True stories gleaned from the files of the colourful Royal Canadian Mounted Police were featured on the series, R.C.M.P. For the first time in history, adventures of the red-coated "Mounties" were seen on television. The series was based on the adventures of a three-man detachment of Mounties based at the village Shamattawa. Members of the detachment were responsible for maintaining law in the village and countryside for 200 miles around.

Gilles Pelletier played Cpl. Jacques Gagnier, in charge of the detachment. The other lead Constable Frank Scott, was played by John Perkins, who left the Broadway cast of Bells Are Ringing. A third member of the detachment, Constable Mitchell, was played by Canadian actor-singer Don Francks.