Percy the Policeman - Full Series

Aimed at children, this madcap comedy features Bruno Lawrence as a wily burglar, and Bill Stalker as the inept policeman on his tail. The five short episodes feature silent movie style chases and physical comedy. The NZ Broadcasting Corporation refused to screen the show, worried that it ridiculed the police. Percy the Policeman was a collaboration between Goodbye Pork Pie director Geoff Murphy and Pacific Films founder John O'Shea. The big chase in episode two ropes in John Clarke in a wheelchair, along with many of the people who worked on the show. Percy began as a series of books Murphy created for his primary school classes, when he was a teacher. Check out the episode guide here.

I discovered that a significant proportion of my class, mostly boys, was suffering from serious reading difficulties ... there was a dearth of reading material of limited vocabulary designed for 10-year-old boys ... I decided that I would write some books that might appeal to them...

– Geoff Murphy on writing the original Percy the Policeman stories for his pupils at Newtown School, in his 2015 autobiography A Life on Film, page 125

Key Cast & Crew

John O'Shea

Producer

Martyn Sanderson

As: Chief of Police

Geoff Murphy

Director, Writer

Bruno Lawrence

Musician, As: Burglar Bill

Ian Watkin

Narrator

Bill Stalker

As: Percy the Policeman