Z Cars 

A gritty drama which follows the work of the police force in the fictional town of Newtown in the North of England.

Stars:

James Ellis, John Slater, Douglas Fielding

2 wins.

Cast

Series cast summary:
James Ellis	...	Sgt. Lynch / ... 627 episodes, 1962-1978
John Slater	...	Det. Sgt. Stone 421 episodes, 1967-1974
Douglas Fielding	...	PC Quilley / ... 340 episodes, 1969-1978
Bernard Holley	...	PC Newcombe / ... 277 episodes, 1967-1971

Storyline

A gritty drama which follows the work of the police force in the fictional town of Newtown in the North of England.

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Plot Keywords:

british | police | 1960s | 1970s | england | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Z-Victor 1, reg. KTJ 578, was Smith and Weir; Z-Victor 2 (348 VTB) was Lynch and Steele, latterly Graham.

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Goofs

Whilst taping 'moving vehicle' shots in studio, as technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is currently, it was so much simpler to use a 'stripped' version of the vehicles involved. Many such were missing their entire front ends and windscreens to facilitate both filming and sound recording. Continuous film was played on the screen behind, to give the impression that the vehicle was actually on the move during recording. Immediately after one such shot, actor Brian Blessed (PC 'Fancy' Smith) stepped out of the Z-car, and, having left his cap on the dashboard, reached in through the vacant windscreen space to retrieve it. Blessed himself spoke of this during a talk show some years later, but apparently neither the film crew nor the director noticed.

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Featured in Ford's Dagenham Dream (2009)

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Soundtracks

Z Cars Theme
Composed by Bridget Fry

User Reviews

Loved this show.

This was ground-breaking TV. I only realized this later living in North America and seeing a "new wave" of crime shows post Starsky & Hutch and Miami Vice. Shows like Law and Order, CSI and The Wire are great programs but Z Cars was created thirty years before them and got people wanting a more gritty cop show. Growing up outside of Belfast, I was also drawn to it as it had an Ulster actor in the cast. At a time when Irish actors were only allowed to play drunken thugs and terrorists, it was great to see one play a good guy. Sadly it was unique in that respect and Irish characters/actors were still largely banned to those roles for the next twenty years.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 1962 (UK)

Also Known As:

Z Cars

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min (462 episodes) 50 min (337 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (1962-1970) Color (1970-1978)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1