Z-Cars Watt), James Ellis (Bert Lynch) and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Barlow and Watt were later spun into a separate series "Softly, Softly". The title comes from the radio call signs allocated by Lancashire Constabulary. Lancashire police divisions were lettered from north to the south: "A" Division (based in Ulverston) was the detached part of Lancashire at the time around Barrow-in-Furness, "B" Division was Lancaster, and so on. Letters further into the alphabet were in the south around the Manchester and Liverpool areas. (See also the Wikipedia page about Home Office radio.) The TV series took the non-existent signs Z-Victor 1
Z-Cars Other British actors who played regular roles in the early years included Joss Ackland. Although he played no regular role in the series, future Monkee Davy Jones appeared in three episodes. John Thaw, later in "The Sweeney" and "Inspector Morse", appeared in four episodes in 1963 as a Detective Constable who had to leave the force because he had a "glass head" – he couldn't drink alcohol when socialising and mixing with the criminal fraternity, very much part of a detective's job. "Z-Cars" ran for 801 episodes. The original run ended in 1965; Barlow, Watt and Blackitt were spun off