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.
John Sharp (actor) John Sharp (actor) John Herbert Sharp ( – ) was a British actor, often on television. He made more than 100 appearances in television and occasionally films between 1949 and 1991. Although active in theatre, Sharp began as a film actor in 1949 and appeared in films throughout the 1950s. By the mid 1960s he mostly appeared in British television on popular shows of the era such as "The Avengers" "Murdersville" episodes, the "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)" episode "The Ghost Who Saved the Bank at Monte Carlo"; "The Prisoner", "Not On Your Nellie" opposite Hylda Baker, "Z-Cars", and "The Sweeney"