Purple Productions secures new order for C5's Motorway Cops and takes the series stateside for Paramount +

Following on from the ratings success of Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders on Channel 5, Manchester based Purple Productions have secured two new commissions for their Motorway Cops brand including a six-part US adaptation for Paramount + and a bumper recommission of 20x60 episodes of the UK version with a new police force.

The new series of Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders on Channel 5 will follow Northumbria Police as they patrol the roads in the North East of England. Serving a population of over 1.5 million people in a 2,000 square mile radius, Northumbria Police cover one of the most geographically diverse patches in the UK. Bringing law and order to the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland and tackling rural crime across acres of beautiful countryside. Northumbria’s police officers travel over 21,000 miles a day, from the stunning Northumberland coastline, up to Hadrian’s Wall and across to the border with Cumbria. Whether it’s a Friday night crackdown on illegal taxi drivers, catching up with stolen cars in the early hours of Saturday or Sunday tourists on speeding motorbikes, for Northumbria Police’s Motorway Cops, no two days are the same.

Moving state-side, Motorway Cops USA will ride along with the New Jersey cops as they police some of the most dangerous highways in America. New Jersey is ranked the worst place to drive in the US. With almost 40,000 miles of roads, and traffic-related deaths at their highest in 15 years, Motorway Cops USA will turn a spotlight on the state’s worst drivers as well as the offenders causing havoc on its roads. Alongside exclusive access to two New Jersey police departments the series will feature jaw dropping real-life dashcam footage of America’s bad drivers.

Purple’s Pam Cavannagh and Dympna Jackson said: “Motorway Cops has been such a big hit with UK audiences, these commissions mark an exciting new chapter for the series. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Channel 5 again and bringing Northumbria Police on board for another instalment of the UK series, as well as taking the Motorway Cops across the pond for a US edition with Paramount+. We can’t wait to showcase the incredible work of these police officers in their fight to keep roads safe.”

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders continues on Channel 5 in the UK. Motorway Cops USA was commissioned by Daniel Pearl and Adrian Padmore for Paramount+. The executive producers are Pam Cavannagh, Dympna Jackson and Zoë Callan. For the US, producer is Katharine McCallum and Producer/Directors are Aaron Lloyd and Sam Bebbington. For the UK, the Series Producer is Johnny Perks and the Producer/Directors are Emma