''Police Stop!'' is a British television documentary series, narrated and presented by

Graham Cole Graham Cole OBE (born Graham Coleman-Smith on 16 March 1952) is an English actor. Early life Cole was born in Willesden in 1952 to Victor and Freda Coleman-Smith (née Coleman), the youngest of three children. He was part of the film crew of ...

, best known for his role as PC Tony Stamp in the

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

drama series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', that was first developed in 1993 as a

Direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

series by creator Bill Rudgard. The series compiles footage filmed on cameras mounted in

police car A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

s and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, with occasional material from road-side or hand-held cameras, with each episode focusing on a different type of road related crime, such as speeding, driving without due care and attention or dangerous overtaking, or in more extreme cases, hazards relating to weather conditions or car chases involving wanted criminals. Seven episodes were released straight to VHS before a deal was struck with

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

to broadcast the series on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

, with a new episode to be broadcast each year from 1996 onwards. A total of fourteen episodes were filmed, with the final episode, a special focusing on policing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, airing in 2001. Prior to the broadcast of ''Police Stop! 5'', Sky also broadcast the first four episodes previously released exclusively to VHS. The series also broadcast in the

on Syndication, which notably resulted in several episodes being cut to remove footage for which clearance rights were unavailable. The series also spawned an international spin-off, which began broadcasting in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1996. The series aired on TV3, and was fronted by former Australian race car driver

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

. The series' format was similar to the British versions, using footage from both the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

, with additional content from the

police. Later series were retitled ''Police Stop – Caught in the Act'', which in addition to car chase footage, also featured footage from security cameras, often from shops or public places. Footage also extended to Brock himself working alongside the New Zealand police, giving an insight into general lines of police work. Although the series concluded in 1998, a special episode was screened in 2006 as a tribute to Brock, a week after he died in a Motorsport accident.

Broadcast

The first episode of ''Police Stop!'' was released on video in 1993, and was widely successful, partly due to a campaign ran by '' The Sun'', which offered readers a discount when ordered directly from the manufacturer. As such, a second video followed swiftly in April 1994. The second video is the only episode not to be presented by Graham Cole, instead fronted by Inspector David Rowland, a traffic division inspector from the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. Although the episode was narrated by Cole. Graham Cole returned to voice two episodes focusing on policing in the

, the first aptly titled ''Police Stop! America'' and the second ''Police Stop! Or We'll Shoot'', which predominantly focuses on the work of the Texas Rangers. ''Police Stop! 3'' and ''Police Stop! 4'' both followed in 1995, before a compilation video, entitled ''Worst of Police Stop!'', followed in 1996. ''Police Stop!'' and ''Police Stop! 2'' were produced with the co-operation of several British police forces, who contributed most of the material. Aside from the two American specials, ''Police Stop! 3'' and ''Police Stop! 4'' also included material primarily from the United States and

mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. Notably, all seven videos were exempt from classification. From ''Police Stop! 5'' onwards, the series transferred to

, where a new episode was broadcast yearly until 2001. From this point onwards, the series continued to use more clips from non-British sources. ''Police Stop!'' was regularly repeated on

Men and Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Britis ...

and

ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...

during the late 2000s, although the repeats resulted in some confusion for viewers when both channels erroneously listed the series as being presented by

Alastair Stewart Alastair James Stewart Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 22 June 1952) is an English former journalist and newscaster. Formerly presenting for ITV News, he joined GB News as a presenter in 2021. He has won the Royal Television Society's New ...

, confusing it with the former ITV series ''

Police Camera Action! ''Police Camera Action!'' is a police video programme made by Optomen Television, originally broadcast on ITV with repeats airing on ITV4. It was originally commissioned through Carlton Television. It was presented by Alastair Stewart from 1994 ...

'', which Stewart fronted. Notably, only ten of the fourteen episodes were repeated on both channels, with ''Police Stop! America'', ''Police Stop! Or We'll Shoot'', ''Worst of Police Stop!'' and ''Police Stop! 11'' remaining unrepeated. Labyrinth Media, who produced the series, also produced two further direct-to-video releases featuring a similar format. ''Riot Police'', released in 1994, features graphic footage of riots, including the riot of March 31, 1990 in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

, London. ''Real Life Rescues'', presented by

and also released in 1994, features camera footage of real-life rescues involving the emergency services.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{Sky1 1993 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 1990s British documentary television series 2000s British documentary television series Documentary television series about policing English-language television shows Sky UK original programming

Broadcast

Episodes

See also

References

External links