HASN'T Scotland been calling out for a new detective drama in which the cops are monsters?

And by 'monsters', that doesn't mean they're just a little insensitive.

Writer and director Amy Hoff certainly thinks so.

And now she and her company, Cult Classic Theatre, have created a new internet-only drama, Caledonia, set in Glasgow.

The series, which broadcasts a new episode every other Wednesday, tells the story of young recently divorced detective, Leah Bishop (played by Vharri Lavery.)

When Leah is transferred to Glasgow from Edinburgh, she arrives at her new police HQ and quickly realises all it's not as it should be.

"Her Detective Inspector Dorian Grey (Alastair Reavey) isn't human," says Amy, smiling.

"In fact, Leah soon learns many of her colleagues are in fact creatures from another world."

But there's been a murder in the supernatural world. In fact, a series of them. And the faery cops reckon Leah's skills as a folklorist will come in handy in solving the crimes.

It's most certainly not a copy of River City.

"No, it's not," says Amy, smiling. "It's noir and funny. But primarily I wanted to do a tongue in cheek drama which is also affectionate."

Amy adds: "It's very self-aware. When Leah first meets Dorian, she goes through a portal into the other world. Or at least, we think she does. She soon discovers it's just a cupboard.

"The series is magical, in a low budget way, and it's meant to be very light-hearted. Even though it's about serial killing."

The writer, who filmed the supernatural cop drama over a six-month period, explains why she felt compelled to create something so unique.

"I'm being studying Scottish history folklore for several years now and I've been fascinated by how the world perceives Scotland," she admits.

"There exists this fantastical, shortbread tin image so many people have of the country.

"At the same time I've lived in Glasgow for years and seen the harder side of the city. And I've seen some really interesting things.

"It somehow made sense for me to come up with a series that captured the hard reality of the city, but at the same time make it dark."

Amy, who lives in Glasgow's West End, grew up in Minnesota and came to Scotland to finish her PhD in Scottish Folklore.

In recent years she has gone on to teach Scottish Identity at Glasgow University.

She's certainly a lady who likes artistic challenges. Her band of theatre brothers - and sisters - Cult Classic Theatre, founded in 2010, has already had considerable success with their demanding adaptations such as The Man In The Iron Mask, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Good Omens, the Terry Pratchett story featuring the birth of Satan.

Then came the web series.

"I love theatre and novels," she says. "So I wrote a series of comedy novels based on this detective idea, set in Glasgow in which I could have fun modern side of the city, and the Brigadoon image."

Amy turned her books into a film script. And while her arts collective didn't have a huge budget with which to create the eight, 10-minute episode series, they pulled resources to make it happen.

"We aren't rolling in money," she says with a wry grin.

"We managed to use the actors in our theatre company of course. And thankfully, a couple were looking for an excuse to buy nice digital cameras.

"All in all, we had a lot of people helping. And the collective has its own energy."

She adds, grinning: "It's expensive to film a drama series. But if you're prepared to eat a lot of noodles you can make it work. And we all feel the effort has been worthwhile."

n www.caledoniaseries.co.uk