Boney - Following the Footprints of a Lost Television Series

by Roger Mitchell

“A black policeman? It’s against the laws of nature!”


Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte has an Aboriginal father and a white mother. He tracks murderers by spotting an overturned twig or a crushed ant on the sand. He’s a loner who never fails to crack a case. He’s charming but arrogant, hates authority, is an expert burglar. He moves in a world of sunbaked claypans and in the deepest reaches of the Outback where no white person could survive.

The “Boney” TV series, based on Arthur Upfield’s novels and shot in Australia in 1971, brought viewers a unique and fascinating TV hero, and was a hit around the world. Now it seems to have totally disappeared. What happened?

Using exclusive interviews with the producers, directors and controversial star, James Laurenson, this book reveals the making of “Boney”, with details of every episode, plus an overview of Upfield’s novels.

It explores the Aboriginal history that made a mixed-race detective so unlikely at the time, uncovers the old cultural battles that still surround it, and digs up the evidence on the great television mystery that seems to bury “Boney” even today.

270 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2025