Z Cars

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.

As an American who spent part of his childhood in England in the early 70's, I distinctly remember this show being a real snoozer, especially when compared to the much better American cop shows of the time (Hawaii Five O, Ironsides, etc.) For whatever reason, Brits just have never been much good at making crime and crime fighting interesting, whether on TV or the big screen, after all, I recently rented the DVD "Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels" and it sucked, mostly a lame rip-off of the far superior "Pulp Fiction". Maybe the problem is that we Americans just have much better criminals, more ruthless, greedy, and inventive and, as a result, American cops have to be much better as well to catch them, it sounds goofy but it's about the only theory I can think of that makes sense .......

Unlike other contributors I do not know the technical details of the series production. However at the time this series was transmitted I remember the characters manifesting as strong, tough, reliable types. Chaps you would have liked to have with you in a tight spot. Awkward social issues were tackled in a no nonsense manner. Unlike their TV counterparts of today they seemed to have their minds, for the most part, on the job. Sympathy was extended to victims, and others caught up in crimes. Villains were regarded and dealt with as a sub-species. No quarter was expected or given.

Nice touches as well. At the end of one episode, the optimistic search for a child ended with it being found dead from natural causes. The end titles were played in silence. Today you would have some cretinus announcer talking over the same titles, giving us a blow by blow account of the next programme.

Sadly the series did become a victim of its own success. It ran for far to long. The final series(1977-8) was a shadow of its former self. Reduced from 50 to 30 minutes and containing to many new characters it lacked history and credibility.

In many respects, a landmark TV series - changing the image of police as seen on TV, changes in real policing (from bobby-on-the-beat to patrol cars), bringing serious social problems to the screen for the first time - this series captured a time and place with clarity, making these episodes a very valuable treasure - I hope they haven't been dumped or let rot somewhere! The series was also valuable in the opportunities it gave many brilliant writers to develop their skills.

The show succeeded in its two goals, exciting police action drama, and gritty social drama (with just a drop of humour when needed); the best of the police action thread followed Barlow (played by Stratford Johns) into the spin-off series Softly, Softly - Task Force, and later: Barlow at Large. Unforgettable music. The forgettable bit was why the car numbers all started Z - V; I think Zed (not Zee; this was British) was for (Ford) Zephyr.

(With apologies to Toody and Muldoon) I wonder: Zed Victor One, where are you, now? I suspect few episodes survive.

Now I realise (finally) how old I am. Here we have the greatest crime serial/series ever screened in the UK, which ran for 667 episodes yet not ONE in 20 million visitors to IMDb has sought to comment on it? If ever the expression "F--- me" had relevance, this is it! (and I apologise for the profanity!)

"Z cars" was simply essential viewing. An innovative crime show like nothing had ever been seen on TV. Hard, raw, how it really WAS for Z-Victor One and two. Why "Z" cars? simple! because the cops drove Ford Zephyrs...at the time probably the quickest of the English sedans. For years, my own father lusted after a Zephyr but died long before he could ever own one. A quarter of a century later, I bought one in Australia for $295 and that car kept us mobile for three years. I called it Z-Victor 3!

"Z Cars" was a demographic of underworld life in the Midlands and the hands-on Police methods used to combat what was seen then as a spiralling crime-wave! Frank Windsor as Detective John Watt, James Ellis as PC Lynch, Brian Blessed as "Fancy" Smith, Jeremy Kemp as PC Bob Steele and Joseph Brady as "Jock" Weir became household names. So too was Stratford Johns as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow who was so popular, he ended up with his own spin-off series BARLOW AT LARGE.

This was the 60's and I tell you, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!