Cop Shop

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Cop Shop
CopShopTitleCard.png
Created byTerry Stapleton
Starring Peter Adams
Terry Norris
Paula Duncan
Lynda Stoner
John Orcsik
Gil Tucker
George Mallaby
Rowena Wallace
Joanna Lockwood
Country of originAustralia
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes582 (1 missing)
Production
Running time55 minutes
Production company Crawford Productions
Original release
Network Seven Network
Release28 November 1977 (1977-11-28) 
23 July 1984 (1984-07-23)

Cop Shop is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes.

Contents

Synopsis

The show revolved around the everyday operations of both the uniformed police officers and the plainclothes detectives of the fictional Riverside Police Station. It also took a significant interest in the private lives of the characters. [1]

While many Crawford Productions police dramas combined videotaped interiors with location footage shot on 16mm film, Cop Shop was shot entirely on video, including external scenes. [2]

Two one-hour episodes were broadcast each week and featured a specific police investigation and a guest cast whose stories formed a self-contained narrative block. Alongside this the ongoing narratives of the regular characters continued in longer, more open-ended soap opera-style story threads. This same soap opera-drama series hybrid format was also used in the series Skyways , A Country Practice and Carson's Law .

After a run of six years, the show completed taping its last episode on 22 December 1983 and the final episodes were screened in the first half of 1984. [2]

Awards

Cop Shop won many awards including Logie Awards for most popular series and most popular actors, with Peter Adams and Paula Duncan winning multiple times. The show also won a number of other industry awards. [2]

Cast

During its long run, many of Australia's new and established actors appeared in the show.

DVD releases

The series has been released exclusive to DVD in 22 Volumes

TitleFormatEpisodesOriginal Melbourne airdatesDiscsRegion 4 (Australia)Special FeaturesDistributors
Cop Shop (Volume 1)DVDEpisodes 1–261977-11-28 – 1978-03-30728 April 2017None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 2)DVDEpisodes 27–521978-04-03 – 1978-07-0371 August 2017None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 3)DVDEpisodes 53–781978-07-06 – 1978-10-02727 November 2017None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 4)DVDEpisodes 79–1041978-10-05 – 1979-01-22729 January 2018None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 5)DVDEpisodes 105–1301979-01-29 – 1979-05-07713 April 2018None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 6)DVDEpisodes 131–1561979-05-10 – 1979-08-06716 July 2018None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 7)DVDEpisodes 157–1821979-08-09 – 1979-11-12728 September 2018None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 8)DVDEpisodes 183–2081979-11-15 – 1980-03-24714 December 2018None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 9)DVDEpisodes 209–2341980-03-27 – 1980-06-23715 February 2019None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 10)DVDEpisodes 235–2601980-06-26 – 1980-09-25715 April 2019None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 11)DVDEpisodes 261–2861980-09-29 – 1981-02-05728 June 2019None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 12)DVDEpisodes 287–3121981-02-09 – 1981-05-0774 October 2019None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 13)DVDEpisodes 313–338725 February 2021None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 14)DVDEpisodes 339–364723 June 2021None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 15)DVDEpisodes 365–39072 November 2021None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 16)DVDEpisodes 391–41679 December 2021None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 17)DVDEpisodes 417–44273 February 2022None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 18)DVDEpisodes 443–47071 March 2022None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 19)DVDEpisodes 471–49876 April 2022None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 20)DVDEpisodes 499–52673 May 2022None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 21)DVDEpisodes 527–529, 531–554718 August 2022None Crawford Productions
Cop Shop (Volume 22)DVDEpisodes 555–582725 October 2022None Crawford Productions

Broadcast

Cop Shop was originally screened in a twice weekly format on Monday and Thursdays at 20.30 in Sydney and Melbourne. At various stages of the series each city was either a week ahead or behind the other or at the same stage. Later the series changed nights in Sydney to Wednesdays and Thursdays and then Thursdays and Fridays. It was eventually screened as a two-hour weekly block in both cities on Mondays in Melbourne and Thursdays (later Saturdays) in Sydney. The final 36 episodes screened in a late night 23.30 slot in Sydney on weeknights from Monday 26 November 1984.

Cop Shop aired briefly during 1989 on the UK-based, pan-European satellite TV channel, Lifestyle. It aired during the afternoon along with another Crawfords Production, Skyways .

SeasonYearEpisodesOriginal Melbourne airdatesOriginal Sydney airdates
11977Episodes 1–101977-11-28 – 1977-12-291977-11-28 – 1977-12-29
1978Episodes 11–100 (Sydney 11–95)1978-01-02 – 1978-12-181978-01-02 – 1978-12-28 (episode 95) / 1979-01-22 (episode 100)
21979Episodes 101–189 (Sydney 96–189)1979-01-01 – 1979-12-101979-01-04 (episode 96) / 1979-01-25 (episode 101) – 1979-12-17
31980Episodes 190–2791980-01-21 – 1980-12-081980-01-28 – 1980-12-11
41981Episodes 280–3651981-01-05 – 1981-11-121981-01-08 – 1981-11-12
51982Episodes 366–451 (Sydney 366–448)1982-01-25 – 1982-11-181982-02-04 – 1982-11-11 (episode 448) / 1983-01-27 (episode 451)
61983Episodes 452–532 (Sydney 449–538)1983-01-27 – 1983-11-141983-01-20 (episode 449) 1983-01-27 (episode 452) – 1983-12-10 (episode 532) 1983-12-31 (episode 538)
71984Episodes 533–582 (Sydney 539–570)1984-01-16 – 1984-07-231983-12-17 (episode 533) 1984-01-07 (episode 539) – 1984-12-28 (episode 570)
1985Episodes 571–582 (Sydney only)Completed in July 19841985-01-01 – 1985-01-16

Producers and directors

References

  1. "Cop Shop", Australian Television Information Archive. 15 July 1999. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cop Shop", Australian Screen. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  3. Fidgeon, Patrice (5 April 1986). "Great expectations". TV Week . p. 25.