Police Camera Action!

Police Camera Action!
File:Pca-logo9798.jpg Logo from 1997/1998 series
Presented by	Alastair Stewart (1994 - ) Adrian Simpson (2007 - )
Narrated by	Alastair Stewart (1994 - 2002) Adrian Simpson (2007 - )
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	86
Production
Producers	Optomen Television, ITV Productions
Running time	30 minutes/60 minutes
Original release
Network	ITV1/ITV4
Release	1994 – 2008
Related
Police, Stop!

Police, Camera, Action! is a police video programme presented by Alastair Stewart and Adrian Simpson made by Optomen Television for Carlton Television which is broadcast on ITV1 and ITV4.

About the show

Each episode has a subtitle relating to the type of police video footage such as "Safety Last" or "Driven to Distraction". It typically features police footage and occasional media footage relating to bad driving and road crime. However, this has not always been so, with special episodes "The Liver Run" (featuring the Metropolitan Police) and "The Man Who Shot OJ", focusing on the work of helicopter cameraman and pilot Bob Tur in Los Angeles. This episode also looked at the controversies behind the O.J. Simpson trial. In later seasons of the show, footage from Bob Tur and the Los Angeles News Service would feature more prominently in certain episodes.

The first episode broadcast in 1994 was known as Police Stop!, which was also the name of a similar police programme available initially on VHS video and later on Sky One. In recent rescreenings of this episode on Men & Motors it is renamed Police Camera Action!, with the subtitle of "Danger! Drivers Ahead" in line with the other episodes of the series. A spin off book of the series was released in 1996 by Ebury Press, which was written by Peter Gillbe with a foreword by Alastair Stewart and which featured police footage of bad driving. The book had some footage stills which were not shown on the TV episodes.

History

In 2003 Alastair Stewart's contract to present Police Camera Action! was ended due to a drink-driving conviction in Winchester, Hampshire. This delayed transmission of some unaired episodes until January 17, 2006.However, Alastair returned to introduce the series from a studio on Monday September 24, 2007, joined by Adrian Simpson, who reported from location and provided voice-overs to the clips. A week before the new series began, there was a special 'Ultimate Pursuits/Best of Police Camera Action!' edition, presented by Stewart himself. The show looked back at the best bits of the show's 13 year history.

Episode Confusion

There has been some confusion over the titles of the early episodes. It is very hard to obtain an official episode list; as Optomen Television has never produced one. It is actually believed that POLICE, STOP! was renamed DANGER, DRIVERS AHEAD! and POLICE,CAMERA,ACTION! '95 was renamed SAFETY LAST (because it is the first episode recorded in 1995) There is also confusion over some titles of the newly aired series 5.

Episode guide and Screening Details

Re-screenings

Currently rescreenings of Police Camera Action! are shown on ITV4. The re-screenings are of:

• Season 1 (1994-1996)
• Season 2 (1997-1998)
• Season 3 (1999-2001)
• Season 4 (2002/2006): the episodes were recorded in 2002 but not actually aired until 2006.
• Season 5 (2007-2008)

Episode Inventory

Below, is a List of episodes courtesy of production company Optomen Television. Programmes are 30 minutes long (including advertisements) except where stated.

Series 1

• POLICE STOP/DANGER! DRIVERS AHEAD- First broadcast: 07/09/1994
• POLICE, CAMERA, ACTION! - First broadcast: 20/12/1994
• SAFETY LAST - First broadcast: 04/10/1995
• INTERNATIONAL - First broadcast: 11/10/1995
• HELICOPS - First broadcast: 19/10/1995
• TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED - First broadcast: 25/10/1995
• THE LIVER RUN - First broadcast: 22/04/1996
• DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION! - First broadcast: 15/04/1996
• INTERNATIONAL PATROL - First broadcast: 29/04/1996
• UNFIT TO DRIVE - First broadcast: 21/10/1996
• EURO-COPS - First broadcast: 28/10/1996
• THE MAN WHO SHOT OJ PROGRAMME 1 - First broadcast: 02/12/1996
• THE MAN WHO SHOT OJ PROGRAMME 2 - First broadcast: 09/12/1996
• ROAD TO NOWHERE - First broadcast: 07/01/1997

Series 2

• ON YOUR BIKE - First broadcast: 29/04/1997
• OUT OF CONTROL - First broadcast: 23/09/1997
• ENOUGH'S ENOUGH - First broadcast: 13/01/1998
• THE WILD SIDE - First broadcast: 06/01/1998
• A LORRY LOAD OF TROUBLE - First broadcast: 20/01/1998
• WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR MOTOR?- First broadcast: 30/12/1997
• DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER - First broadcast: 12/11/1997
• COAT HANGER MAN - First broadcast: 22/10/1998
• RUST BUCKETS - First broadcast: 05/11/1998
• CAPTURED - First broadcast: 12/11/1998
• THE UNPROTECTED - First broadcast: 19/11/1998
• SPEED - First broadcast: 26/11/1998
• ON THE BUSES - First broadcast: 06/01/1999
• LEARNING THE HARD WAY - First broadcast: 19/01/1999

Series 3

• WHAT DRIVES YOU MAD - First broadcast: 10/01/2000
• IN THE DRIVING SEAT - First broadcast: 24/01/2000
• ON THE EDGE - First broadcast: 07/02/2000
• BACK TO BASICS - First broadcast: 14/02/2000
• STAYING SAFE - First broadcast: 21/02/2000
• NOWHERE TO HIDE - First broadcast: 28/02/2000
• MONSTER DRIVERS - First broadcast: 03/07/2000
• BRAT PACK - First broadcast: 10/07/2000
• CRASH TEST RACERS - First broadcast: 17/07/2000
• HIGHWAY OF TOMORROW - First broadcast: 24/07/2000
• ROUND THE BEND - First broadcast: 31/07/2000
• DANGER AHEAD - First broadcast: 07/08/2000
• ROGUES ROADSHOW - First broadcast: 15/05/2001
• TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT - First broadcast: 22/05/2001
• A FAIR COP - First broadcast: 29/05/2001
• SMASH & GRAB - First broadcast: 06/06/2001
• GETTING THEIR MAN - First broadcast: 13/06/2001
• THE FORDS - First broadcast: 07/01/2002
• RACE - First broadcast: 14/01/2002

Series 4

• LIFE IN THE FAST LANE - First broadcast: 17/01/2006
• MOTORWAY MANNERS - First broadcast: 24/01/2006
• DIVERSION AHEAD! - First broadcast: 31/01/2006
• UNDER THE INFLUENCE - First broadcast: 07/02/2006
• CITY LIMITS - First broadcast: 14/02/2006
• NICKED! - First broadcast: 21/02/2006

Series 5

• ULTIMATE PURSUITS - First broadcast: 20/09/2007
• BEST OF POLICE, CAMERA, ACTION! - First broadcast: 20/09/2007
• SPEED DATING - First broadcast: 24/09/2007
• WITHOUT DUE CARE - First broadcast: 01/10/2007
• MONSTER TRUCKS - First broadcast: 08/10/2007
• THE CRUSHERS - First broadcast: 15/10/2007
• STOP THIEF! - First broadcast: 18/10/2007
• STREET ILLEGAL - First broadcast: 25/10/2007
• TECHNO COPS - First broadcast: 01/11/2007
• JACKED & CLONED - First broadcast: 08/11/2007
• SPEED FREAKS - First broadcast: 18/12/2007
• RURAL ROADS - First broadcast: 05/01/2008
• SEARCH & RESCUE - First broadcast: 05/01/2008
• SAFETY LAST - First broadcast: 07/01/2008
• ASBO DRIVERS - First broadcast: 07/01/2008
• THE OFF ROADERS - First broadcast: 08/01/2008
• CAUGHT ON CAMERA - First broadcast: 09/01/2008
• INEXPERIENCED DRIVERS - First broadcast: 10/01/2008
• UNROADWORTHY VEHICLES - First broadcast: 11/01/2008
• LESS LETHAL WEAPONS - First broadcast: 12/01/2008
• HELICOPS - First broadcast: 14/01/2008
• URBAN JUNGLE - First broadcast: 14/01/2008
• GOING TO EXTREMES - First broadcast: 15/01/2008
• MOTORWAY MADNESS - First broadcast: 17/01/2008
• ECO UNFRIENDLY - First broadcast: 17/01/2008
• DEATH WISH DRIVERS - First broadcast: 21/01/2008
• BAD INFLUENCES - First broadcast: 21/01/2008
• CRIME CARS - First broadcast: 22/01/2008
• MOTO MANIA - First broadcast: 24/01/2008
• ANIMAL ENFORCERS - First broadcast: 24/01/2008
• UNDER SURVEILLANCE - First broadcast: 29/01/2008

Series 5 starts with the following lines: "Cameras, a vital tool in the fight against crime. We bring you the best and worst of what they capture." Then a voice says one of the following lines: "Start moving now!", followed by a cold open, with footage from the show. "Take him out please... take him out", followed by a cold open, with footage from the show. The lines were changed in the episode Rural Roads from January 2008. The episode Ultimate Pursuits did not use the above cold open: instead Alastair Stewart is driving a DeLorean DMC12 and says the episode is a special edition of Police, Camera, Action! and says "Tonight, we go Back to the Future in Police Camera Action!"

See also

Police Stop!