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.
Christopher Smith (English actor) Christopher Smith (English actor) Christopher Smith (15 October 1984) is an English actor and producer. Smith attended Stage 84 drama school in Bradford, where his mother was choreographer, and at the age of four, he was picked from 50 auditionees when Yorkshire Television visited the school searching for a new boy to play Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera "Emmerdale". His father, Richard Smith, also acts and appeared in a minor role in "Emmerdale" before Smith joined the cast. Smith is best known for playing Robert Sugden from 1989 until 2001, when he was axed and replaced by Karl