Z-Cars: Pressure Review

So here we are, the very last episode of Z-Cars. The show was going into decline as some people felt it was outdated, just like Dixon of Dock Green, the show Z-Cars was trying to replace which actually ended two years previously. One good thing I noticed at the start, they brought back the original title music which is always great to hear but the sequence itself isn't but that's just a minor fault, nothing to cry home about. What's great about this episode in particular is that they brought back some of the original cast back, but not all as you know them which is nice to see the show go in a high note by celebrating it with the returning cast. The story however is a strange one.

First thing we see in this episode is an arrival of a local worker who likes to think of himself as a poet in Liverpool airport, drunk and full of money and is going back to his family in a work deprived Newtown, put simply it doesn't end well with him being stabbed towards the end of the episode by the person who took his wife, surprisingly he doesn't appear to die which is good as it doesn't turn into a clichéd murder investigation, what this has to do with the police is anyone's guess though as he only had one brush with the law earlier on in the episode and no-one reports the stabbing towards the end. It does show a realistic approach on a work deprived Britain in the late 70's just before Margaret Thatcher's rein as Prime Minister which does date this episode.

The main issue in this episode is that Newtown is at risk of being blown up sky high from a gas leak, that is not a joke as most of the people in the episode complain about the gas and Inspector Lynch investigates how serious this is, this is the point where we see the special appearances of the original cast members although they don't return as their original characters sadly which would have been a good thing. I must admit, I did sort of expect Newtown to blow up given the way the episode was building up but luckily I was wrong. The really strange part involves a defence advisor from the army checking the area for possible threats and making defences for the police station, I'm kind of lost as to what this has to do with the rest of the episode and feels very out of place and just strange.

The most down to earth part of the episode is when Lynch investigates a boy who has lost his mother and brother, this is where is feels more like a basic episode of Z-Cars and ends with the boy being reunited with his brother which ends in a speech by Lynch about kids growing up in rough areas like Newtown. Lastly is a more interesting case of police corruption investigated by DCS John Watt once again played by Frank Windsor which sadly only gets touched on, it could have been better if they focused on that more than the motherless boy investigation.

This has to be one of the more eventful episode I have seen and they have made a good effort to bring some of the original cast members back which shows that quiet a bit of effort went in for this final episode. I just find that some of the plots are a bit over the top for a Z-Cars episode, one thing I didn't mention earlier is that the police patrols are not named Zed-Victor 1 and 2 any more which I find a bit sad. In the end is is a good final episode and it is good for the show to end on a high note.