Z cars the first episode ever Pt. 1 of 4

Four of a kind tells the story of how Z cars was formed.
Det Inspector Barlow establishes a new crime patrol to stem the growing tide of crime.

[@darrenrexfrancis2538]

Wowwww....just the name 'Z Cars'...takes me back to the early 70's when I was a little boy & the whole family would sit down & watch TV together!!! Happy days!!!

[@latexbuster]

I loved Z Cars, as a boy in scouts at the time I remember riding home on my bicycle full tilt after attending scouts to be home in time to watch it with my parents. My earliest recollection really of that new thing in our lounge, a television set.

[@mithrilmoon1]

My late Mum loved Z Cars. We all sat round the telly to watch it. She had a crush on Fancy Smith! I was just a kid but I loved it, too. Thank you so much.

[@xenu-dark-tony]

Shouty Crackers was on the breakfast telly the other morning. She'd have loved his beardy look nowadays.

[@francesjones9265]

We watched this with my late mum many years ago this takes me back to the day's so long ago

[@PatriciaPageMosaicArtsCrafts]

I cannot believe I am getting the privilege to watch this again, thank you very much for the memory.

[@Claymor621]

To watch this properly I had to sit on the floor with my back resting on the settee, absently pushing a toy car backwards and forwards under my legs.

[@funkyalfonso]

Me too.

[@PIPEHEAD]

The first time I read that I thought you meant in 1962 ........................

[@enkisdaughter4795]

Were you eating your tea - thick sliced ham sandwiches with sliced pickles?

[@tungstenkid2271]

Brit TV in the 50's/60's had an exciting down-to-earth rawness to it and we never missed an episode of Z-cars

[@marvwatkins7029]

Thanks for having and providing the first episode. It's a shame that about half of them are probably lost for good. A great series nonetheless.

[@tommytwogloves16]

This guy is another click bait schemer. There was 1 999 full episode subscription but you tube bans it if you search by name.

[@mfjdv2020]

Absolutely great, those were the good old days. I used to love Z Cars and never missed an episode.

[@sirrobin8814]

I've got a potato that looks like a horses willy.

[@aryehfinklestein9041]

I remember seeing this first episode as a boy - nice memory. Thanks for posting.

[@ainesisland2]

I used to watch this instead of doing my homework in the late 70’s😊

[@davidpoulton2860]

1962 when I was 4 and just started Infants School. I'm now 64 years old.

[@kenlane6655]

How amazing. I wandered into the kitchen and the theme and title popped into my head. Now here I am, watching the very first episode. Thanks Einstein.

[@sheilawhite8314]

Oh so happy I found this on You tube was so loved this series

[@stevedoubleu99B]

Given the passage of time, I expected this to look a bit naff, but fair play, it stands up very well indeed. No doubt largely due to the skills of the actors. (not to forget the whole team!)

[@Kerygmame]

Yo ... either you upgrade [and pay] or they plague you with ads ...

[@carolbeckett7922]

Lovely to hear the theme tune Johnny Todd. I remember when we were taught how to play this at school on our recorders and learned the words of the original song.

[@richardbuxton3546]

Great stuff - as I recall the theme tune featured in the record charts for a while. It's just dawned on me - at the time Liverpool must only have had two police cars - or at least just two with radios - Z Victor 1 and Z Victor 2 and we had no idea that we were watching Vultan in a policeman's costume. I'll put the tune on my Desert Island Disks list.

[@Andrew-xs1sg]

It was Lancashire Constabulary

[@louisewhitehouse4881]

I heard that everybody watched Z Cars when it was on, so l decided to see why everybody watched it as a family. And even though l am a Liverpool fans and the Z Cars theme tune is used by Everton, l also liked the theme tune of the show😀

[@ArtyEffem]

"Everybody" watched it because at the time there were only two viable TV channels available.

[@BeatlesGuru1]

I have such fond childhood memories of Z Cars, I used to have a toy steering wheel with a suction cap to stick it on something like a chair and I would place it in front of sofa and that would be my car and then I would pretend I am Z Victor 1 I'd play quietly on my own for hours like that.

[@maryrosekeeling9750]

BeatlesGuru1

[@terencebarrett2897]

BeatlesGuru1 ahh those were the days,I know people say ''oh my good old days'' and as children we sigh ''old fogeys'' but you and I and the older people are completely right,today's children majority are dressed like little adults,and are subjected to any corrupt savage and sexual perversion,inside the home and outside the home,and few get the parents attencion and interest put the tablet,computer,etc and these children are seeing savage, murders,killings pornographic and all means of political propaganda etc to hate your neighbour,stranger etc,these are being raised by computer but being roboticaly politised, when I was younger you would go fishing ,catch bees,blackberries picking,pinch a farmers turnip ,but it was just the odd one,at the side of the field you could not be bothered to carry it home as it reminded you of home 'as you were having a good time, make a rope swing down the woods' ,etc toss a few stones at rats along the river bank, make a bogey ( cart with four wheels) old pram wheels ,etc etc even make toffee cakes etc it was fantastic, now unhealthely children glued to there propaganda, poisonous wicked phones tablets or computer',and no fresh air ,enthusiasm, interest, even our governments selling off there playing feels ,and for them to exercise and get rid of the cobwebs and energy that the body needs to expel, all for these multi giant conglomerates to corrupt and £££ greed money,physically mentally and sinfully

[@donkeevney]

BeatlesGuru1 golden....me too.

[@Raven4508]

The Victorians dressed their children like little adults too. It is nothing new... Also, was there ever a golden era? Murders, sexual abuse etc have always gone on....

[@PIPEHEAD]

@@terencebarrett2897 Take off your rose tinted specs for a mo ............................... ?

[@edwardmcinally3378]

One of the very best police drama shows on TV's, back in the the day, most people who tuned in thought it was the real thing because it was not listed as a TV show but a documentary. REGIMENTAL SERGEANT MAJOR EDWARD MCINALLY

[@PIPEHEAD]

Give over !

[@jenks008]

had a pretty grim childhood and programmes like this gave me hope, along with Dixon and the film, The Blue Lamp. Harry Roberts's cowardly killing of 3 unarmed detectives as a very young boy showed me what I wanted to do.

[@josephking6515]

*Fun fact* Stratford Johns and some friends were coming out of an event and were spotted by some miscreants in the middle of doing some _mischief._ The words *_It's Barlow scarper_* were heard and the miscreants took off in different directions. That's how real Z Cars and the spin-off series through to Softly Softly: Task Force were seen as. As mentioned by another Kiwi in the Comments mentioned it was very popular in NZ maybe due to them driving Zephyrs helped that since it was something we could identify with because the NZ Ministry of Transport _traffic cops_ in NZ (they were *not* actual Police but a road police and only dealt with traffic infringements) aka The Motley drove Mk IV Zephyrs. *Thank you* for the memory Billy Evmur. Really very much appreciated. 👍👍

[@Kerygmame]

[@merledoughty5787]

Loved the theme tune Z cars came on Friday nights in New Zealand and Inspector Barlow and Brian Blessed what a great program that is how I saw Britain at the time as a teen

[@michaelodwyer5305]

One of my memories as a child.

[@julietsengupta3573]

Loved the theme and opening sequence

[@Cool2BCeltic]

Z Cars, a gritty and realistic contrast with that cosy one man recruiting campaign for the Met, Dixon of Dock Green.

[@michaelkennedy8573]

Those cars and those uniforms! Those were the days. everything was brighter back then

[@xenu-dark-tony]

Yes but life in Newtown could be very gritty. Poor bloody coppers.

[@Packyboy]

Jimmy Ellis… Great actor lovely man the rest of the cast to class act.👏👏👏

[@barbarawhittall2311]

First I heard of this series enjoying now! Thank you!

[@EndingSummerwithRalph]

Interesting to watch, I must have stumbled across a reference to this show as I'm an American, nice to sample it, I like older crime TV shows. Really like your show The Sweeney, that's great to watch. Pretty cool to see a young Jeremy Kemp here, he is the perfect "German Aristocrat" bad guy in films. Thanks!

[@lynnmarieparkin6841]

One of the best Police Drama,s and didn't suffer from being turned into a Soap

[@kevinwebb2480]

The first proper TV cops drama. Rivetting at the time.

[@borusa32]

A start for many seminal actors of the sixties. Many fine actors cut their teeth on shows like Z cars,Danger Man,Callan and The Avengers in the UK.

[@nzsooz3884]

One of my favourite TV themes

[@dundee520]

wow watched this as a wee kid - cheers 4 sharing

[@garryarden7200]

Being an Everton fan , so good to hear the Z Cars theme. Great series along with Softly Softly.

[@Bruce-1956]

Don't forget Dixon of Dock Green......'evening all'.

[@glynnevans1851]

@@garryarden7200 hi Garry, great memories we had then I luved Dixon of dock green too n my favourite film from the 60s was True Grit..Leeds fan Garry but remember then your star player Alan Ball RIP..proper football played then wingers .Kind regards Glynn n Greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands

[@sozanmarshall2832]

I was 7 when this came on the tv neaver miss any Thankyou

[@nicfewer8393]

Rest in Peace, Jeremy Kemp.

[@SuperIliad]

Four of a Kind, Season 1, Episide 1, aired 2 January 1962. Jeremy Kemp as P.C. Bob Steele; James Ellis as P.C. Bert Lynch; Brian Blessed as P.C. Fancy Smith; Joseph Brady as P.C. Jock Weir; John Phillips as Det. Chief Superintendent Robins; Stratford Johns; Det. Chief Inspector Charles Barlow; Frank Windsor as Det. Sergeant John Watt; Leonard Williams as Sergeant Percy Twentyman; Frank Hawkins as Sergeant Barnes; Terence Edmond as P.C. Ian Sweet; Virginia Stride as Katy Hoskins; Dorothy White as Janey Steele; Sandra Skermer as Frances; Verity Edmett as Dolores; Keith Smith, Racegoer; Bernard Kay as Larry; Derek Ware as Mike; Frank Crawshaw, Football Coach; Anna Wing as Mrs. Jones; Peter Anderson as Rodney Jones; Davy Jones (as David Jones) as Willie Thatcher.

[@SuperIliad]

@Tami Joeris The same person before later fame.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Pre--swinging sixties---although it didn't swing much where I lived---just an expression. I had one of those Ford Anglia's that John Watt was driving, Jasmine Yellow with a White top.

[@t.p.mckenna]

RIP Frank Windsor - a fine actor.

[@user-kk5kr5ys6i]

Another era! The UK seems like a different country now. Well, they do say the past is another country ... 1962 was the year the Rolling Stones formed and the Beatles had their first hit, "Love Me Do", and 1963 the year Kennedy was shot. Real watershed times.

[@mithrilmoon1]

+p123 I was eight years old, growing up in Glasgow. My family watched this every week without fail. It was such a popular series. This really takes me back.

[@GerardVaughan-qe7ml]

I had the choice/opportunity to continue to struggle on in uk or move to Bulgaria back in 2006. My only regret about moving is that I tried to do it all with a crappy d lorry that some idiots had tried to convert to a horse transporter. The weight of the junk they fitted had, unknown to me, broken a rear spring. I was up to max 7.5 tons. Right hand drive - absolute nightmare ! However a I'm both sad about Britain, and that much glad to be out of it, as a pensioner since 2013. KZbin is priceless despite its disgusting censorship of Truths about current events.

[@glpilpi6209]

I agree , wonderful times , great television . Troy Kennedy Martin made the Sweeney later on in the seventies.

[@maxflight777]

I think it was broadcast live ! Pretty impressed... great actors , Brian Blessed , Frank Windsor, James Bolam + many more

[@williammcmullen66]

James Ellis who passed away today ,watched him in Z cars as a child all those years ago

[@1061andy]

great series for its time - a real advancement in police drama, created by Troy Kennedy Martin i think who later developed The Sweeney.

[@grindupBaker]

Johnny Todd he took a notion For to sail the ocean wide, And he left his true love behind him, Weeping by the Liverpool tide.

[@jrgboy]

I know several episodes of the ealy series were filmed around Southall & Norwood Green cos I used to live there in the 60's, I remember the Zcars being a pale yellow colour cos it looked white on the B&W screen. They also filmed chase sequences for The Sweeney & The Professionals around the old Southall gasworks.

[@PIPEHEAD]

That's why bees are black and yellow - don't forget, not all animals see colour ...............

[@Eltonlaleham]

I wish I had been born in the 50s instead at the end of the 60s and I might have seen the black and white z cars episodes

[@kitthearty]

Cold and no heating. Hidden violence almost no reported crime the legacy of ww2 a compliant population. Working on the motorcycle engine on the kitchen table. Weekly mags for the kids. I was a kid. Hard living. Thank god most of that is gone. It was no picnic. I'm old now and I think how hard it was for old people then, crouching over the fire, hands destroyed by work. Mind you they were only 55. It's the ciggies that killed them. Great show.

[@user-ou2us1oy7c]

And Davy Jones from the Monkees plays the boy Wilkie in this episode. I guess this would have been one of his first on screen roles. He was very convincing I thought. A consummate performer his whole life.

[@saffronkissick-jones7070]

Stratford johns (detective Barlow) is my great uncle

[@prestcoldandy910]

He was a very funny man in real life

[@xenu-dark-tony]

Wow, that's fascinating. Did you get to hang out with him very often? He seemed like a lot of fun as he would regularly appear in parodies of himself and police dramas.

[@stephengilliland1976]

And?

[@ArtyEffem]

Pity he allowed himself to get unrecognisably fat. It would have taken years off his life.

[@deborahmckenzie6117]

Did you spend much time with him? What are your memories of him? Was he like his character?

[@barrieholditch3800]

Growing up watching Z cars in B/W our TV was only monochrome.

[@dennishill8356]

Thanks for the treat. To KZbin: what's with the really loud commercials? That just pisses me off.

[@johmurphy4395]

Its great to see tv as it was

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

I'm an American who just heard of Z cars yesterday for the very first time. So far so good. It kind of reminds of of The Bill in a way.

[@keithmartin1328]

The Bill started off as a really good show from 1983-2000. Then it went drastically downhill when Paul Marquis turned it into a wacky soap opera.

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

Blimey, this takes me back, Sgt. Percy Twentyman at 7.25 in the station , played by Leonard Williams.He was always getting on to P.C Sweet , " put it in the boook Sweet " !, it became a famous quote.I think he died young, very early in the first series.A huge leap in Police drama after Dixon Of Dock Green that still had nearly 10 years to run !.

[@SS08947]

Leonard Williams died of a heart attack aged 48...

[@algiles881]

@@SS08947 At the time he was also working on the radio series The Clitheroe Kid. Some episodes of the radio series was broadcast after his death. Of course Z Cars was live so no appearances after Sept 1962

[@xenu-dark-tony]

My dear old mum used to watch these programmes and sigh "Who'd be a poor bloody copper, some of the dreadful things they have to deal with". Goodness knows what she'd think seeing what they have to endure today, now being got at from all sides, criminals, bosses AND public, and getting paid bugger all for the pleasure.

[@petersmith6974]

I remember this show from the 70s

[@None-zc5vg]

The actor who played the desk sergeant ("Sgt. Twentyman") died late in 1962 soon after the series began.

[@jayturner3397]

Seems like yesterday, 'Jonny Todd ' theme came on, scramble for a good seat 😅😂

[@mattcollier5957]

Very cool cop car Mk2 Zephyr.. i have one myself

[@misswendywalker]

Didn't know James Ellis had passed. So sad

[@jaysonflesher8666]

remember me grandpop has a pale blue anglia with a white roof it looked like a retired police car not sure it wasn't lol

[@andrewwilder3545]

Mum and Dad were out, Auntie Flo was babysitting as we watched Z cars. In one episode a woman runs into the police station and says 'I've been raped'. Auntie Flo promptly got up and turned off the TV, us kids couldn't possibly be exposed to such things.

[@PIPEHEAD]

Crap babysitter, but presumably cheap ...................

[@smithpm81]

first aired 2nd january 1962

[@AndrewWilliams-zc1hf]

Classic TV series.

[@beachgirl1947]

Brilliant...a much better time

[@josephinebennington7247]

Stratford Johns, a great actor, though in whom I can see both Edward Woodward and Oliver Hardy.

[@russellmoxham5625]

= He was fat and could act

[@farhatqureshi8562]

@Ann Foxgold John Woodvine of New Scotland Yard was superb.

[@davefletch100]

Loved watching this as a lad, but never found out what BD stood for. i.e. BD to Z Victor One

[@johnhardman3]

"Bootle Division" (?)

[@Josiro]

It has no meaning, all police forces in uk have an id. Greater Manchester is CK, Lancashire is BD. So it is just a random tag. Z Cars was based on Lancashire Constabulary hence BD was HQs call sign.

[@evertonfcfan2028]

Mad how this turned into Everton fcs Theme tune

[@TheSuperHarrygeorge]

Remember this well.

[@thehowlingmisogynist9871]

A young Jeremy Kemp!!

[@mattcollier5957]

As the two cops chat in the Anglia whilst driving, i noticed no windscreen, headlining hanging down where windscreen is removed and interior light is on in the car

[@PIPEHEAD]

I read all ( yes, all ) the comments on this before I watched it. I couldn't wait to see the vicious wife beating scene. Having watched it I am even more amused by the accepted view. I knew the accepted view was rubbish even before I watched the clip ( I don't remember it from when I was eight, honest .... ) , in a Holmesian kind of way. So : - The first thing is how Barlow fails to recognise his pal, or his pal's wheels, despite the fact that there were only seventeen cars in Liverpool in 1962. Once all that was out of the way it became a brilliant intro to the prog, and after seven minutes I was gasping for breath. Then at last, the wife beating scene ! Wifebeater comes in unexpectedly, his wife is with another man, this is going to end up with two dead bodies, I can feel it in my bones ! What a bloody letdown ! Where's me chips ? I'm cooking them, shut up ! How did you get the black eye ? I tried to kill him for coming in late, and he retaliated. What is this , a mistitled Blue Peter video ? I wonder how anybody could fail to be shocked by .......... how absolutely beautiful that scene was. I just need to see Davy Jones ( real name Bowie ...... ) and then I can go ...................

[@paulbacchus1015]

Still the best ever cop show no bone's about it. Paul Bacchus

[@davidsmedley2632]

My first dog was called Ria , because we had butterflies about having her

[@jacksugden8190]

Couldn’t get on with theme tune then, same now, and never understood where “New Town” was.

[@ArtyEffem]

OK let's see if we can simplify things for you. The theme tune is an arrangement of the tune to the folk song "Johnny Todd", which concerns Liverpool. Lyrics available on-line. Z-CARS was set in Kirkby in Merseyside, but a fictional show cannot use a real place name, so it used the invented name Newtown.

[@Cool2BCeltic]

Ford Anglias, long before the irrevocable association with Harry Potter.

[@manchild3479]

they were not ford anglias.but were ford counsels,the base model or zephyrs,or zodiacs,the top model.police did not use anglias.

[@AdrenoverseBlogspot]

Freaking amazing! "Where's ma dinner!!" lol Class! Not! ;)

[@alexdavies1662]

Quite good in its time but I prefer the grittiness of "Gideon's Way" and "Sweeney."

[@xenu-dark-tony]

And The Newcomers.

[@stevecharman8420]

Ah yes, the days when you could only watch 10 minutes at a time on KZbin!

[@danrobinson572]

Can you watch this on KZbin from season 1 to the end???

[@josephlandrut4154]

Ford Anglia was a great car.

[@manchild3479]

dear joeseph.that was a ford counsel,zephyr,zodiac ,the top of the ford range at the time .not anglia.

[@ArtyEffem]

@@manchild3479 He means the car driven by John Watt, which is indeed an Anglia; an acknowledged ladies' car, likened to a make-up compact on wheels.

[@sheilawhite8314]

in good old black and white telly lol no colour in those days

[@steviehaddow2841]

I’m currently watching softly softly the spin off from zcars inspector Barlow is now chief superintendent Barlow and Norman Bowler is in it as well who played Frank Tate in Emmerdale up to series 2 not a bad watch

[@simonplankton1044]

i see frank Windsor is still with us ...., still enjoying oxygen !!! & has not yet taken advantage of his funeral plans yet

[@annpartoon5300]

I thought John Watts car was a triumph herald

[@maxflight777]

Interesting to contrast the wife’s black eye with today’s attitudes to domestic violence ! Thank goodness things have changed since 1962.... that was pretty hard to watch.

[@stevemccann4166]

Police never got involved in ‘domestics’ in those days as it was a husband and wife thing. Think it was acceptable and expected to give your wife a smack if your dinner wasn’t on the table on time, house wasn’t clean or you weren’t getting any Hank panky back then!!🤨

[@ArtyEffem]

"If we had crime patrol in Newtown..."

[@barbaraannecortina7899]

'...there is no doubt that in Weir and Smith, Lynch and Steele we have two new teams who for keenness and single-mindedness to duty will operate at the highest peak of effeciency CALLED FOR in this constabulary'. it makes the hairs of your neck bla bla bla and makes me PROUD to be a girl in blue, albeit a suggestive one.

[@Steven_Rowe]

First shown 2nd Jan 1962 Another clientfor For Harry Allan to take care of at Strangeways. He will do a pro job as Albert Pierrepoint showed him the ropes before he resigned in 1956. About 6ft 8 should fix him Got to love old Lynch with his Ulster accent.

[@jillshaw7445]

I'm looking for an episode that was filmed in Galley Common Nuneaton would appreciate any help.. 😊

[@ArtyEffem]

Do you know the approxiamate year, B&W or colour, cast members, guest stars or storyline?

[@scottbarrowman942]

Was Bill Prendergast in this?

[@ausbrum]

The series went out live, even though videotape was the norm.

[@tungstenkid2271]

In the Britain of the 50's/60's, crime was almost unheard of because every kid had a dad and was brought up proper. Nowadays there are undisciplined little bastards running around everywhere who grow up to be criminal trash..:)

[@SuperBashem]

And didn't have millions of fucking immigrants

[@killboggins]

Tungsten Kid Dunno where the fuck you were from mate but there were plenty of gangs, fights, thievings and illegal gambling back then. Pretty fucking sheltered you must have been.

[@tungstenkid2271]

I was born in Leicester (England) and lived there 50 odd years. In the 1950's the rent man used to come round collecting peoples rent on the council estate where I lived and he never got mugged once, incredible as it sounds..:)

[@Ubique2927]

Tungsten Kid .. Born and dragged up in Co'ville, I was once taken by the scruff of the collar by a copper and given a good slap on the thigh, I wore shorts then (1967/68 or so) for shooting peas at passing cars. He literally dragged me to my back door and watched as mi dad gave me a slap on the other thigh. Scared me good I can tell you, well until I got caught scrumping!

[@tungstenkid2271]

Haha me an all, I had a run-in wiv a copper in Leicester when I was abaht 5 years old fer shooting staples at passing cars wiv me catapult, I woz wiv sum uvver older kids wot was doin it too, and they grassed me up, telling him i kept it stuck up me jacket, so he unzipped it and took me catapult off me, didnt slap me or nuffing though..:)

[@George.Andrews.]

In a time when policemen would throw cigarette butts out of cars. Ahhh.

[@cephalopod7300]

How have you monetised this video and stuffed it with ads? It's great that you've made it available, and I'd defend you against attempts the BBC to take it down, but it was paid for by licence-payers and you have no business making money off it.

[@Kerygmame]

not a ha'penny have I made. you will be fortunate to find this first episode anywhere else.

[@cephalopod7300]

@@Kerygmame Interesting, it's showing up with adverts for me. Perhaps I've misunderstood how KZbin works and they're the ones making money off it and not sharing any with you. Well thank you for making it available!

[@PIPEHEAD]

@@cephalopod7300 I think you may find that the BBC are getting the ad revenue, do you really think they are going to let KZbin get their mitts on it ?

[@Rustymouse]

Embarrassment at 8.26, food shooting out of Lynch's mouth. surprised they didn't do a retake, but it was done on a budget. Also at 9.32, Bob Steele "where's my dinner", wouldn't get away with that these days, although she did tell him to shut up after she served him. Those were the days.. Never missed an episode.

[@metafis2490]

+rustymouse Indoor scenes were broadcast live for the first 3 years of the series, so retakes were not possible. They'd record the outdoor location scenes on film, and then(in this case) show that first, followed by the live indoor scenes cut in at the correct time as the show was being broadcast.

[@stingray4real]

RIP Frank Windsor

[@doreenreid6739]

Where's the bloody picture

[@sexobscura]

Arthur Fonzarelli *disapproves*