1 9 6 2 – 1 9 7 8Β (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 It was then he realised that Dixon of Dock GreenΒ was out of date. He set out to create a realistic, new police series for the sixties, and thus was bornΒ Z Cars.
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 inΒ 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,Β Z CarsΒ 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,Β Softly SoftlyΒ (1966 -1970).
Barlow eventually gained two more series’ of his own:Β Barlow at LargeΒ (1971 – 1973) andΒ BarlowΒ (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, butΒ Z Cars ran for 16 years until 1978 when it, in turn, seemed dated when compared with shows like The Sweeney.
This series moved British Television police drama into a new era of realism.Β 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 ofΒ Z Cars, turned downΒ 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 calledΒ Johnny Todd (“Johnny Todd, he took a notion/For to sail the ocean wide”). The Everton football team adopted the anthem in 1963.
DI Charlie BarlowΒ
Stratford Johns
DS John WattΒ
Frank Windsor
PC ‘Fancy’ SmithΒ
Brian Blessed
PC Jock WeirΒ
Joseph Brady
PC/Sgt Herbert ‘Bert’ LynchΒ
James Ellis
DI DunnΒ
Dudley Foster
PC Bob SteeleΒ
Jeremy Kemp
PC Ian SweetΒ
Terence Edmond
Sgt Percy TwentymanΒ
Leonard Wiliams
Mary WattΒ
Gwen Cherrell
Sgt BlackittΒ
Robert Keegan
PC David GrahamΒ
Colin Welland
Detective Supt. MillerΒ
Leslie Sands
DI Sam HudsonΒ
John Barrie
PC Ken BakerΒ
Geoffrey Whitehead
PC Raymond WalkerΒ
Donald Gee
DS Tom StoneΒ
John Slater
PC Owen CulshawΒ
David Daker
PC Alec MayΒ
Stephen Yardley
WPC Jane ShepherdΒ
Luanshya Greer
PC Steve TateΒ
Sebastian Breaks
PC FinchΒ
Christopher Denham
DI GossΒ
Derek Waring
DC ScatliffΒ
Geoffrey Hayes
PC QuilleyΒ
Douglas Fielding
WPC ParkinΒ
Pauline Taylor
WPC Jane BeckΒ
Victoria Plucknett
WPC Jill HowarthΒ
Stephanie Turner
WPC BaylissΒ
Alison Steadman
DI WittyΒ
John Woodvine
DI BamberΒ
Leonard Rossiter
PC NewcombeΒ
Bernard Holley
PC Roger StevensΒ
Ralph Watson
DC SkinnerΒ
Ian Cullen
DI ToddΒ
Joss Ackland