Police Stop

Police Stop! is a British TV series, narrated by Graham Cole (who portrayed PC Tony Stamp in The Bill). It lasted from 1994 until 2002, and originally began on video in 1993, before becoming a TV series on Sky One from 1996 onwards, with Police Stop! 5.

The show was the forerunner of Police Camera Action but, ironically, its Companion Show outlived it.

It stopped airing in 2002, and hopes of a Revival continue.

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Police Stop provides examples of:

• Absurdity Ascendant
• An Aesop: This show has some of them, mainly in the non-police pursuit footage.
• And Now for Something Completely Different: Police Stop! America (which is outside the main show's continuity and Police Stop! 11 from 2002, which used the same format as Police Stop! 1 to Police Stop! 10, except it was an all-American special.
• BLAM Episode: Two episodes of this kind exist in the series, namely Police Stop! 3, Police Stop! 4 and Police Stop! America (the last one being totally out of continuity)
• Bottle Episode: Police Stop! 3 and Police Stop America are considered to be bottle episodes.
• British Series : Well, for the first two episodes and Police Stop! 4, but in Police Stop! 3 and from Police Stop! 5 onwards, footage was increasingly sourced from outside the United Kingdom, mainly in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, the United States, Canada and Hong Kong.
• Canada, Eh?: From 1996 onwards in Police Stop! 5 (Highway 427 is the automotive Trope Codifier for the road equivalent of this trope!)
• Clip Show: Subverted. The Worst of Police Stop! (which is stated explicitly) also has new footage.
• Deadpan Snarker: Some episodes' narration falls into this at times, especially in Police Stop! 9, which has this quote about horses on motorways:

Long ago, these guys were the business... Nowadays, if you don't drink diesel, you can't compete...

• Edited for Syndication: Two cuts of Police Stop!, Police Stop! 2, Police Stop! 3 and Police Stop! 4 exist; the master ones are, rarely, if ever shown. Not done for censorship purposes, as The Other Wiki will tell you.
• Edutainment Show: However, this is debatable.
• Filler/ Screwed by the Network: Technically, it wasn't meant to be, but ITV 4's policy of shoehorning it away into the early-morning slots is one way to treat it as. Police Stop! at 7:00am - obviously treated as.
• Franchise Zombie: Moved to television in 1996 with Police Stop! 5
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Shown uncut in daytime hours (almost!). But this is unintentional.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: In The Nineties, there were VHS tapes of Police Stop!, Police Stop! 2, Police Stop! 3, Police Stop! 4, The Worst Of Police Stop! and Police Stop! America. Since then, no VHS, or DVDs have ever been released (when it became a TV series as of 1996, with Police Stop! 5). Despite this, people can download episodes from torrents.
  • Not so good for people who want to buy a legitimate copy of the episodes.
  • People still want them, just like you can buy Doctor Who on DVD, but in full unedited form.
• Lampshade Hanging: This show does it as often as any other one, particularly CSI.
• Missing Episode: Police Stop! 11 and The Worst of Police Stop!, which many fans are annoyed about.
• More Popular Spinoff: This applies to (what some fans consider) the spin-off Police! Camera! Action!. Judging by the fact this show doesn't get as much airtime on ITV4 as its supposed spin-off, this is controversial.
• Numbered Sequels: Every episode, after Police Stop! has a number. 1994 had three episodes made. Averted in The Worst of Police Stop! and Police Stop America.
• Once an Episode: Any of these things:
  • Public Domain Soundtrack (remixed for 1994 - 2000)
  • Metropolitan Police footage
  • A DUI (driving-under-the-influence) test from U.S. police
  • Archive footage from police in the East Midlands, United Kingdom (usually between 1989 and 1993) utilising VASCAR or Provida.dk system.
  • Police chases from the United States of America or Canada (if it's from Canada the video camera has a different on-screen display).
  • The dangers of heavy goods vehicles
  • A run-down of safety statistics. (This is not an Incredibly Lame Pun)
  • Scandinavian drivers behaving badly, and humorous police commentary.
  • The dangers of winter driving with archive American news footage, or Stock Footage
  • Conus Archive, if you read the end credits.
• Out of Order: Always aired out of order on ITV 4.
• Shown Their Work: For a police show, this seems to have done its research.
• Surreal Theme Tune: Watch the show and you'll see.
• Under Crank: As seen in Police Stop! 9 with footage of a pick-up pursuit, and Police Stop! 11 (which does not get an airing these days for some reason)
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Well, if car criminals are anything to go by...
• Very Special Episode: Police Stop! 8 plays this straight, with it being mainly about safety. Also, Police Stop! 9 which was on the dangers of heavy goods vehicles/trucks.
  • Police Stop! 5 also played this trope Up to Eleven, and not for parody purposes and also avoided being too Anvilicious about drink-driving and road range, yet there were Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped on this episode.
• Voiceover Clip Show : Subverted. Graham Cole presented on-screen in Police Stop! and Police Stop! 9, with Inspector David Rowland of the Metropolitan Police presenting Police Stop! 2.
• Weirdness Coupon: The footage of drivers undergoing the field sobriety tests, somehow they manage to fit this trope down to a tee.
• Wham! Episode: Police Stop! 5 was this. Although the format did not change, the introduction of new pre-episode discussion did, considering that episodes 1 - 4 (excluding the in-vision continuity links in Police Stop! and Police Stop! 2. Not the same as a Retool (which this show never got), but the show certainly became different for the next 6 episodes.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Champaign, a town in the United States mentioned since Police Stop! 5. But viewers may not bother to research this.