Z-Cars

The search is on for four young men to ""crew"" the new cars in the tough and troubled district of Newtown, a North of England overspill estate. A mixed community, displaced from the larger towns by slum clearance, has been brought together and housed on an estate without amenities.

A girl disappears, and Steele and Lynch are faced by a conspiracy of silence in her broken family.

An explosion in a quarry disturbs two lovers. It also disturbs Detective Sergeant John Watt when he finds out what caused it.

A wounding case brings top brass into Victor Division to investigate. Lynch and Steele work overtime to find the villain.

When the whalers hit Seaport after a good season Smith and Weir have their work cut out to keep trouble to a minimum.

""It's going to be one of those nights"", pronounced Sgt. Percy Twentyman, and he wasn't far wrong. Steele and Lynch have to cope with the aftermath of a traffic accident in which a drunken driver has killed a motor cyclist and his pillion passenger. Small time felon Grandpa Maddigan blows up the safe in the Gas Company office, Watt and DCS Robins are hot on the trail of the notorious Comber gang, and Twentyman himself gets more than he bargained for when he tries to break up a free-for-all in the Tabernacle pub.

Both crews are forced to realise the narrow margin between life and death on a busy night in which Barlow and Twentyman miss one crime and catch two criminals.

A pretty girl out alone and late at night leads Steele and Lynch to a robbery and to a tearaway more dangerous than any they have encountered before.

The violent death of a small shopkeeper brings Supt. Miller into Victor Division and into conflict with Barlow, who has his own solution to offer.

Z-Victor Two gets an alarm call to a jeweller's shop. Sgt. Watt gets the information that leads to an arrest, but the case is not as simple as it seems.

The trail of a walk-in thief leads Smith and Weir to a locked room in Newtown and on to a night in Blackpool - but not to see the illuminations!

Lynch and Steele investigate a break-in at a factory where the night watchman has been attacked and injured. They bring in a man the Newtown police have long wanted to see behind bars. But bringing him in is one thing, keeping him in is another.

An attempted burglary and a hit-and-run accident - PC Lynch sees the connection first. Proving it is a job for the whole of Victor Division.

Two arrests, two court cases - and also two people, in one of whom Fancy Smith takes a personal interest.

Chief Inspector Barlow is known locally as something of a gourmet, but not even the chef believes that he is interested only in food.

The bang is loud in the night. The conspiracy of silence which follows is more sinister. When an explosion destroys Bill Webster's betting shop CID runs up against a blank wall. No clues and there is nobody willing to talk. Webster himself stubbornly maintains it was an accident, but Barlow is convinced there is a connection between the explosion and the fact that Webster intends to compete with his rivals by opening more shops in the area.

PCs Lynch and Graham find that a quiet night can be just as busy as any other, but for some of the people they encounter it is also a night of tragedy.

A slight collision between two cars, a bad-tempered blow, and a young man finds himself involved in serious trouble - both for himself and for those close to him.

Outside in the dark a girl screams. Inside the tall flats she is heard and ignored. It is half an hour before one man puts out a reluctant hand to dial 999.

Two men in a parked car - and the beginning of a night Lynch and Graham will talk about all their lives. The eventual haul is so good it even induces Barlow to stand drinks for the duo.

The grimy cafe down by the docks is keeping pretty busy as usual. The juke-box is giving out the latest sounds of the Mersey Beat at full volume; the youngsters are sitting around drinking strong tea out of thick mugs. But there is one customer at McKinley's who doesn't seem to fit in. That is Brayne, the old tramp. He has no money for tea, but he is wearing an expensive overcoat and a business gent's bowler hat. Smith and Weir get really involved when they try to find the reason.

To the young Mrs. Napier the man at the door seems anything but sinister, just buying old gold. But his method of purchase leaves something to be desired.

Alby Rafferty, an over-zealous car enthusiast, is not past redemption according to John Watt. But Watt is not the only influence in Alby's life. So when Mr. Cull's shiny new white car is driven off from under his nose, it is not for use in a robbery - just Alby indulging his passion.

There is a local race meeting on and Barlow, as befitting his rank, has been assigned to keep an eye on Tattersall's. Lynch is less fortunate: his beat is the car park, so far distant from the course that his chances of picking up useful information are limited. A suitably dressed Blackitt, off duty, is present as a private punter. Smith and Weir are cruising in Z-Victor One as usual.

PC Walker joins Dave Graham in Z-Victor Two - and finds himself thrown in at the deep end.

The Lucky 13 Club opens in Seaport. It is lush and plush with its professional dealers and croupiers, but it is not crooked. But it attracts its share of mugs - and a frightened woman.

It's all very well taking in a stray, but Sgt. Blackitt thinks this one might bite the hand that feeds it.

Newtown nick is awaiting an official visit by H.M. Inspector of Constabulary. The station is spick and span, gleaming with polish, when in walks a miner, straight from the coal face, dripping coal dust over everything. He wants to confess to his part in the theft of a forty feet long shed the previous night. Blackitt is furious and desperately tries to persuade the miner to come back later. The argument is at its height when H.M. Inspector arrives.

Is a man lying? Lynch has to decide for himself and act accordingly.

A fire that killed an entire family is determined to have been deliberately set. (Part 1 of 2)

A fire has killed the whole Bohn family - and it didn't start accidentally.

While on his beat PC Tate finds the gate of a local timber yard open. Over the pocket radio he informs HQ. From the station Sgt. Lynch warns him: ""A Z-Car is on its way - don't try to earn a medal.""

DCS Miller has forced DI Hudson, under the threat of being sent back to a little desk job at H.Q., to tell him about an armed attempt to 'knock off' a prison van and release its occupant.

Sergeant Stone - up against militant management and militant workers. And he won't compromise.

A teenage girl and night time at a railway station brings a problem for PC Covill.

Two grocers, one across the road from the other. Both ordinary, everyday characters. But then one of them has a fire in his shop. Goss and Stone end up with one villain and two very frightened men.

Bert Lynch has been promoted to Inspector. But is he still one of the lads?

Alexandra is always complaining to an already overworked police force about her next door neighbour Percy. But is she just a nuisance? Or should Inspector Lynch take her complaints seriously?

Some London villains spring Charlie Cotton from prison, but, too late, he cottons on to the fact that he's been sprung for a purpose.

A woman is arrested for shoplifting and a thief has his alibi checked. On the face of it two routine cases. But even the most routine cases can have repercussions.

Mary Mangan disappears with her baby. The worst is feared and a full scale police search is mounted.

A house is broken into and Skinner grabs at the opportunity to improve his record. But he grabs too hard and a man suffers.

There's a new Cash'n'Carry being built in Newtown and some odd characters work on it. One of them is on the fiddle - bits and bats to begin with.

Lynch deals with a skeleton on the moors and Skinner with several in various cupboards.

Ossie Davies is a security guard. He's a pushover. You just knock off his specs, threaten him a bit and help yourself. But Miller reckons there's more to Ossie than that.

Lynch, Quilley and Braithwaite take a night train to Manchester in search of a murder suspect.

Quilley is a good copper, but as an amateur footballer he has his limitations. Jesse Alty is a good footballer but has ambitions to be a better car thief. He and Quilley play for the same team and Gordon Glossop is a friend of both of them.

A quiet Sunday - and the dead body of a man, smartly dressed, slumped in an allotment shed.

Armed robbery is becoming almost a daily event and sooner or later somebody's bound to get hurt. But what happens if the police meet violence with violence?

The public expect to be protected by the police. But if a policeman kills a member of the public in the execution of his duty, will the protector be prosecuted?

When a constable is ten minutes late reporting in an alert goes out. Alec Quilley hasn't been seen or heard of for over an hour.

An ex-villain is entitled to police protection just like anyone else - isn't he?

A man is trapped under a load of dangerous chemicals. Move him, and the lot might go up. Leave him there and...

A rag week kidnap for charity starts out all right, but...

Young Colin's route home from school lies across a grubby parkland. Hiding in the bushes is a man with sweets... and a knife.

It's not like Arthur Scarsdale to be violent. He's normally a peaceful little villain, but in the Newtown nick it takes three policemen to hold him down - and all Bowker did was offer him a cup of tea.

Quilley was at school with Chris Murray and knows he wouldn't hurt a soul. So when Chris half murders a man and pleads guilty Quilley wants to know why.

Crime Squad from Cardiff want Inspector Moffat to lodge a prisoner overnight in the Newtown cells - and no-one must know about it. But someone has to know, even if it's only another policeman.

Lorry hi-jacks: too many, too well-planned and executed. Braithwaite goes 'under cover' as a lorry driver with a shady past. He's out in the cold - and vulnerable.

Digging a deep hole in the sand by the light of the moon isn't the sort of behaviour you'd expect from a debt collector. Not even such a strange one as Clarrie Enwright.

Shabnam Chowdry is a young Asian girl. Roy Grant is a young white boy. Put them together and knives are drawn - and Lynch is in the middle.

Newtown Marriage Guidance Centre has been burned down, so Haggar and Bowker start investigating its clients. They are looking for a man or woman with a grudge - a man or woman who will strike again.

A policeman can only take so much. Lynch deals with the problem one way, Quilley another. Trouble is, in Quilley's case there's a woman involved.

Night duty in Newtown is a rough turn; not the place for a young policewoman. But WPC Jane Beck won't listen to the warnings of Inspector Lynch.

Roger Stevens is the quiet sort of copper, always there. Perhaps that's why Lynch tends to take him for granted. But sometimes it's the quiet kind one needs to worry about most of all.