Z Cars: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Z Cars or Z-Cars was a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

The series differed sharply from earlier police procedurals. With its less-usual Northern setting, it injected a new element of harsh realism into the image of the police, which some found unwelcome.

Z Cars ran for a total of 803 episodes, of which fewer than half have survived. Regular stars included Stratford Johns (Detective Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Sgt Watt), James Ellis (Bert Lynch) and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Barlow and Watt were later spun into a separate series "Softly, Softly".

The name Z Cars relates to an imaginary "Z" Division of the local constabulary. The theme tune was based on a traditional Liverpool folk song, and was adopted by Everton Football Club as its official anthem.

Series details

• Title: Z Cars
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime
• Premiere date: 1962-01-02
• Final broadcast date listed: 1978-09-20
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 50 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 8110
• IMDb ID: tt0129723
• TVDB ID: 76377

Cast and credited roles

• James Ellis — PC/DC/Sgt./Insp. Bert Lynch (1962–1965, 1967–1978)
• Frank Windsor — DS John Watt (1962-1965)
• Joseph Brady — PC "Jock" Weir (1962–1965, 1967-1968)
• Brian Blessed — PC "Fancy" Smith (1962–1965)
• Stratford Johns — DCI Charlie Barlow (1962–1965)
• Colin Welland — PC David Graham (1962–1965)
• Terence Edmond — PC Ian Sweet (1962–1964)
• Leonard Williams — Sgt. Percy Twentyman (1962)
• Jeremy Kemp — PC Bob Steele (1962-1963)
• Robert Keegan — Sgt. Bob Blackitt (1962–1965)
• Geoffrey Whitehead — PC Ken Baker (1964–1965)
• John Slater — DS Tom Stone (1967-1974)

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1962-01-02; final listed air date 1962-07-31; episode order: 31.
• Season 2: premiered 1962-09-19; final listed air date 1963-07-03; episode order: 42.
• Season 3: premiered 1963-09-04; final listed air date 1964-06-24; episode order: 42.
• Season 4: premiered 1964-09-09; final listed air date 1965-06-30; episode order: 43.
• Season 5: premiered 1965-10-05; final listed air date 1965-12-21; episode order: 12.
• Season 6: premiered 1967-03-06; final listed air date 1971-06-17; episode order: 416.
• Season 7: premiered 1971-08-02; final listed air date 1972-08-22; episode order: 76.
• Season 8: premiered 1972-09-11; final listed air date 1973-07-02; episode order: 40.
• Season 9: premiered 1973-10-22; final listed air date 1975-05-12; episode order: 32.
• Season 10: premiered 1976-01-05; final listed air date 1976-03-29; episode order: 13.
• Season 11: premiered 1977-04-05; final listed air date 1977-07-05; episode order: 13.
• Season 12: premiered 1978-06-28; final listed air date 1978-09-20; episode order: 13.

Source and licence

Adapted from Z Cars on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.