Citizendia
Your Ad Here

For other meanings, see Zed-car.
Z Cars
Image:Z cars title.jpg
Opening title logo
Format Police procedural
Created by Troy Kennedy Martin
Allan Prior
Starring James Ellis
Brian Blessed
Stratford Johns
Frank Windsor
Jeremy Kemp
Joseph Brady
Colin Welland
Country of origin UK
No. The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a Police force as they investigate Crimes Troy Kennedy Martin (born in Scotland in 1932 and educated at Finchley Grammar School (now known as Finchley Catholic High School and Trinity College Dublin Allan Prior (13 January 1922 Newcastle upon Tyne - 1 June 2006 was an English television script writer and novelist with over 300 television scripts to his name James Ellis (born March 15, 1931, Belfast) is an actor from Northern Ireland who has been a regular on the television screen for more than forty-five Brian Blessed (pronounced /ˈblɛsɪd/ born 9 October 1937) is an English Actor, Author and Adventurer, widely recognised Stratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, ( 22 September 1925 - 29 January, 2002) was a popular British stage Frank Windsor (born Frank W Higgins 12 July 1927, Walsall, West Midlands) is an English actor mainly on television Jeremy Kemp (born 3 January 1935) is an English actor He is perhaps best known for his role as PC Bob Steele in the BBC Television Joseph Brady ( 9 October 1928, Glasgow - 12 June 2001) was a Scottish actor Colin Welland (born 4 July 1934 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire) is an English Actor and Screenwriter. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located  of episodes 667
Production
Running time 25 minutes & 45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original run January 2, 1962 – September 20, 1978
External links
IMDb profile

Z-Cars (sometimes written as Z Cars) was a British television drama series centred on the work of regular beat police officers in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool, in the north-west of England. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Kirkby ( IPA /ˈkɝbiː/ — the second "k" is silent is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley on Merseyside in England Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1, it debuted in January 1962 and ran for 16 years until September 1978. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Owing to an administrative quirk, for the first few years of its existence it was produced by the BBC's documentary department rather than the drama department. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality

The programme was created by writers Troy Kennedy Martin and Allan Prior with producer Elwyn Jones, and was a deliberate attempt to create a more realistic portrayal of modern policing than had been seen on British television before. Troy Kennedy Martin (born in Scotland in 1932 and educated at Finchley Grammar School (now known as Finchley Catholic High School and Trinity College Dublin Allan Prior (13 January 1922 Newcastle upon Tyne - 1 June 2006 was an English television script writer and novelist with over 300 television scripts to his name Elwyn Jones ( 19 December 1923 &ndash May 19 1982) was a British Television writer and producer whose best-known work This was a conscious antidote to the BBC's established police drama, Dixon of Dock Green, which portrayed a very 'safe' and 'cosy' image of a stereotypical 'British bobby'. Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series, which ran from 1955 to 1976 and later a radio series The main writers included John Hopkins (who also became script editor) and Alan Plater. John Hopkins (sometimes credited as John R Hopkins) ( January 27, 1931 &ndash July 23 1998) was an English Film A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted Television programmes usually dramas and comedies Alan Frederick Plater CBE (born 15 April 1935 is an English Playwright and Screenwriter, who has worked extensively in British television from The writing team created a 'kitchen sink realism' style of scripting unknown on British television at that time. Kitchen sink realism was an English cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Theatre, Art, Novels Film The Z-Cars theme tune was arranged by Fritz Spiegl from the traditional folk song Johnny Todd. Theme from Z-Cars was the theme tune to the long running BBC television drama Z-Cars. Fritz Spiegl ( 27 January 1926 - 23 March 2003) was born at Zurndorf, Austria, the son of an agricultural merchant and his Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous At home matches the Liverpool based football team, Everton, play the theme as the players enter the field of play. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Everton Football Club is an English football club located in the city of Liverpool.

In a 2000 poll of industry professionals to find the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century conducted by the British Film Institute, Z-Cars was voted into 63rd place. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The British Film Institute ( BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film television It was also included in an alphabetical list of the forty greatest TV shows published in Radio Times magazine in August 2003. For the US radio series see WHYY-FM. Radio Times is the BBC 's weekly Television and Radio programme Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

Plot

Contrary to popular belief the term does not come from the model name of the cars used: Ford Zephyrs and Ford Zodiacs. In fact the Zodiac was never used by UK police services, being essentially an upscale fancy-badged Zephyr. These saloons were fast for their time, place, and cost. The Zephyr was for some years the standard road patrol, ie traffic car (not the same as 'crime car') used by Lancashire and many other Police Services. The term comes from the call signs allocated by the then Lancashire Constabulary and consisting of the Divisional letter in NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet. In Lancashire in those days police divisions were lettered from the north to the south of the county thus A Division (DHQ Ulverston) was the detached part of the county around Barrow in Furness (since 1977 part of Cumbria), B was Lancaster and so on, letters further into the alphabet were in the south of the county around the Manchester and Liverpool conurbations. Crime cars were manned by uniformed personnel but had a focus on crime rather than traffic or general police duties. eg The two crime cars in P, Stretford Division to the west of Manchester were designated Z-Papa1 and Z-Papa2; There was no V Division and the TV series took the non-existent callsigns Z-Victor 1 and Z-Victor 2 for the storyline.

The stories the series depicted would frequently revolve around the activities of the pairs of officers patrolling that particular week. Riding on the crest of a wave of changing social attitudes and a changing television era, the social realism of Z-Cars, coupled with the interesting police storylines, garnered huge popularity for the programme, although it was initially somewhat less popular with the real-life police force who disliked the sometimes unsympathetic characterisation of officers. Being set outside of London in the North of England also helped give it a distinctly regional flavour, something rarely seen on British television at the time, when most BBC dramas were made and set in the south. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

The one character to stay present throughout the entire run of Z-Cars was Bert Lynch, played by James Ellis (though John Phillips as Det. James Ellis (born March 15, 1931, Belfast) is an actor from Northern Ireland who has been a regular on the television screen for more than forty-five William John Phillips MC, ( 20 July 1914 - 11 May 1995) was a British actor Chief Supt. Robins would reappear sporadically during the show's run - by the end of the series he had become Chief Constable!). Other major characters in the early days of the programme were Stratford Johns (Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Stratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, ( 22 September 1925 - 29 January, 2002) was a popular British stage Frank Windsor (born Frank W Higgins 12 July 1927, Walsall, West Midlands) is an English actor mainly on television Sgt Watt), Robert Keegan (Sgt Blackitt), Joseph Brady (PC 'Jock' Weir) and Brian Blessed ('Fancy' Smith). Joseph Brady ( 9 October 1928, Glasgow - 12 June 2001) was a Scottish actor Brian Blessed (pronounced /ˈblɛsɪd/ born 9 October 1937) is an English Actor, Author and Adventurer, widely recognised Blessed went on to become a popular film actor also, appearing in films such as Flash Gordon (1980), Henry V (1989), Hamlet (1996) and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). Flash Gordon is a 1980 Science fiction film, based on the Eponymous Comic strip character Flash Gordon (Gordon Ferrao Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Henry V is a 1989 film directed by Kenneth Branagh, and based upon the Shakespeare play about the famous English King Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare 's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Star Wars Episode I Phantom Menace is a 1999 military sci-fi film written and directed by George Lucas. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Also appearing in 1960s episodes as David Graham was Colin Welland, who went on to become a scriptwriter, winning an Academy Award for Chariots of Fire in 1981, upon receipt of which he delivered the famous "the British are coming!" speech. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Colin Welland (born 4 July 1934 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire) is an English Actor and Screenwriter. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. For the instrumental theme see Chariots of Fire (instrumental. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Other well known British actors who played regular roles in the early years of the series included John Thaw and Leonard Rossiter. John Edward Thaw CBE ( 3 January, 1942 &ndash 21 February, 2002) was an English Actor, who made his début Leonard Rossiter ( 21 October 1926 &ndash 5 October 1984) was an English Actor known for his role as Rupert Rigsby

Episodes

Z-Cars ran for 667 episodes in total. The original run came to an end in 1965; The characters of Barlow, Watt and Blackitt were spun-off into a new series Softly, Softly. Softly Softly was a British Television drama series produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966 Z Cars, however, was revived in March 1967 with only James Ellis and Joseph Brady returning from the original show. James Ellis (born March 15, 1931, Belfast) is an actor from Northern Ireland who has been a regular on the television screen for more than forty-five Joseph Brady ( 9 October 1928, Glasgow - 12 June 2001) was a Scottish actor The revival was produced by the serials department of the BBC in a twice-weekly soap opera format of 25-minute long episodes. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. It ran continuously until April 1971 (in colour from early 1970) then returned to a regular season pattern of 50-minute episodes for its final years. Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar.

Lost Episodes

As with many British television programmes of the era, Z-Cars is incomplete in the archives. 1962-5 is reasonably well represented in the archives, though with big gaps in the run. With the 1967 revival, material becomes more patchy. 1967, 1969 and 1970 each have small numbers of surviving episodes. The individual years 1968 and 1971, when the series was being shown almost every week, have no surviving episodes at all. Nevertheless, by luck, around half of the total number of episodes survive.

The original series was one of the very last British television dramas to be screened live regularly — already a rare practice by the time the programme began in 1962. "Live TV" redirects here For the British TV station formerly known by this name see L!VE TV. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It was felt that this helped the immediacy and pace of the programme, and episodes were being transmitted live as late as 1965, despite occasional "bloopers" such as cameras appearing in shot while moving around the set. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Most were videotaped for repeat transmission, but the BBC regularly wiped tapes after the programmes were thought to have exceeded their usefulness, as agreements with various unions meant that they could only be shown a limited number of times. Wiping or junking is an economic move by Radio and Television companies in which old Audiotapes Videotapes and Telerecordings The amount of space needed to store the large videotapes of the time, as well as the expense of them when they could be re-used more cheaply, were also factors.

However most episodes were 'telerecorded'. Telerecording (known as kinescoping in the USA) is the British name for a process pioneered during the 1940s for the storing of electronically-shot This was a fairly primitive (by today's standards) way of preserving a transmission by filming it (to 16mm film) from a specially-adapted monitor screen. Telerecordings could also be used for repeat broadcasts, and, more importantly, for overseas sales. Although foreign buyers were supposed either to return, destroy or forward these telerecordings, many were just archived and have slowly filtered back to the BBC over the years.

One telerecording of an early episode was returned to writer Allan Prior in the 1980s by an engineer who had taken it home to preserve it because his children had always enjoyed the programme so much and he could not bring himself to destroy it. Telerecording (known as kinescoping in the USA) is the British name for a process pioneered during the 1940s for the storing of electronically-shot The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Other early episodes have been returned to the archives by foreign broadcasters from countries such as Cyprus and the search for lost episodes of sister BBC program Doctor Who has also occasionally turned up lost Z-Cars episodes (according to the documentary Doctor Who: The Missing Years, included on the BBC Video DVD release Doctor Who: Lost in Time). Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Two episodes were returned in 2004 after turning up in a private collection. Unfortunately, colour episodes from the early 1970s are less likely to be recovered, as they were never telerecorded for export.

A list of lost & surviving episodes can be found on the missing episodes web-site.

After Z Cars

The spin-off, Softly, Softly focused on the activities of the regional crime squad, and ran until 1969, when it was again revised and became Softly, Softly: Taskforce, running in this form until 1976. Softly Softly was a British Television drama series produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966 Softly Softly (a spin off from Z-Cars) the popular BBC television police drama series was revamped in 1969 partly to co-incide The character of Barlow (Stratford Johns) was one of the best-known figures in British television in the 60s and 70s, and was given several seasons of his own "solo" series, Barlow at Large (later just Barlow) between 1971-5. Stratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, ( 22 September 1925 - 29 January, 2002) was a popular British stage Johns had previously played Barlow in the Z Cars, Softly Softly and Softly Softly Taskforce series on BBC television during Johns had previously played Barlow in the Z Cars, Softly Softly and Softly Softly Taskforce series on BBC television during He also joined forces with Watt (Frank Windsor) to re-investigate the Jack the Ripper murders for a 6-part series in 1973. Frank Windsor (born Frank W Higgins 12 July 1927, Walsall, West Midlands) is an English actor mainly on television Jack the Ripper is a six-part BBC television drama made in 1973 in which the case of the Jack the Ripper murders is reopened and analysed by Detective This led to another spin-off series, Second Verdict in which Barlow and Watt looked into other unsolved cases and unsafe convictions from the past. Second Verdict was a six-part BBC television series from 1976 of dramatised documentaries in which classic criminal cases and unsolved crimes from history were re-appraised

Frank Windsor made one final appearance as Watt in the last episode of Z Cars, 'Pressure', in September 1978, with Robins (John Phillips), the Detective Chief Superintendent from the original series who had risen to become chief constable. Frank Windsor (born Frank W Higgins 12 July 1927, Walsall, West Midlands) is an English actor mainly on television Z-Cars (sometimes written as Z Cars) was a British Television drama series centred on the work of beat police in the fictional William John Phillips MC, ( 20 July 1914 - 11 May 1995) was a British actor A number of other actors from the early days of the series also made guest appearances, but not as their original characters.

Cast

See also

External links

Paul Stewart is the name of many notable people Paul Stewart (writer - Writer of The Edge Chronicles Paul Stewart (driver - Motor Ray Lonnen (born 18 May 1940 in Bournemouth, Dorset) is an English Actor, perhaps best known for his role as Willie Caine Geraldine Newman (born 18 February 1934) is an English Film and television actress who has acted in more than 30
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic