''Mortimer's Patch'' was a popular

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

from the early 1980s. It depicted

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

work in the fictional town of 'Cobham'. It was filmed in and around

Helensville, New Zealand Helensville () is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauku to the south, and Kauk ...

..The series was New Zealand’s first police drama, and it topped the ratings. There was a total of three seasons.

Cast

Main

Terence Cooper Terence Cooper (5 July 1933 – 16 September 1997) was a British film actor, best known for his roles in Australian and New Zealand television and film. Biography Born in 1933 at Carnmoney, a district of the modern-day borough of Newtownabbey ...

as Det Sgt Doug Mortimer *

Sean Duffy Sean Patrick Duffy (born October 3, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, former prosecutor, and former television personality who has served as the 20th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation sinc ...

as Const Dave Gilchrist * Don Selwyn as Sgt Bob Storey

Recurring

* Bruce Allpress as Sparkey *

Martyn Sanderson Martyn Sanderson (24 February 1938 – 14 October 2009) was a New Zealand actor, director, producer, writer and poet. Sanderson was described as one of the founding fathers of modern theatre in New Zealand. In New Zealand he had appearances i ...

as Major Stark

Guests

* Jim Hickey as Mechanic *

Marshall Napier James Marshall Napier (22 October 1951 – 14 August 2022) was a New Zealand-born character actor, playwright and graphic artist. He is known for a succession of strong supporting roles in Australasian films and television shows. He also had a ...

as Lance Harris *

Peter Cummins Donald Cummins (2 June 1931 – October 2024), better known as Peter Cummins, was an Australian actor of stage and screen and chorister who was especially prominent in the 1970s and appeared in some of the most famous Australian films of the pe ...

as Johnny Morgan *

Roy Billing Roy Harwood Billing (born 1947) is a New Zealand television actor, now based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. He was brought up in Ruawai, Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Billing spent almost three decades living and working in Austral ...

as Ron Bailey *

Temuera Morrison Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor who first gained recognition in his home country for playing Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera ''Shortland Street''. He garnered critical acclaim for starring as Jake "The M ...

as Alamein

References

External links

''Mortimer's Patch'' at the IMDb databaseFirst episode at NZonscreen.com
New Zealand drama television series 1980s New Zealand television series 1980 New Zealand television series debuts 1984 New Zealand television series endings TVNZ original programming Detective television series {{NewZealand-tv-prog-stub