Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Shows by Decade»1960s Television
    1960s Television 1970s Television Drama Shows Z 4 Mins Read

    Z Cars

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 6 2 – 1 9 7 8 (UK)
    801 x 25/50 minute episodes

    Writer Troy Kennedy Martin was confined to bed with a bout of mumps and passed his time listening to a police radio. It was then he realised that Dixon of Dock Green was out of date. He set out to create a realistic, new police series for the sixties, and thus was born Z Cars.

    zcars14

    The location was the tough dockland area of Liverpool in the north of England. He renamed Kirkby to Newtown and Seaforth to Seaport.

    The fictional Lancashire town of Newtown was an overspill estate without amenities or any sense of community.

    The series opened on 2 January 1962 with the burial of PC Reginald Farrow who had been shot on duty.

    The answer was to introduce “modern” Ford Zephyr patrol cars and ‘Z Victor One’ (the ‘Z’ stood for Zulu not Zephyr) was soon cruising around with Northerner PC William “Fancy” Smith (Brian Blessed) and Scotsman PC Jock Weir (Joseph Brady) onboard. ‘Z Victor Two’ contained Irishman PC Bert Lynch (James Ellis) and redhead PC Bob Steele (Jeremy Kemp).

    And in Z Cars, Liverpool had the type of policemen it deserved. These bobbies were no angels.

    PC Lynch liked a flutter on the horses while Constable Steele was not above a spot of wife-beating. Violence on the beat was rewarded with violence from the coppers on the beat as they encountered harsh urban realities very different from those on Dixon’s patch.

    Stories were confined to small social or criminal happenings and the series maintained an air of reality.

    Episode titles emphasised the documentary flavour: ‘Affray’, ‘Policework’, ‘A Place of Safety’, ‘Friday Night’.

    The series was transmitted live to air (with some pre-filmed inserts) from studio six at the BBC Television Centre. The live transmission gave an edge to performances and technique, and productions enjoyed the verve of an adrenaline rush. There could be as many as 15 sets per episode with actors racing between them. Men sat in half-cars with a street projected onto a screen behind them.

    Within two months, Z Cars was attracting 14 million viewers.

    In 1967, Pandas zoomed around the Newtown streets instead of Zephyrs and the series switched to colour in January 1970, with the 300th episode airing a week later.

    The two characters who created the most impact were Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow (Stratford Johns) and Detective John Watt (Frank Windsor). Barlow was a huge man, prone to the occasional spot of verbal or physical violence, while the gentler Watt was his ideal foil.

    The pair were so successful that they departed for the Regional Crime Squad and their own spin-off show, Softly Softly (1966 -1970).

    Barlow eventually gained two more series’ of his own: Barlow at Large (1971 – 1973) and Barlow (1974 – 1976) in which he was promoted eventually to Detective Chief Superintendent.

    The Police Association, the viewers (and even Jack Warner, old Dixon himself) all complained, but Z Cars ran for 16 years until 1978 when it, in turn, seemed dated when compared with shows like The Sweeney.

    zcars555

    This series moved British Television police drama into a new era of realism.  Superb casting and scripts were coupled with the BBC’s drama-documentary experience

    The late Elwyn Jones, then BBC TV Head of Series and Executive Producer of Z Cars, turned down The Beatles, before they became famous, for a background band appearance in an episode. Michael Caine turned down the part of PC Steele and future Monkees star Davy Jones appeared in three episodes. John Thaw played a detective constable who had to leave the force because he couldn’t drink hard enough in four episodes.

    The series’ memorable theme tune was adapted from a folk song called Johnny Todd (“Johnny Todd, he took a notion/For to sail the ocean wide”). The Everton football team adopted the anthem in 1963.

    zcarswelland

    DI Charlie Barlow 
    Stratford Johns
    DS John Watt 

    Frank Windsor
    PC ‘Fancy’ Smith 

    Brian Blessed
    PC Jock Weir 

    Joseph Brady
    PC/Sgt Herbert ‘Bert’ Lynch 

    James Ellis
    DI Dunn 

    Dudley Foster
    PC Bob Steele 

    Jeremy Kemp
    PC Ian Sweet 

    Terence Edmond
    Sgt Percy Twentyman 

    Leonard Wiliams
    Mary Watt 

    Gwen Cherrell
    Sgt Blackitt 

    Robert Keegan
    PC David Graham 

    Colin Welland
    Detective Supt. Miller 

    Leslie Sands
    DI Sam Hudson 

    John Barrie
    PC Ken Baker 

    Geoffrey Whitehead
    PC Raymond Walker 

    Donald Gee
    DS Tom Stone 

    John Slater
    PC Owen Culshaw 

    David Daker
    PC Alec May 

    Stephen Yardley
    WPC Jane Shepherd 

    Luanshya Greer
    PC Steve Tate 

    Sebastian Breaks
    PC Finch 

    Christopher Denham
    DI Goss 

    Derek Waring
    DC Scatliff 

    Geoffrey Hayes
    PC Quilley 

    Douglas Fielding
    WPC Parkin 

    Pauline Taylor
    WPC Jane Beck 

    Victoria Plucknett
    WPC Jill Howarth 

    Stephanie Turner
    WPC Bayliss 

    Alison Steadman
    DI Witty 

    John Woodvine
    DI Bamber 

    Leonard Rossiter
    PC Newcombe 

    Bernard Holley
    PC Roger Stevens 

    Ralph Watson
    DC Skinner 

    Ian Cullen
    DI Todd 

    Joss Ackland

    Video

    Related Posts

    • If It Moves, File It
      If It Moves, File It
      1 9 7 0 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes This London Weekend Television (LWT) production for ITV written by Troy…
    • parkinspatch5
      Parkin's Patch
      1 9 6 9 - 1 9 7 0 (UK) 26 x 30 minute episodes "501 to Control" John Flanagan played…
    • Nation's Health, The
      Nation's Health, The
      1 9 8 3 (UK) 4 x 85 minute episodes Channel 4 launched in 1982 with a promise that it would…
    • fraudsquad5
      Fraud Squad
      1 9 6 9 - 1 9 7 0 (UK) 26 x 60 minute episodes The adventures of Detective Inspector Gamble…
    • daysoflives01
      Days Of Our Lives
      1 9 6 5 - Current (USA) 13,200+ x 30/60 minute episodes "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days…
    • julietbravo00
      Juliet Bravo
      1 9 8 0 - 1 9 8 5 (UK) 82 x 50 minute episodes This British police drama series was…
    • Barlow At Large/Barlow
      Barlow At Large/Barlow
      1 9 7 1 - 1 9 7 5 (UK) The third part of the Charlie Barlow story saw the former Z…
    • Rockliffe's Babies
      Rockliffe's Babies
      1 9 8 7 - 1 9 8 8 (UK) 18 x 50 minute episodes The tough and experienced hardnosed…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleHeartbeat
    Next Article Hec Ramsey

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site
    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small.
    Thank you so much. Enjoy your trip in the time machine!
    You may also like

    • cork1
      Sergeant Cork
      1 9 6 3 - 1 9 6 8 (UK) 65 x 60 minute episodes In the melting pot of 1890s…
    • diaryofayoungman1964
      Diary of a Young Man
      1 9 6 4 (UK) 6 x 45 minute episodes Two youthful travellers from the North of England - Joe (Victor…
    • Jacks and Knaves
      Jacks and Knaves
      1 9 6 1 (UK) 4 x 50 minute episodes This short BBC comedy/drama series was based around the exploits of…
    • chinesedetective
      Chinese Detective, The
      1 9 8 1 (UK) 14 x 50 minute episodes An intelligent police series written by Sweeney creator Ian Kennedy Martin, The Chinese Detective starred…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.