Z-Cars been running for seven years but which some considered 'cosy'. The one character present throughout the entire run (though not in every episode) was Bert Lynch, played by James Ellis (though John Phillips as Det. Chief Supt. Robins would reappear sporadically during the show's run – by the end of the series he had become Chief Constable). Other characters in the early days were Stratford Johns (Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Sgt Watt), Robert Keegan (Sgt Blackitt), Joseph Brady (PC "Jock" Weir) and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Also in 1960s episodes as David Graham was Colin Welland, later a screenwriter.
Z-Cars episodes and is still open to information regarding missing editions of 'lost' BBC television programmes. British vintage television enthusiasts Kaleidoscope are also interested in the recovery of 'lost' television shows, regardless of their original maker or broadcaster. In a 2000 poll to find the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century conducted by the British Film Institute, "Z-Cars" was voted 63rd. It was also included in television critic Alison Graham's alphabetical list of 40 "all-time great" TV shows published in "Radio Times" in August 2003. Z-Cars Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on