The Growing Pains of PC Penrose (1975)

Concept and creative process

‘The Growing Pains of PC Penrose’ was a series of seven sitcoms by Roy Clarke based on the character of rookie police constable Penrose, played by Paul Greenwood. Roy Clarke successfully developed the concept further between 1977-81 with four more series under the title ‘Rosie’, the nickname of PC Penrose. The titles for the 1975 series were specially shot to establish Penrose’s meticulous attention to the smartness of his uniform, shown in some detail in cameo shots, seen as ‘picture in picture’ in an optical sequence which used the PC’s notebook as a vignette. The notebook was also the background for the programme title where it was depicted animating on on a new page.