South African Police Drama
In the tradition of Dragnet, Calling All Cars, Lineup, and the other police drama comes South African Squad Cars. With vivacious music and a flare for drama, this show depicts police work in the most sensational form possible. Watch out assaulters and hitchhikers because the Squad Car may be coming for YOU!
South Africa's Springbok Radio has made a significant contribution to the fans of old-time radio. One of Springbok's most popular shows was, and is, Squad Cars. To put it in context for OTR fans, Squad Cars is very similar to Dragnet.
People familiar with Dragnet know that the show was a dramatization of real cases from the Los Angeles police department. Squad Cars was the same kind of show. It featured dramatizations of cases from the South African police. The show first aired in 1968 beginning on Sunday nights eventually settling in on Friday nights until it ended in 1985.
A television spinoff and a movie but neither of those did well at all. In case you want to look them up, the movie, Flying Squad, was released in 1974 and the television show, Big City Heat, debuted in 1978. In an interesting turn of events, fans preferred the radio show instead.
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