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 estates that had sprung up across Britain in the post-war years, and its ageing neighbour "Seaport". The stories revolve around pairs of officers patrolling that week. Riding on changing social attitudes and television, the social realism, with interesting stories, garnered popularity for "Z Cars". It was initially somewhat unpopular with real-life police, who disliked the sometimes unsympathetic characterisation of officers. Being set in the North of England helped give "Z Cars" a regional flavour when most BBC dramas were set in the south. It directly challenged the BBC's popular police drama "Dixon of Dock Green", which at that point had