Z-Cars: The Retrospective

It would seem unfair of me to just end with some reviews of Z-Cars episodes and not write about anything else about it so here I am looking back on the show, it's the least the show deserves since it's been over 50 years since the show started. Looking back at the episodes I have reviewed to me it still holds out today, a lot more than the likes of Dixon of Dock Green and the Sweeney, Z-Cars doesn't feel as dated as them two shows and to me, it is perhaps the best made show of the lot.

The show did in a way live on after it finished in 1978, it did spawn a number of spin off shows such as "Softly, Softly", "Barlow at Large" and two rather unusual shows called "Jack the Ripper" and "Second Verdict" all of these shows featured Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor (Expect for one series in his case) reprising their roles as Charlie Barlow and John Watt respectively. Personally I have only seen one episode of "Softly, Softly" (The rest seem impossible to find) and from what I have seen it's definitely worth watching. There is also a short film that was made a few years ago called "A Lot of Fuss About Light" which saw Bernard Holley reprise his role as Bill Newcombe recalling an incident that happened back in the 1960's and the film is done in the style of the series, this film is also worth watching (You can find it on YouTube).

What I do like about Z-Cars is firstly: the acting, I really haven't seen any bad acting in the show and the show is best remembered for the actors who were in it with the likes of Brian Blessed, Ian Cullen, Bernard Holley, James Ellis and many more that some would consider to be household names back in the day, the guest cast as well would put shows like Doctor Who to shame with the likes of John Thaw (Before the Sweeney), John Challis (Before Only Fools and Horses) and even Dame Judi Dench has made an appearance, so in a way Z-Cars can be considered a prestigious show in some respect with its impressive cast.
                               

The second part of what I like about Z-Cars is the production side of the show, it was broadcast live which is no easy task for any drama series and yet they managed it extremely well, especially with people like a young Ridley Scott who was part of the production team in the 1960's, you would expect high quality standards. The writers themselves managed to do what no other police drama shows did at the time, produce a show that shows the lives of police officers in a rough town up north with situations that are based on real life activities of police officers.

Personally I do think that this show has made a bigger impact on modern culture not just on TV shows, but in films, books and to an extent, comics as I do feel that the writers on the "Judge Dredd" comic strip from 2000AD were in some way influenced by Z-Cars and also the Sweeney in the way the law is portrayed as a questionable force, they are not bad people but people don't always trust them and there is corruption within the ranks as the comic follows the day to day life of a Judge in a similar format to Z-Cars, also in another comic strip from 2000AD called "Absalom: Ghosts of London", there is a direct reference to both Z-Cars and the Sweeney in that the main character has worked with both Charlie Barlow and Jack Regan in the past, so it looks like Z-Cars is not really forgotten.

In some way, Z-Cars did pave way to a new generation of police drama series such as "Juliet Bravo", "The Gentle Touch" and "The Bill" all of which were made in the 1980's and they did become popular shows at the time as well, to me modern police drama shows never have the same impact as shows like Z-Cars did in that the characters feel less original, the acting is questionable and the plots tend to be on a far darker tone and in some ways less realistic, for some reason, some of the more darker dramas make me think they are getting closer in style to something you would see in foreign police dramas like "The Killing" which has a more stylish approach.

Sooner or later this is going to lead to the inevitable question: will Z-Cars ever see the light of day for the general public to see?

Personally I hope so one day and there are rumours going around that it may actually see the light later this year according to one DVD company called Acorn Media who did surprisingly release "Dixon of Dock Green" last year, so there may be hope for Z-Cars. It would also be interesting for a new audience to see this show as well with shows like the Sweeney being constantly repeated on ITV 4 (And also a cinema remake last year which I didn't watch due to it not being the Sweeney that I know, I won't get into that argument here), there is always a chance for people who never watched it when it was originally on to have an opportunity to watch it now.

It would be nice if the BBC would have thought the same with their programmes that are not available on DVD as I think there is great potential, otherwise all those episodes of TV shows that haven't been released would just gather dust in the archives which does seem rather pointless if people can't watch the material, why keep them if no-one can watch them?

I may have digressed a bit back then but it is a relevant question to think about and here is where I shall conclude my retrospective. I can definitely see how people look back on this show with nostalgia , to me it does feel like an important part of television history and it is a show that deserves to be remembered. If there is anyone that I would thank for inspiring me to write about this show and watching it through an old VHS tape it would be both Bernard Holley and Ian Cullen, without them I think I probably would never have ventured into this classic series, I do feel as if I have learned a lot from watching this series and I feel as if I have learned a lot from the cast members that I have met. I might do more reviews one day but for the moment I'm taking a rest from it so to everybody who had read them and this, thank you.