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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1960s TV Shows - 1970s 4 Mins Read

    Z Cars

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    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 It was then he realised that Dixon of Dock GreenΒ was out of date.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.

    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 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.

    zcars555

    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.

    zcarswelland

    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

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