POLICE vampires, werewolves, zombies and River City stars. . .

Just another Saturday on a Glasgow street.

That is if you’ve been watching Cops and Monsters.

It’s the new internet series set in near-future Scotland, which follows the (mis)fortunes of the Paranormal Investigation Team Scotland.

The first series of Cops and Monsters has proved to be a massive hit, streaming on Amazon Prime UK, US and Amazon Instant Video.

Now, Series Two is set to be filmed and the likes of River City stars Barbara Rafferty, Stephen Purdon and Louise McMenemy have joined the cast.

It’s a massive success story for the producers of the series, Fraser Coull and Lindsay Dowell, who have begun from a basis of having no money.

“We crowdfunded £15,000 between 2015 and 2017 to produce eight episodes of Series One,” says Fraser.

“Thankfully, we had stars in the show such as Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who), James Mackenzie (Raven) and Billy Kirkwood (award-winning stand-up comedian) which helped us sell it on.”

Fraser, who grew up in Langbank, currently works as a freelance Runner for BBC Scotland.

“I’ve got my toe in the door of the film business,” he says, smiling.

“But I’ve been writing since I was five years old.”

He adds; “I was always told at school I had an over-active imagination. But that’s worked out for me.

“And what has come across to me since beginning this project is the incredible wealth of talent and stories Scotland has to tell.

“It’s just a question of bringing it all together.

Fraser, 34, feels it’s been fantastic to create a future Glasgow.

“As for the vampires, well I grew up watching Buffy, and Taggart.

“And I’ve always been a big fan of the likes of Dr Who? So why not combine the genres?”

Why not indeed? Fraser Coull and Lindsay Dowell have now been producing since 2011 when they made a feature film, Night Is Day.

It’s a superhero film set in Glasgow, of course which they now hope to take onto Amazon Prime.

“But our passion at the moments is Cops and Monsters. We feel it can really develop.

“The way it’s produced is that we work out what each episode costs to make, around £4,500.

“Then I spend sixty days of my life begging strangers to give us money.

“Thankfully, it’s been working so far.”

Fraser adds; “We’ve secured Bafta winner and Wolfblood creator Debbie Moon to write our first new episode,” says Fraser.

“We also have Bafta-winner Laura Anne Anderson joining the writing team alongside Big Finish Doctor Who writer, Philip Lawrence.”

Mrs Brown star Gary Hollywood has already invested in the new series.

“Gary wanted to come on board to help us make sure the show gets made and proper exposure.

“He has just bought our Executive Producer perk at £1000, which is fantastic.”

Fraser says he’s working hard to attract the attention of Scotland’s major television platforms.

“We’ve been working on securing bigger guest star names to help promote the show,” he says.

“We want to show the BBC and STV that Scotland can produce quality supernatural/sci-fi shows, and not just soaps and drug/crime dramas.

“We want to show them what can be done with relatively little money, and huge amounts of imagination.”

The storylines for Series 2 sees Louise McMenemy (Frankie in River City) playing Ava McIntyre, a werewolf acitivists who heads a group of vampires and zombies.

The army are called in and River City star Stephen Purdon arrives in the form Private Colin Jack Bissett.

Meanwhile, core cast members include Ellen Patterson, Innes Anderson and Chris Bain.

To develop the concept, the producers are continuing their Kickstarter campaign.

“The more we raise, the better,” says Fraser.

“Overall we need around £30,000 to allow us to shoot all six episodes.

“That will allow us to pay cast and crew.”

He adds; “The efforts of the acting community have been fantastic.

“It’s great to see their commitment to this project. And we hope the major TV companies recognise what we’ve achieved so far.”

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nightisdaymovie/cops-and-monsters-uprising-episode-1-remembrance