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.
Ray Smith (actor) won him a posthumous BAFTA Cymru Award (Best Actor) in 1992. His son was the musician Huw Justin Smith, better known as Pepsi Tate. Ray Smith (actor) Ray Smith (1 May 1936 – 15 December 1991) was a Welsh actor who played the tough-talking police chief, Detective Superintendent Gordon Spikings, in the television series "Dempsey and Makepeace". He was the first actor to play Brother Cadfael for BBC radio. Smith was born in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, but lived for most of his adult life in Dinas Powys. He became interested in acting while he was at school, and