NOVA Entertainment and News Corp have joined forces to produce Police Tape, a new true crime podcast series hosted by Merrick Watts.
Part of the True Crime Australia series, Police Tape launches this Friday and will take listeners behind the scenes as Watts speaks with some of the nation’s most elite police officers about their most memorable moments on the beat, while in the process unearthing new insights about some of the biggest crimes of our times.
The podcast is a collaboration between Watts, crime editor for The Daily Telegraph, Mark Morri, and crime author and True Crime Australia editor Charles Miranda and is one of a number of new podcasts to be created by NewsCast, News Corp Australia’s new podcasting arm, announced at the company’s Come Together 2019 showcase.
Featuring blow-by-blow descriptions of the moments that mattered, the 10-part series reveals the thoughts and feelings of some of Australia’s most senior and recently retired police officers who give candid, gripping and highly personal accounts.
Emotion-charged recollections from these top-ranking officers take listeners deep inside some of the terrifying and confronting moments of their careers.
The first-hand accounts in each episode of Police Tape, recorded at The Justice & Police Museum at Circular Quay, Australia’s oldest station and courthouse, make compelling listening.
In the first episode Watts interviews former Detective Inspector Mark ‘Scarface’ Smith, the Detective on the ground who investigated the death of Australian rock idol Michael Hutchence.
The INXS frontman’s passing shocked the world and Smith takes the listener back to Room 524 and that fateful night sharing for the first time, details from over 20 years ago.
Future episodes include interviews with the cop who confronted an armed criminal on top of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and shot him dead in gridlocked traffic, the police waging war against organized gangs across Australia, the investigator behind the Keli Lane case, a star athlete with Olympic ambitions who became one of Australia’s most infamous child killers and the case of nine-year-old Ebony Simpson who was abducted and murdered on her way home from school.
Mark Morri, who has covered crime for four decades, says: “In Police Tape you’ll hear from the men and women who have rarely spoken openly about their involvement in some of Australia’s highest profile cases. Their blow-by-blow descriptions of the moments that matter will be something you’ll never forget.”
Watts says he was spellbound by the tales that were told in Police Tape. “Like so many other people, I find these stories and people fascinating. The unexpected details, the sense of “being there” and the knowledge of what law enforcement does to protect the public, intrigues me as much as anyone else. Hosting these conversations was an amazing experience.”
NOVA Entertainment’s Head of Podcasting, Jay Walkerden, says: “With News Corp Australia’s high-value assets across print and digital, and NOVA Entertainment’s expertise in audio production, combined with the scale of our combined sales force, this is the perfect partnership. Our joint focus is on creating high-quality, local productions with international appeal.”
Police Tape is sponsored by Swinburne Online, a leading provider of degrees in criminology, behavioural studies and psychology and the partnership with News Corp Australia and NOVA Entertainment presents them with a unique opportunity to reach new students allowing them to reach a national audience to help promote careers in the justice system.
More information about Swinburne online courses here.