Flashpoint is a Canadian police procedural television series created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern about an elite tactical unit, called the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), within a Canadian metropolitan police force tasked to resolve extreme situations that regular officers are not trained to handle including hostage-taking, bomb threats and heavily armed criminals.
Equipped with high-tech tools and a cache of weapons and explosives, members use negotiation tactics and intuition to try to avoid the use of force.
The series aired in Canada on CTV from 11 July, 2008 to 13 December, 2012. There are 75 hour-long episodes in five seasons.
Flashpoint premiered in South Africa on DStv's Hallmark channel (which became Universal Channel in March 2010) on Wednesday 21 January 2009, at 21h00. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 4 premiered on Universal Channel on Monday 29 July 2013, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast in a double bill, weekly. There are 18 episodes in the fourth season.
Synopsis
The Strategic Response Unit (inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force) is a team of elite cops who are the blueblood of the force. High risk is their business and life-and-death stakes are their world.
The SRU team rescue hostages, bust gangs, defuse bombs, climb buildings, see through walls and talk down suicidal teens.
It takes years on the street, intense physical conditioning and elite marksmanship for members to qualify for the SRU. They have to prove that they’re at the top of their game on a daily basis.
The group uses state-of-the-art equipment (sniper rifles, snake-cameras, robots, flash-bangs, night-vision and tasers) and most importantly, they read emotion, use their human intuition and need the gift of words to get inside the minds of those they're battling.
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Seasons
Note: Hallmark became Universal Channel on Wednesday, 24 March, 2010.
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Channel: Hallmark | Premiere: 21 Jan 2009 | Finale: 15 Apr 2009 | Wed, 21h00
Season 2 (18 episodes)
Channel: Hallmark | Premiere: 1 Oct 2009 | Finale: 28 Jan 2010 | Thu, 21h00
Season 3 (13 episodes)
Channel: Universal Channel | Premiere: 31 Jan 2011 | Finale: 25 Apr 2011 | Mon, 20h50
Season 4 (18 episodes)
Channel: Universal Channel | Premiere: 29 Jul 2013 | Finale: 23 Sep 2013 | Mon, 20h00