the middle of a laneway and prepares to sexually assault her at knifepoint, openly gloating that he got away with shooting a cop. However, Church manages to arrive in time and stops Howarth, rescuing Angie, while also making sure not to use unessescary force to take down Howarth. However, Church then checks up on Angie and calls for help when he discovers that Howarth wounded her with a slight cut to her neck, but she quickly recovers.

In season four, Church has a one night stand with Danni Mayo, which causes Danni to become pregnant. When Church finds out about Danni's pregnancy in the season four finale, he decides that he wants to support Danni and the baby. In season five, Church and Danni buy a house so that they can raise their baby together. However, they later discover that their baby has a condition that would later result in its death if born, and Danni makes the difficult decision to terminate her pregnancy, devastating both her and Church.

Halfway through season five, Church, along with Angie's informant boyfriend Marty Engle, goes undercover in order to take down drug dealer Leo Goldman and his associate Denny Kaplan. However, Goldman discovers that there's an informant around, prompting Church to lie to Goldman by saying that the informant is a woman, saving Marty, but inadvertantly leading to the death of Goldman's girlfriend and Kaplan's lover Chrissie Collins. Eventually, Kaplan discovers that Goldman was responsible for Chrissie's murder, leading to a stand-off between them while Church and Marty are present, Goldman is killed and Kaplan is arrested when Angie arrives with police backup, but Kaplan is immediately released due to a lack of evidence, and he threatens Church to watch his back after Kaplan discovers that he lied regarding who the informant was, blaming Church for Chrissie's death. Some time later, Church becomes convinced that Kaplan is stalking him after he notices suspicious activity around him, but later discovers that he's in fact targeting Danni. Church confronts and attacks Kaplan, warning him to back off from the both of them. The next day, Church and Danni are targeted in a drive-by shooting at their home. Suspecting Kaplan to be responsible, Church decides to speak to Marty Engle to look for someone to frighten Kaplan, but Marty refuses. After Church finds out that Kaplan outed him as a cop to his current target during an illegal tobacco sting, he confronts Kaplan once again, who again threatens to harm Danni as revenge for Chrissie's death, but Church goads Kaplan by calling him gutless and points the blame at Chrissie's death at Kaplan himself, prompting Kaplan to pull out a gun hidden in his sofa, leading to a phyisical confrontation that seemingly ends with Church killing Kaplan. Panicked, Church returns home and tells Danni he killed Kaplan. However, when he and Danni return to Kaplan's place, neither Kaplan or any trace of his blood is anywhere to be found, prompting Danni to convince Church that Kaplan must have escaped. However, some time later, Kaplan's body is found by Homicide in Albury, and Church is implicated in his murder. Angie then tells Church that Marty, who is now in witness protection with a $500,000 bounty on his head, wants to speak to Church, but she doesn't know why, prompting Church to reveal his earlier conversation with Marty about finding someone to scare off Kaplan. Despite Church now being a wanted man, he and Angie then decide to try and track down Marty's location by setting up a meeting with one of Marty's bodyguards Ointment, who despite meeting with Church, refuses to give him any info regarding Marty's whereabouts. However, during their conversation, Angie plants a tracking device into Ointment's car, and they follow him to Marty's safehouse, where they wait for an opportunity to talk to Marty. However, later that night, they notice Marty being taken into an ambulance, so they follow him to the hospital. While Angie is in the hospital looking for Marty, Church waits outside in his car when Stone unexpectedly shows up as backup. When Angie returns to the car, the three of them notice Marty's bodyguards abandoning them, prompting them to realize that they, along with Ointment, were paid off to allow Marty to be assassinated. Church, Angie and Stone decide to enter the hospital and find Marty at his hospital room, where Church and Angie try to speak to him while Stone keeps guard outside. Church and Angie find out that despite Marty's earlier refusal to get someone to scare off Kaplan, he instead had Kaplan's place under surveillance when Church killed Kaplan, then cleaned up the evidence before taking Kaplan's body to Aubury and burying him. Stone then enters and tells Church and Angie that something is wrong, prompting Church and Stone to escort Angie and Marty into another room while they keep guard. Church and Stone then notice an orderly entering Marty's now-empty hospital room, before approaching them both. Church asks for the orderly's identification, but while he is checking his ID, the orderly pulls out a silenced pistol, prompting Stone to push Church out of the way before getting shot in the stomach twice, the orderly then tries to aim his gun at Church once again, but Stone tries to fight him off before getting shot another two times. Church checks up on Stone while the orderly is arrested by Mac and Danni while trying to escape. Church and the rest of the unit follow Stone to the emergency ward while they wait for him to be taken to surgery. However, Stone starts to flatline, and is about to be resuscitated by the doctors when the medical registrar stops them. When Church frantically asks asks her what is going on, he discovers that Stone has a not-for-resuscitation order on himself, meaning that they can't legally resuscitate him. After Church lies to the registrar saying that he's Stone's brother, he and the rest of the unit become shocked when they find out that Stone's testicular cancer, which he told them he was cleared of, had in fact metastasized and had become terminal, devastating Church and the unit. Church is then asked by the registrar if he wants to override Stone's NFR order, but Church, realizing that Stone is going to die soon regardless, tearfully respects his friend's wish and tells the doctors not to resuscitate Stone, and he later dies, leaving the unit, more specifically Church and Angie, completely heartbroken. Church is soon cleared of any wrongdoing in regards to Kaplan's death, and later attends Stone's funeral, where he makes a speech eulogizing his friend.

In season six, Church, Angie, and Danni adjust to the new changes of the Undercover unit, which is now permutated into Special Investigations, following Mac’s resignation and the arrival of their new boss Luke Harris, later being joined by new operative Christina Dichiera, who mistakenly arrests Church and Angie during a sting operation. Church is also frustrated when the prosecution is considering giving Stone’s killer Kieran Frances Conrad a deal after the case against him is weakened thanks to Conrad’s lawyer Ingrid Burton provoking Church to an outburst while testifying against Conrad. When Conrad escapes from police custody, Church and Angie both pledge to find him and take him down in Stone’s memory. However, their progress to find him is impeded several times by Harris, who prior to Conrad’s escape tried to offer him a deal, earning Church’s ire and contempt in the process, and is later responsible for Danni’s resignation when Harris withholds evidence in a separate case which Church and Danni were investigating, that leads to a little boy’s death and the arrest of one of their informants. Church later discovers that Harris is connected to Stig Enquist, and begins to suspect that Harris is working for him. Eventually Church finds out that Conrad is back in the country, and manages to confront him, where he discovers that Enquist ordered the hit on Marty Engle that led to Stone’s death, and that Conrad is after Enquist for ripping him off of the money for the hit. Church tries to shoot Conrad, but his gun jams, giving Conrad an opportunity to shoot Church three times before escaping, however Church is only bruised as he chose to wear a bulletproof vest before the confrontation after taking Angie’s earlier advice to do so. Eventually, Church is confronted by a deranged Harris at gunpoint on the rooftop of Police HQ, accusing Church of working together with Enquist to take him down. However, when Church reveals that he was actually investigating him because he believed that Harris was working with Enquist, a confused Harris allows Church to disarm him, then in a emotional state, tries to commit suicide by going to the edge of the roof, only to be stopped by Church, who takes him to his doctor, where he finds out that Harris is suffering from bipolar disorder, and after Harris undergoes a round of shock treatment therapy, Church talks to him and finds out that Harris tried to investigate Enquist for three years in the NCA before being transferred out. Church and Harris finally reach common ground and agree to work together to take down both Conrad and Enquist. Church manages to become re-acquainted with Enquist by going undercover. At the same time however, Harris and Church become falsely targeted by the Integrity Review Panel, and Harris is suspended by Piers Renshaw, a corrupt official who originally helped Harris get kicked out of the NCA as a favour to Enquist. With the help of Stone’s former girlfriend Lauren, Church manages to entrap Renshaw with a crime, and Harris is later reinstated. Church and Angie later foil Conrad's attempt to assassinate Enquist at his mansion, but Angie is briefly held hostage at gunpoint by Conrad before escaping, which makes Church realize that his obsession of taking down Conrad has gone too far, and considers focusing on Enquist, but is convinced by Angie not to give up on taking down Conrad. Church later finds out that Conrad has kidnapped Ingrid and is holding her for ransom, before being held at gunpoint by Enquist’s enforcer, who discovered Church was a cop by breaking into his place. He is later tied up and taken into Enquist’s car expected to be assassinated, only for Conrad to appear pointing his gun at Enquist. Conrad kills Enquist’s enforcer, before Church uses the passenger door of Enquist’s car to hit Conrad to the ground before he can kill Enquist, giving Enquist the chance to shoot Conrad. Church is rescued by Angie, Harris and Chris, with Harris arresting Enquist while Angie frees Church, who goes to a dying Conrad demanding he tell him where Ingrid is and if she’s still alive. However, Conrad dies refusing to say a word to Church, leaving Church to go on a frantic search to find Ingrid before it’s too late, Eventually, Church and Angie manage to locate and rescue Ingrid. However, Harris manages to get Ingrid disbarred by using the tape Church recorded, and Enquist plans on killing her. However, Church gives Ingrid a fake ID to help her leave the country without Enquist after her, but not before she hands him a CD that has complete inventory of Enquist’s businesses in Australia and overseas, which is the final nail in the coffin for Enquist. Church and Harris also find some amusement when they discover that Ingrid withdrew $3,000,000 from Enquist’s account, ruining any chance of Enquist being bailed before trial.

In the final episodes of the series, when Sophie is attacked and left in a coma, Church is determined to find the person responsible for the attack. Church and Leo Flynn suspect that Max Manton is responsible, as they were investigating him for another murder. But before they can arrest him, Manton is arrested by Reg Masters and the rest of the Drug Squad, who tells Church that Manton was in Warrnambool working as hired muscle for a couple of drug dealers on the night of Sophie’s attack, meaning he wasn’t the culprit. Meanwhile, Harris arrests Angie’s boyfriend Sean Hunter for the attempted murder, but Angie reveals to Church that she suspects that Harris had planted traces of Sophie’s hair at her place on the day that he visited Angie to hand over the signed divorce papers. When Harris attacks Hunter while interviewing him in prison, he is suspended from duty, and Church becomes the acting head of the Special Investigations and Undercover units. Church and Angie later send Chris to investigate Richard Kline, the widower of one of Hunter’s former patients, as he was sending Hunter hate mail, as well as being the last person Sophie called before she was attacked. However, Kline is tipped off by Harris, and Church is forced along with Leo to shoot Kline dead when he tries to shoot Angie and Chris in a stand-off. Despite this, Church and Angie are able to find key evidence that proves that Kline was responsible the murders of Hunter's ex-patients, and Hunter is released from custody. But Harris, now suffering a complete breakdown, refuses to believes that Hunter is innocent and tries to take Josh away from Angie, but she and Church stop him in the process and Harris is hospitalized in a clinic. Church is with Sophie in hospital when she wakes up, revealing to him that Hunter was the one who attacked her, prompting Church to rush to the airport and arrest Hunter in front of Angie, revealing to her what Sophie told him. Church later visits Harris at the psychiatric hospital to tell him that Hunter is in custody and that Sophie's okay, before waiting outside while Angie and Josh spend some time with Harris. The series ends with Church and Angie leaving together with Josh.

Quotes

Trivia

• Church and Angie Piper are the only two characters on Stingers to appear in all 192 episodes of the series from 1998 to 2004.
• Church is known to be fond of specific cars. From season one to season six, his car is a Subaru Impreza WRX. However, from late-season six until the end of the series, he instead drives a Holden Monaro CV8.
• Church has a scar on his left cheek, which he obtains in the opening scene of the first episode as a result of being punched in the face by Detective Senior Sergeant Lewis while undercover. However, his actor Peter Phelps actually got the scar back in 1977, when he was hit in the face with a surfboard.
• Church is known to dislike dentists, as revealed in the season six episode "The Last Dance", telling Angie Piper that all dentists are "sadists".
• For his role as Church, Peter Phelps won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor at the 2002 TV Week Logie Awards.

External Links

• Peter Church on the Protagonists Wiki

Navigation

HEROES

MAIN Undercover | Special Investigations Angie Piper | Peter Church | Ellen "Mac" MacKenzie | Oscar Stone † | Danni Mayo | Luke Harris | Christina Dichiera | Bernie Rocca | Leo Flynn | Kaye Kelso SUPPORTING / RECURRING Bill Hollister † | Reg Masters | Susan Abbott | Sean Peck | Samantha Piper † | Carlo | Eric Chatterly | Marty Engle | Sophie Novak | Katherine Marks OTHERS Nick Torris | Rory Baines | Ben Matthews | Dale Kemp