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Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.
Frank Windsor
DS John Watt
James Ellis
Bert Lynch
Douglas Fielding
Sgt. Alec Quilley
1965
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.
Three boys are bashing away at a piano which has been left on the street. Watt thinks he knows which bunch of practical jokers put it there. But the whole resources of Newtown station are rushed to the marshes at Seaport where a pair of 'sportsmen' get trapped by their own ignorance and folly.
What happened to Jean Roe, who is found unconscious on the floor in an upstairs flat? To Graham and Walker it looks like a straightforward case of assault. But this is only the beginning and soon they find themselves involved in a case of drug addiction.
A night watchman's hut is heaven to Patsy and Alfie, but it's back to earth with a bump when Fancy Smith turns up a card.
Sgt. Blackitt takes his wife Alice out to dinner to celebrate his 25 years on the force. He has reason to celebrate, but events force him to realise that over-zealous attention to duty can have serious consequences.
When Brian Logan unlawfully courts two women at the same time, the end can only mean unhappiness, not to mention problems for Smith and Weir. Lynch has to finish the case, but without much help from Barlow, who has promotion and transfer on his mind.
Streaming availability information not available
1962
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.
A neat operation in car stealing begins to go wrong when the thief tries mixing business with pleasure.
Johnny attacks a man in a pub - the wrong man. Steele and Lynch have to find him before he finds the right man.
Detective Superintendent Miller, aggressive as ever, leads the local Newtown force as they attempt to find a man who has attacked several young girls.
Dick Davis comes out of Walton jail and immediately plans his first job. But after two years in prison Davis cannot match the quality of his planning with the quality of his new accomplices.
Hilda Simmons reports that her car has been stolen. But she omits to tell the police that the man who took it is her husband. Smith and Weir have the task of rounding up the 'thief' only to find that the charge has been withdrawn. However, Sgt. Watt recognises Simmons of old, and soon tumbles to what is happening.
Lynch and Steele are called to a pub fight. Who started it? As Geraghty said: ""Hollis is always starting fights. Too clever for himself this time, though - far too clever"".
A London gang move north. They plan a short and profitable visit to Newtown. Smith and Weir spend a busy night trying to cut down their profits and lengthen their stay.
A quantity of drink and five suits are missing. Steele and Lynch spend a long night looking for the drink while the rest of the Newtown police are at the Christmas party.
When a child is reported missing on Christmas Day Smith and Weir are first in what becomes a countrywide hunt for him. They search all day and into the night in a desperate attempt to find him.
Arrest usually pile up at night - except in this case that involves a safe, the Army, a divorce and a potted plant.
Eddie plays the trumpet badly and on the streets, so his contacts with the police are frequent. This time, however, there is more than music involved.
Export cigarettes are being imported into the Newtown area. Lynch and Steele pick up some fag-ends of information.
A casual lift as the rain pours down - and for Winnie Parker it means a drive of terror. Her kindness in persuading her husband to pick up a hitch-hiker puts her in danger and gives a long night of anxiety and work for Smith and Weir.
Bob Steele is late for work. And because of this he becomes accidentally involved in a case concerning a petty thief. He is going through the town's shopping centre when a middle-aged woman comes running out of one of the stores, closely pursued by a security guard. She has apparently been shoplifting. But what seems at first sight to be a 'simple case' confronts Steele with the biggest decision of his life. (This was Jeremy Kemp's last appearance as PC Bob Steele.)
The act is sudden, brutal and corroding. The problem facing Barlow is what the victim has done to warrant it.
Lynch goes out on patrol with PC Dave Graham, the former dog-handler who has been chosen to replace Bob Steele. With Lynch missing the companionship of Steele, the relationship between the new pair is not easy. They quickly run into trouble - with each other and with a pair of thieves with an ear to police business.
Cock-fighting is cruel, bloody and illegal. Its promoters have to work in secret, and so do the police in trying to catch the perpetrators.
The trail of counterfeit notes begins in a chemist's shop. Following it is more complicated than Lynch and Graham would ever have believed.
The men want the new club to be peaceful and palatial. John Watt's concern is with the way it is being financed and furnished.
A serious crime has to be reported to Headquarters. Barlow's main worry is that the crime may not have been committed at all.
In an attempt to improve the crime statistics Barlow has Smith and Weir devoting valuable time to the theft of a bicycle lamp and John Watt is set to clear up an affair of lead castings pilfered from a factory. Both seem trivial, but Barlow thinks that they are worth some trouble - and as usual he is proved right in the end.
Despite all the anger and resentment they arouse nothing must deflect Inspector Bamber from the most difficult enquiries of his career - into suspicions that Victor Division contains a policeman who is a thief.
Glossop is a name all too familiar to Newtown CID. His record includes larceny, assault, shopbreaking, gaming and assault on police. So when he escapes from prison and is reported to be back in Newtown Barlow makes it his personal business to find him. But knowing Glossop's reputation, the informers are reluctant to talk.
A big bump in the night and the hunt for the safebreakers is on. But the safebreakers are hunting too - for the expert.
Only when the birds have flown does Z-Victor One get called to the Atlantic Hotel, where a man and woman are wanted for not paying their bill. Barlow has to set snares to catch them.
A mailbag robbery in Newtown and Barlow is in his element as the masterly organiser at the centre of operations. He sends Lynch and Graham to set up a road block, chivvies John Watt into scouting for information and reminds Sgt. Blackitt of the golden rule: ""Can't afford to let things stop or get bogged down"".
""Crimes like this, there's always two, always. I've never known it otherwise"". And DCS Robins is talking about murder.
A vicious bunch of thugs and a young couple in love. Lynch and Graham are involved with both while their own working relationship reaches flash point. PC Sweet and the relative newcomer DC Hicks also get caught up in the action.
The alarm rings and the police dash to the scene. This is the reflex action a clever crook can calculate on - except when PC Jock Weir decides to take charge.
It's the night after a big rugby football match. Lynch and Graham get a surprise when they are sent to investigate a spot of trouble at a pub on the Newtown to Seaport road, for there they find Jock Weir. He is having a drink with friends to celebrate playing on the winning side, but with the arrival of Lynch and Graham the evening turns out to be anything but a happy one.
Fancy Smith's devotion to duty takes him, on his night off, to visit a young offender's father, with results that make him bitterly and furiously angry.
The crew of a merchant ship about to dock at Seaport are looking forward to shore leave. They have money to burn and an itch to burn it in Rosie's Club. When a smallpox scare leads to all leave being stopped, two sailors have other ideas and sneak ashore. Lynch and Graham have to find them to prevent a possible smallpox epidemic.
Cattle are identified by marks on their ears. Sgt. Watt and Z-Victor One have to find their own way of identifying the people responsible for a large-scale fraud.
In soccer mad Newtown tickets for the big match are at a premium. Everyone wants to go, villains and police alike. Con man Johnson has eight tickets to distribute to people who might be useful to him, but mistakenly hands them to Paddy, a fixer who has his own ideas about who to give them to. Lynch and Graham also have tickets and are on their way to the stadium when they come into violent contact with a gang of men in a stolen lorry.
A team of pickpockets and the attempt to track them down leads Jock Weir into serious trouble with the public and with the Chief Constable.
The Coroner's demand for the presence of a witness sends Smith and Weir to a lonely cottage, to be greeted with a kind of violence even they do not expect.
1964
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.
""What's all the fuss about then?"" asks Fancy Smith when he and Jock Weir are called to a case of shoplifting. ""Cause maybe there's something else too,"" replies Jock. And as the men of Z-Victor One discover, something else, something much more sinister, there most certainly is.
A passing car and a radio message lead Graham and Baker to a particular club with interesting results. DC Lynch, meanwhile, has the job of finding the leader of a gang specialising in quick break-ins and small but profitable hauls of liquor and cigarettes. It is his most important case yet and he pins his hopes on a hunch that takes him to London.
Two crimes - same place, same time - and Smith and weir are ready and able to deal with them.
Sgt. Blackitt sets off to give a first aid demonstration at a youth club where trouble is in the air. Jigger Daniels, released from Borstal, is back in town and has a few old scores to settle. Meanwhile Lynch has his own problems. Someone is going around Newtown stealing transistor radios from parked cars, and Barlow is in one of his 'leave no stone unturned' moods.
A friendly call on a neighbour turns into a sudden nightmare for a young housewife. She dials 999. Fancy Smith, alone in Z-Victor One, is sent to investigate and finds himself in a situation that would tax the patience of a priest and a psychologist combined.
A sudden death in Newtown brings the new man, Detective Superintendent Prentiss, from Headquarters. And before the investigation is closed he makes his presence very much felt.
When the only witnesses disagree Sergeant Watt settles for the most likely suspect - with surprising results.
Investigating a reported disturbance, Dave Graham finds it is one more skirmish in a running war fought with stones between the boys of a local school and old Lewis, an eccentric character who lives in the house opposite. It's not long before Sgt. Blackitt appears on the scene. When he is followed by Sgt. Watt Graham has little to do but sit in the car and watch.
It's a lively evening for Smith and Weir. First they have to try and cope with a woman who is charging her husband with an unusual theft. Then they have to intervene when two dockers engage in a punch-up, deal with a pensioner who thinks that the police are trying to steal his money, and finally confront a Scots tearaway who is handy with a shovel but is more interested in the works of Sir Walter Scott.
An old lady is assaulted and robbed. She manages to struggle home to her companion and soon both the cars and DCI Barlow are on the scene.
New Year's Eve in Newtown means a three-line whip for the lads on the cars. Everyone has to be on the job to cope with the drunks, the rowdy parties and aggression in the pubs. Then there is the thief using the occasion to carry out some quiet breaking and entering, and the teenage girl, daughter of a loveless home, looking for brief happiness by running away with a sailor.
A bus load of witnesses - and not one with a voice. Pub closing time in Newtown has come to mean more than the problem of drunken passengers for the men who crew the buses on route no. 86. It has come to be a time to be feared - a time when violence strikes.
Some parents' trouble is that they protect their children too much.
Lynch is on the trail of an artist of a thief who broke into the Seaport Supermarket.
In any community you'll find a few people who are out of alignment - and all too often they find themselves involved with the police.
The suspicions of a canal lock-keeper bring Z-Victor One into contact with the canal community and eventually lead to the investigation of a more serious crime.
A lost constable, but Sgt. Watt refuses to join his colleagues in jumping to conclusions. PC Boyle has been transferred to Newtown with a black mark on his record. Everyone knows why, and only John Watt is convinced of Boyle's good character.
Barlow accepts a favour from a local trader - and his integrity becomes suspect.
A child cries, and family man PC Baker finds himself getting too involved.
Two men carry off a mechanical shovel from a building site.
When No. 18 alarm bell rings in Newtown station Watt and Blackitt brace themselves for trouble. For No. 18 is Mercer's Universal Stores and Mr. Mercer is a notoriously difficult character.
A doctor is accused of indecent assault, and Barlow is faced with the problem of evidence. And when a jailbird is found in possession of a stolen watch it looks to Lynch like an open and shut case. In both cases, however, there is a lack of conclusive evidence.
Baker and Graham take time out for a snack, but there's no let up when the division is invaded by Scots football fans. Jock Weir becomes more than usually involved.
A child witnesses a crime against her father, but her mother refuses to co-operate with the police. Fancy's always uncertain temper reaches boiling point.
A particularly nasty wave of 'flu has decimated the staff at Newtown with Barlow and Blackitt among the victims. To add to the problems Weir and Baker are away sitting examinations, so a temporary team of Smith and Graham are manning Z_Victor One. They investigate when a baby is found abandoned in a cafe, while Watt and Lynch cope with a mysterious outbreak of garden gate stealing on the North Estate.
Personal radio comes to Newtown - with disastrous results.
Toby, a man high up on the ledge of a derelict warehouse, is likely to jump off at the mere sight of a uniform. It is up to Bert Lynch, desperately anxious not to reveal himself as a policeman, to gain Toby's confidence and talk him down.
Some people will pinch anything - and sometimes they get more than they bargained for!
Graham and Baker set out to look for a stolen car but instead come upon a far less trivial incident. Someone has disappeared and the disappearance may be permanent. Barlow has no choice but to call in the 'heavy brigade' from Headquarters.
It's time for the share-out from one of Newtown's holiday savings clubs. £18,000 is in club funds. John Watt has to give protection to the money overnight. PCs Walker and Foster take turns in standing guard, but when the dawn comes and the money leaves for the share-out all is not well.
Three suspects arrive in the Newtown area. Graham and Baker are instructed to warn them off. Lynch, using a different approach, finds himself drinking with them all evening. Then two of the interlopers are found in a crashed car surrounded by very valuable antiques. The case is important enough to keep Barlow working on his day off.
When two masked men terrorise the wife of a bookmaker and rob his safe it looks like a local job, and only hours after his release from prison Henry McNeil is picked up in a stolen car. But as Barlow remarks, a pro like McNeil will be caught only with his hands in the till.
Victor Division prepares for a Royal visit, but crime doesn't stop for the occasion. Lynch makes a mistake and is left fumbling for excuses and a need for action. His conscience will not easily let him forget his day in Market Square.
PC Foster, helped by ex-boxer Len Phillips, breaks up a gang of youngsters blocking the pavement. His unnecessarily rough treatment of the rowdies comes to the attention of Sgt. Blackitt, who sets about putting his house in order.
The police have to deal with depravity in all its guises - both of the body and of the mind.
Watt, Blackitt and Smith try to help Benny Dunn. Benny's mam won't let him into the house; he has nowhere to go, no money for food and there's something about him that softens even a policeman's heart.
It is PC Ken Baker's last day on Z-Victor Two. He has been selected for further training at Police College. He is looking forward to a peaceful day and a quiet drink with his mates after his shift. However, when two shots are fired his farewell to Newtown is anything but peaceful.
1962
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.
1963
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.
1977
Young Colin's route home from school lies across a grubby parkland. Hiding in the bushes is a man with sweets... and a knife.
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.
The crew of Z-Victor One waste no time in arriving at the scene of a burglary. Their reward is to be suspected of theft themselves.
When two feuding families go to war Lynch and Steele find themselves in the front line.
The report of a burning barn takes Smith and Weir into the country, searching for a fire-raiser.
In Victor Division the police often live next door to unruly members of the community. Bob and Janey Steele find that this can have unpleasant, even dangerous, consequences.
What is a mysterious stranger from Soho doing in Victor Division? John Watt would like to know, and keeps a close watch on him. Smith and Weir are heavily involved in the tracking down of money previously stolen in a mailbag robbery. Both events are triggered by a successful jail break.
A young man risks his life to save that of an accident victim trapped under an overturned road tanker, then disappears quietly. One of the bystanders, a retired army officer, pesters Barlow to trace the man and see that he gets the recognition he deserves. Barlow eventually finds the reluctant hero, only to discover that he is an army deserter wanted by the Military Police!
When a case of murder is reported Lynch and Steele are the first policemen on the scene. But the main responsibility for organising the hunt for the killer falls on Barlow, whose toughness is backed by vast experience and an intuitive mind.
Smith and Weir answer a call and find an abandoned baby. They bring it along to the station, where Inspector Dunn is in charge in Barlow's absence.
Lynch and Steele have their hands full when a gang of boys break into a school and smash up the headmaster's study. But the hooliganism doesn't stop there. When they are disturbed by the caretaker the oldest member of the gang attacks him and leaves him seriously injured.
When a gas meter is broken into in a big block of flats Weir and Smith think their hunt is only for a petty thief. What they encounter, though, is someone much more dangerous.
A drunk causes a disturbance, two thieves break into a pet shop - and Steele and Lynch end the night at knife-point.
Weir stops a car driving without lights, the first event in a night which brings 'important' people in the county to Newtown police station.
A race track tout forgets to pay his alimony, and Steele and Lynch discover an ingenious fraud to beat the bookies.
It's a busy night for Smith, Weir and Sergeant Watt when burglary is rife.
At Pete's Caff Steele and Lynch report ""off watch for refreshments"". While they are eating and talking to Steele's friend Les Fielding his lorry is hi-jacked.
Fancy Smith first meets Stan Carron in the Tabernacle pub where Carron is causing a disturbance. They have an argument. The second time they meet Carron is in no state to argue and Smith starts a long night's work.
For two years Barlow has been trying to catch a Newtown thief. When DCS Robins takes a personal interest the pressure is on for everyone - particularly Steele and Lynch.
A charabanc outing, a halt at a pub and an exponent of the three-card trick: this is how a day at the seaside begins. It ends in violence.
Two men claim the same prize and trouble begins. When Lynch and Steele are called there is an unexpected development and a policeman dies.
The prospect of a 'finder's reward' in a dockland smuggling case makes Smith and Weir eager volunteers for extra duty.
Just when the crime figures are levelling out one man pushes them up and up with a series of aimless break-ins. When Steele and Lynch lay hands on him but let him escape Barlow, Watt and Dunn are ready to lay hands on them!
Catching a thief is only the beginning as far as the police are concerned. When Smith and Weir have to justify their action in court the truth is made to look slightly less than the whole truth.
Barlow is investigating a case of assault. Betty Ancoats accuses four youths of attacking her, but one of them, Hogan, who has a reputation for violence, denies any knowledge of the crime.
Barlow initiates a campaign against the Cruddock brothers and their gang. The Z-Cars engage in 'Operation Harassment' and a state of total war develops.
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.
A young rookie constable cannot hold his liquor. In his cups he reveals the whereabouts of a 'safe house' holding a vital witness, with disastrous consequences.
An outbreak of thefts from offertory boxes, a flood of dud cheques - and Victor Division's crime figures begin to soar. Barlow and Watt try to identify a petty criminal with an interest in churches.
Lynch and Graham investigate a domestic tragedy. And for Barlow there's the urgent problem of saving a man's life.
Complaints about a fast-moving, fast-talking door-to-door salesman give Weir and Smith a busy day, while Sgt. Watt prepares the trap.
When a Newtown pillar box begins to belch smoke Graham's first reaction is that someone has been posting red hot love letters. But by the time thirteen pillar boxes have been burned out he and Lynch are on the trail of an unusual kind of pyromaniac. Meanwhile Sgt. Watt is keeping an eye on Oliver Snow, a visitor from London who goes out of his way to be offensive.
Freddy Milligan is servinga prison sentence for robbery with violence. With six weeks of his sentence to run, he is given compassionate parole to attend his wife's funeral. He fails to report back, and the Newtown police get the job of bringing him in.
A report of breaking and entering at Mallory Hall and soon Lord Tenterden's home is swarming with policemen from the ACC right down to Fancy Smith. The thieves have taken something far more valuable than the money they were after. Is espionage involved?
A case of shoplifting, the disappearance of 3,000 bricks and some unbuilt houses give Barlow and the boys in Z-Victor One a busy day.
Dave Graham is used to sorting out the problems of other people, but only as a policeman. He finds it much more difficult to cope with a crisis in his own home.
Some crimes are solved by logic. Barlow finds one but Smith and Weir look like upsetting him in their persistent search for a stolen purse.
On Christmas Eve Lynch and Graham are as full of goodwill to all men as any police officers can be - with a garage robbery to deal with and other people's celebrations getting in the way.
The revelry of New Year's Eve has its normal problems for the Newtown police and its special opportunities for a lone marauder in the streets. Sgt. Blackitt, leaving PC Sweet on the desk, is on the beat himself for a change. Down by the canal is a nurse from the Cottage Hospital and she is out on a cold night without a cloak over her uniform.
When a happy-go-lucky thief refuses to confess to a simple breaking and entering job Barlow continues enquiries. This starts an avalanche of evidence and soon Barlow fears that everyone in Newtown is implicated somewhere along the line.
It can't possibly be blackmail - the old lady seems much too innocent and can have nothing to hide. But Lynch and Graham are sure that something has happened and Barlow decides to set a trap.
Weir finds that being a policeman doesn't stop when he goes off duty, particularly as his girl friend Sally has shady connections.
A chance encounter is soon forgotten by Lynch and Graham. But remembering a face becomes vital when Barlow orders a search for missing money - and a missing man.
Barlow loses a case against a known criminal. He believes the man is guilty but he is ordered to re-investigate the crime and finds a problem he doesn't want to face.
A mysterious meeting at a sports pavilion attracts the attention of Z-Victor Two. John Watt investigates. When a sharp warning to a friend is unheeded Watt finds himself at the centre of hostilities.
Barlow's attendance at a police conference starts a spring cleaning at Newtown station. But the arrest of an elderly drunk by Smith and Weir upsets the efficiency drive.
When a seemingly harmless practical joke goes wrong and leads to a disturbance Lynch finds himself involved in a very personal problem.
When a young offender escapes from custody he is seen hiding on a roof and DC Hicks is detailed to bring him down.
When Josh Tansfield tries to make a deal with the police John Watt is worried - but Barlow gets the best of a good bargain.
A mother finds her schoolboy son in possession of pornographic photographs. Then the lad goes missing and Smith and weir have the job of finding him. Meantime Barlow tracks down the source of the photographs. John Watt deals with his marital problems. JOSS ACKLAND appears here as the villain: four years later he became a cast regular as DI Todd.
A mail van raid - a quick getaway - and no description of the raiders. When an easy arrest is made Barlow finds a new angle on the 'inside job'.
The search area is wide and time is short - for Barlow is in charge of a murder enquiry for the first time. He places his faith in two seemingly harmless questions.
'Punchy' Palmer is not too bright. When he tries to help Newtown police it isn't easy to know what is truth and what is daydreams. In this guesswork lies the answer to a series of crimes.
Two children are the only witnesses of a robbery. It seems that the men concerned will get away with it - until Barlow takes over.
Old Eli Mosscrop was once the best spiderman in the north. Now no-one will employ him. When he tries to show his skill he makes a problem for John Watt, who has no head for heights.
It is a routine job - a break-in at a jeweller's shop. But Barlow believes the owner is in danger.
A brutal mid-afternoon shooting in the middle of a shopping area leaves a store full of people dumbfounded and the Newtown police force shaking its head in disbelief.
A baby is taken from a pram near a bingo hall. Graham and Lynch are involved in a long search.
A wrist-watch and a camera. Not unusual gifts for a twenty-first birthday, but they make a busy Saturday for Smith and Weir and upset a wedding.
Frank Wood is a homosexual, unable to go to the police when a man sets out to blackmail him. If he does go to the police he faces trial, possible conviction, even prison, not to mention local scandal and the end of his business career.
Arty Timmins is out of jail. Chief Supt. Robins put him away when he was an Inspector and Sgt. Blackitt was a constable. With Barlow away on a course Robins makes it his personal business to keep a close watch on one of the hardest characters ever to cross his path. For there are three citizens of Newtown who, even after ten years, have good cause to be frightened.
When Danny Sullivan, boisterous and irresponsible, returns to Newtown Z-Victor Two is alerted. When he goes into the used car business there is trouble.
Smith and Weir are called to a disturbance in a tenement block. An unemployed black man has attacked a bailiff with an axe, then barricaded himself in his flat with his wife and children. Barlow is called and eventually persuades the man to come out, whereupon he is promptly arrested. It looks like an open and shut case of attempted murder, but Barlow is not satisfied. Later that evening Smith and Weir find the man's wife and children sleeping in a bus shelter: they have been evicted without notice.
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.
It's his first day as a sergeant and Alec Quilley's hung over. It's his first job as a sergeant, and it requires a bit of gentle persuasion. But how can you be gently persuasive to a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun?
DC Bowker and Jack Crawford have met before. Their relationship is very simple: one way or another Bowker is going to nail Crawford, unless Crawford can nail Bowker first.
Coppers are fair game and copper-baiting is a good sport - unless the copper you pick on happens to be an expert in unarmed combat. In that case the game's called mayhem.
Excavating for a swimming pool a young couple come across an old trunk buried in their garden. For the police it means old files, old memories and old wounds must all be re-opened.
Unlike his brother Terry, who's just a flat-footed scuffer, Graham Moffat is all set to wheeler-dealer his way into big business. Trouble is - the way it looks to Terry - brother Graham is all set to wheeler-dealer his way into crime.
1973
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.
Goss is back! In court he finds himself in an unfamiliar role. Against Quilley... twice!
Cadet Peter Preston wants nothing more than to be a policeman, and even though he's a bit of a joke at Newtown his future seems assured. Then his father takes someone for a ride.
Goss goes out for a quiet day with a friend, but the friend ends up in a cell and a policeman ends up in hospital.
A bank raid is in the offing and the only man who knows anything about it is Harry Dance.
Julie and Dave are happy: then they're in the nick. It seems that simply being in love is a crime these days.
Stone and Lynch are puzzled by two cases - one involving bears and the other old ladies.
When Albert Smith goes looking for his daughter Joanna his enquiries cause trouble.
A young petty thief and a young Police Constable find themselves under a similar kind of pressure. The pressure to prove themselves.
Not so much a skeleton in the cupboard - more a body, alive and kicking, in the attic.
When villains like Burford and Tyndale fall out they will go to any lengths to settle a score. And somewhere along the line the police have to take drastic measures.
Lunchtime - relaxation for some. But not for those on duty at Newtown Station.
Joe Skinner questions a lad about breaking into a cigarette machine, but it soon becomes apparent that he is after more than a confession.
The same crime can be committed over and over again, unless someone decides to co-operate with the police.
Quilley and Braithwaite have a tricky customer to deal with; Lynch has Stone, as well as a missing child and a shop break-in.
DI Connor runs into Marjorie, an old flame. But what a change in her!
Mary and Fiona, two women of equal ability and opportunity. So why is one of them a criminal?
Several well-planned robberies, but none of the suspects with brains and style enough to organise them. So who did?
A fire-raiser for Skinner and an extortionist for Stone and Lynch. Some people have the strangest pastimes.
Back in Newtown after seven years in Parkhurst, Pikey Nimmo wants to settle up with the men who put him away. Stone was one of them.
Susan Giles wants her father back inside and uses two men to help her. One of them is Quilley, and he unwittingly ruins Skinner's work.
1974
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.
Sunday night duty is traditionally quiet, but on this occasion it's too quiet for Miller's comfort.
A call reporting an early morning break-in is quickly answered and Render is only minutes behind the intruder.
Colin Williams haunts Inspector Lynch, and Sergeant Moffatt haunts a thief called Mulligan.
A factory work-in is on its last legs with the police outside the gates, keeping the peace but waiting for someone to break it.
How did a man like Derek Murphy get beaten up by his best friend, a man half his size? A puzzle for Miller, Yates and Skinner.
Eddy Howarth is the over-enthusiastic bouncer at the local dance hall, but his devotion to duty and jealousy over a woman land him in trouble, and he finds himself facing a serious charge.
A full-scale house to house enquiry fails to produce a witness until a mysterious night prowler and two criminals lay their own freedom on the line.
The men at Newtown question their own stability when the past catches up with a lady called Gwen Newcombe.
Lynch receives a tip-off from a friend and finds himself in the middle of a delicate enquiry with his loyalties divided.
Tempers fray among men constructing a block of flats, but for one family who actually live in a high-rise, nerves reach breaking point and an everyday flare-up develops into a police enquiry.
Just two miles from Newtown centre lies open country and another world where people settle their grievances in a different way.
When a lock-keeper complains of strange noises coming from a disused warehouse, a routine enquiry turns into a macabre situation.
Jack Melish is walking down a deserted street near the docks to keep a secret appointment with Inspector Lynch. Suddenly a car pulls up alongside him and he is bundled into the back seat. The car races off...
Continuation of the previous episode 'Squatters'. With Quilley in hospital, Lynch's attitude to the squatters hardens.
Why should a woman want to betray her husband to the police - even before he has committed the crime?
Alec Quilley is up for promotion. He has an excellent service record, but how close an examination will his private life bear?
A fool and his money are soon parted - all the sooner if you don't know how much the money is worth.
As an act of kindness Bert Lynch gives a deadbeat tramp a cell for the night - and finds himself up to his neck in trouble.
A casual enquiry about car thieves leads Skinner to suspect that someone is taking him for a ride.
Joe Skinner fancies a bird. She seems to fancy him. So why is he investigating her background?
Continuation of the previous episode 'Distance'. Skinner has been shot dead and the Murder Squad have taken over the case. So why is Haggar meeting a mate halfway down the M6?
Continuation of the two previous episodes 'Distance' and 'Ritual'. The hunt for Skinner's murderer has moved away from Newtown. So why is a London detective on his way there, in secret?
The new CID Inspector is an old mate of Cecil Haggar's... isn't he?
1978
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.
Freddie Cowling has come out of prison a changed man. He's lost a lot of weight, he's got a degree and he's promised his wife he'll go straight from now on. But Lynch doesn't believe he's changed. Not when there's the proceeds of his last job to be collected - £40,000 hidden away and waiting...
Sunday - kids who have nothing to do. First Lynch, then Haggar gets involved - they do have something to do.
Frank Rafael Saietta has come home to Newtown. Lynch remembers him as a nice little lad, but that was years ago. Now there are different words to describe him - terrorist and murderer.
Lynch holds the balance between C.I.D. and the Customs & Excise as they investigate a bent businessman and a suspicious German ship. The only link between them is a showgirl.
Maureen Price was always complaining to the police - so much so that they'd stopped listening. The pity is that if they hadn't she might be alive today.
Two men face retirement, one a policeman, the other a villain. There are younger men impatient to fill their shoes. The copper has no choice about it, but the villain has other ideas.
A new security shutter is being installed at the entrance to Newtown station, just in time, it seems, as an angry mob gathers outside. A stream of visitors keeps the desk duty officer busy.
1967
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.
The men who patrol their beats in the little Panda cars are not supposed to poach on the preserves of the C.I.D., but that's exactly what Alec May does. It's a case which involves an outbreak of safe-stealing from farms and a deaf and dumb little boy who likes to watch trains. May's own part in the affair looks like having serious consequences for his career.
The Newtown police are baffled by a series of burglaries. The thief's method of entry is undetectable, but the chaos in the houses he visits points to the work of an amateur. DI Todd is baffled and it is DC Kane, working on the case with Sgt. Stone, who stumbles on the crook's ingenious method of entry.
The saint of the title is one Ted Crowther, who lives in a fairly new block of flats known as Concrete Canyon. He has earned his title because of his good works on behalf of the tenants. A little boy, Billy Darby, goes missing from the flats because he believes he is going to lose his pet hamster, as the Council won't allow pets in the flats. Crowther naturally is right there with the police to help look for Billy. But Crowther also runs a Savings Club for the tenants and this attracts the interest of DI Todd.
DI Todd's wallet is stolen and with it goes his warrant card - his means of identification as a Police Officer. The thieves have the chance to work some profitable confidence tricks.
Her love for a man on the run lands a girl in trouble with the law.
Eleven year old Johnny Benson, unhappy at home because of his parents' constant bickering, takes refuge in religion. After being sacked as an altar boy he sets fire to an altar cloth. A visit from Sgt. Stone throws him into a panic and he runs away.
Alec Hughes is a key witness to a bank hold-up for which Chris Morgan is being charged. DI Todd is afraid there may be attempts to intimidate Hughes and so he sends him to stay with Culshaw.
A fifteen year old girl is missing and when PC Culshaw finds her she begs him not to take her home.
A young engaged couple have spent six months decorating and furnishing their new home, when two weeks before their marriage someone breaks in and smashes everything up. They are the latest victims of 'the destructive thief'.
Edna Clayton, who once had a crush on DI Todd and pursued him shamelessly, is brought into Newtown police station charged with being drunk and disorderly. Todd at first takes no notice; he has other things on his mind.
With DI Todd on leave and DC Kane away sick, Sgt. Stone has more than enough to do. And then just to complicate things the A.C.C. decides to arrive at Newtown station two weeks before time for his customary three months' inspection. On top of all this £200 is missing from the safe in the cashier's office of Carters Ltd., and Stone must investigate.
Angry domineering Mrs. Armitage calls at Newtown station to report her window cleaner husband as a missing person. Sgt. Lynch sympathises with Ernie Armitage's decision to 'hop it' and uses it to serve as a warning to PC Newcombe, who seems to be heading at top speed to the altar.
Lynch is having a quiet drink in a pub when he is spotted by Danny Matthews, a villain Lynch helped put away for a long stretch. Matthews is out for revenge. But Lynch suspects him of pulling another job... and the battle of wits begins.
The new Detective Inspector arrives at Newtown and Sgt. Stone is anxious to know the kind of man he is. He soon finds out when on their first meeting DI Witty presents Stone with a rather unexpected task.
Looking into the matter of stolen copper from a building site, Roach and Bannerman meet Billy Alty, the site foreman, who rules his Irish labourers with the law of his own two fists. But the Irish have their own laws too, and trouble is brewing.
Roach and Bannerman are called to a sub-post office where the postmistress, Miss Powell, has been attacked and robbed. Miss Powell describes her attacker, and in particular the blow he dealt her - a kind of karate chop.
Jack Egerton has been stabbed and DI Witty rushes to the hospital in the hope of getting a statement from the man. But Egerton is in a critical condition and Witty has to look elsewhere for the circumstances of the stabbing. And what he finds out is puzzling, to say the least.
Newtown station receives a call from a man who says he has 'put a bomb in'. Sgt. Stone deduces from the man's words that this is not just another hoax and the hunt begins for the man and the bomb, which is due to explode at midnight.
Holiday fortnight for the building trades is coming up. The firms are paying a fortnight's wages and the banks are carrying extra cash. So when well-known criminal Vincent Lewis arrives in Newtown a watch is kept to find out what he's up to.
One of those 'nice quiet nights' at Newtown station and Sgt. Stone is just preparing to leave for home. Then the window of a pet shop is broken and Z-Victor One is called to a domestic disturbance, with a report of shouts and possible screams.
Roach and Bannerman are called to a cinema where a man has been caught trying to steal from a patron's handbag. The man claims he'd dropped his cigarette lighter and was searching for it in the darkness. A poor excuse, maybe, but Roach believes the man.
A shotgun is fired into the air, the action freezing the staff and customers in a sub post office. The postman is the only one to take any action at all, and he suffers from it.
The salesman at Mather's garage is very obliging, so if you want to buy a car there's no need to worry about the full amount of the deposit. But Charlie Dodd worries. He's a mechanic at Mather's.
Bannerman enters for an inter-divisional boxing match and is curious to know why DI Witty begins to take an almost fanatical interest in his training. Then a punch-up of a far more serious nature takes place near Bartley's fairground.
Granny Wendy, an old woman who lives alone, is the victim of what appears to be a domestic accident. But when Roach and Bannerman find the old woman's purse is missing they suspect foul play.
A long distance lorry driver parks overnight in a Newtown car park, leaving a girl hitchhiker sleeping in the cab. Neither of them knows that a robbery is due to take place in the car park that night.
Bannerman, off duty with his girl friend, meets Ted Holmes in a pub. Holmes has some information to sell and wants cash. Bannerman senses the information is good, but is it?
Sgt. Stone sees two youths, Billy and Vic Redmond, trying car door handles in Newtown Centre. Their father is serving time in Walton jail and the two lads look like following in his footsteps. But Stone, as Crime Prevention Officer, decides to take a hand.
Det. Supt. Oakley calls on Sgt. Stone with a request. Oakley is anxious for Stone to nail Timmy Cater, a safe-blower now living on the Newtown patch. Stone has a 'special relationship' with Cater which will make it easier to set Cater up.
Eighteen year old Michael Adams says he was coming home from the pictures when his attacker came up behind him, knocked him unconscious and robbed him. Roach and Bannerman doubt the boy's story, but why should he be lying?
When the money is recovered from a raid on a security van it is placed in a cell in Newtown police station for safe keeping. But how safe is it?
Ron Bailey, a petrol pump attendant at a Newtown garage, is approached by two men who want him to help them rob a safe in the garage office. When DI Witty hears Bailey's story he is inclined to disbelieve it and senses a conspiracy.
Roach and Bannerman are called to investigate a minor theft reported by a lecturer at a Technical College. The lecturer is th guardian of Roger, a fourteen-year-old boy. Roach and Bannerman are required to interview Roger, but the boy is stone deaf.
PC Newcombe, searching for a girl who has been reported missing, learns that she is hiding out in a disused factory. When he gets there he finds more than he bargained for.
Sgt. Lynch is paying a social call on an old friend, a nurse, when a man arrives at the Nursing Home breathless and frightened. He has found the body of a woman in a lay-by.
With only two days to go until Christmas, Bobby Dawson, having returned from carol singing, tells his mother that the man at No. 52 was very generous: he gave Bobby five shillings. But the family at No. 52 have gone away for Christmas....
Two Scotsmen visit Newtown during the New Year celebrations to seek out an old acquaintance of theirs, a fellow villain, who, they believed, helped the police to jail them. When the Newtown police hear they've arrived they prepare themselves for trouble.
On evening patrol Roach and Bannerman are curious about a man sitting alone in a parked car. When questioned the man runs and scales a ten foot wall like an athlete.
After a raid on a cinema a doorman is shot. A reporter from a Sunday newspaper meets Harris, an informer, in a pub. Harris has information about the raid which he will sell if the price is right. He swears he has proof - the best possible kind of proof.
""From what I know of these kids they don't go in for crime as we know it. All they want is excitement through violence. There's nothing for them to do so they make their own amusements, picking on people, six against one.""
""It was Saturday night when he did the break-in. Got in through a lavatory window and tore his sleeve on a nail. Then he hit the watchman. Even if I have to adjourn the Court to the old man's bedside I'll get evidence to break this damned alibi...""
""A man came yesterday. Said he had shared a cell with my husband. Said my Alfie was coming out of prison in the morning. Needed his overcoat. So I gave this man the overcoat and my husband's best suit. I was at the gate this morning. Nobody handed in the clothes and my Alfie's still inside...""
Like all areas Newtown has its share of vandalism. A group of youths - voices - a crash of glass - the sound of footsteps running down the street. But on this night vandalism has extended itself to robbery and physical violence. Three youths are brought in as suspects; one with a difference.
An attack on a courting couple in a lonely place... a man appearing and asking for a light.. a frightened girl running for help. When questioned the couple cannot, or will not, identify their attacker.
Watching... timing... speed... picking the right vehicle... quick disposal. All the ingredients of wholesale car theft, well organised and well executed. Newtown police find that they have such an organisation on their patch.
Special Duty can be easy or hazardous. A man can be a decoy or a sitting duck. He is alone and he cannot easily predict what action will take place. PC Roach realises this when he is assigned to such a duty. And yet he volunteered for the task, was not forced into taking it. But if your face fits...
A constable has been seriously injured. It could be that his career as a policeman is finished. There is an atmosphere in Newtown station and DI Witty is called upon to answer for the incident.
A Dakota aeroplane with 32 passengers aboard is in difficulties. The pilot intends to make an emergency landing and Newtown prepares itself for a major incident.
With new technical resources we are half way to an automated police force, so why not automated thieves as well? Thieves with all the mechanical tricks, one step ahead of the police. The birds of the air - listening in.
Thirty-nine break-ins in five weeks: each one on pay nights at council estates. On paper a serious setback for DI Goss's detection rate, made even more complicated by the most obvious suspect just finishing probation.
Officially a police informant does not exist... information is obtained from the birds. So when a snout stands in danger of reprisals who is to protect him?
Even the best villains have to retire someday. But if, like Dixie Conlan, you don't want to retire, you find an apprentice: someone young and eager enough to follow in your footsteps.
PC Bannerman risks his life trying to save a child, but what kind of mother could invite such a risk in the first place? What kind of mother could leave a child alone in a house with a lighted oil heater?
A man walks into Newtown police station and demands to be given a breathalyser test, but does not appear to be drunk. Why then is he so insistent?
WPC Parkin is an able and efficient officer with a bright career ahead of her. So why should she risk it all by cultivating a close friendship with a known criminal?
Stand as surety for someone and you risk them running away from the law leaving you to forfeit the bail money or go to prison yourself. But a man does not expect this sort of treatment; not from a nephew he believes to be innocent.
It's Sunday and three young tearaways have nothing to do and nowhere to go. But they have a souped-up car and they need their kicks, so if anyone gets in their way...
Sgt. Stone and Ben Stacey have an old score to settle. So why should Stacey now want to help the police?
Some teachers, like policemen, live in a jungle. Civilised men and women, living under pressure. Then something snaps...
The seed of suicide is in all of us. So when an innocent old woman becomes involved with the police and becomes irrational, is this a warning light?
""What sort of life will I have if I stay in Newtown? Wrapping sweets at Brownley's eight hours a day; listening to Radio One; marry some yob and get a council house if I'm lucky. Half a dozen kids in half a dozen years. D'yer call that living?""
Les Mitcham and Phil Andrews are working as painters on a new housing estate. Mitcham, the younger of the men, has served two short terms of imprisonment. Andrews, from the Midlands, is a more experienced criminal. They have planned a job together. As it will be Mitcham's first attempt at big-time crime they require a third man. Mitcham, anxious to ingratiate himself, says he knows someone. When the job has been pulled PC Quilley finds a source of information. ""It's teamwork that gets results,"" says Sgt. Stone. Why, then, is the job taken out of Quilley's hands?
In a major crime every policeman dreams of finding a key witness - but not a witness who is too scared to talk.
If you know the right places and you're the sort of man who needs a gun it is possible to acquire one. They cost money, but when the offer is a fiver down and a percentage of your first job you might be tempted.
Alec Quilley plucks up courage to contact Beth, an old flame, but for her the glow is fading. Chris, her new boy friend and old schoolmate of Quilley's, seems to be living well beyond his apparent means. Protective hackles raised, Quilley's unofficial enquiries about Chris and Goss's investigation of a series of petty thefts and minor break-ins begin to find common ground.
A serious road accident, a child missing, a drunk in the cells who won't come to. At times a police station is like a wartime command post under siege, with even the policemen themselves at breaking point.
Go to your local pub for a quiet drink, chat up the barmaid, take her out and forget about crime for a while. But as Sgt. Stone discovers, a policeman can't avoid crime - it even invades his private life.
Tommy Woods has a way with dogs and a way with women. There's nothing they wouldn't do for him.
Pete Simmonds is out from prison looking for the man who informed on him. But not only the informer has to live in fear of reprisals. Simmonds is strong and violent and the witnesses at his trial were promised police protection on the day of his release.
A gelignite explosion has wrecked an office and probably injured the men responsible - all for the sake of twenty pounds. But where do the police start looking for dangerous amateurs who are prepared to take risks?
What sort of mother abandons her two month old baby in a telephone kiosk?
'He's lived on canal boats all his life. Born on one - never been to school. Not the sort of man one can lock up in a cell.'
No alibi - a criminal record - picked out on an identity parade. Is that proof enough of a man's guilt?
A rock is thrown at a passenger train and the driver is injured. The Transport Union want the police to take some sort of action, but where do the police start looking for teenage vandals?
Sgt. Stone, with Bannerman and Newcombe, goes to the City Airport to investigate a bomb hoax. No bomb is found, but the police discover something else that is just as explosive.
A man and his wife report the theft of a strange assortment of objects from their home, and they want the thief, their son, brought to justice.
Three honest citizens, strangers to each other, decide almost simultaneously to take the town apart. Spontaneous acts, in three separate places, yet all at the same time.
A woman is found dead. The police get a description of the man responsible, then his name, Gleeson - the Crown's principal witness for a similar murder eight years ago.
A quiet sort of Christmas. People on the move, relaxed. Bannerman goes to the theatre, DI Goss to a private do. Sgt. Lynch is on his way home for the holiday. And Buzz Bentley, hard nut from London, has come to Newtown.
A new police constable, Joe Skinner, is assigned to the crime cars. Kardar, a Hungarian and an expert with explosives, has a score to settle with a certain policeman.
DI Bowen, once DI Goss's superior officer, has been accused of discreditable conduct and he wants Goss to help him. But the Newtown force has another problem on its plate - an escaped prisoner armed with a shotgun.
A child is badly injured in a road accident, a job for Traffic, not Crime. But Sgt. Lynch has a personal interest in this particular accident.
With a sharp increase in petty theft having been recorded, Stone and Goss are anxious to get the top man. A policeman with the local nickname 'Mr. Fixit' comes in for heavy scrutiny.
Frank Caunce, crippled by a roof fall during the course of an arrest by Sgt. Stone, has been released from prison. Stone feels that his disability should keep him quiet, but...
A nine year old by is lost on Moor Top while helping his 'uncle' look for strayed sheep. Rough weather, fading light - and another complication perhaps more serious, the boy's 'uncle' himself.
A struck-off doctor cannot prescribe drugs or medicine and cannot sign a death certificate. What would such a doctor do if old friends and sympathisers came to him for help?
There's a lot of old villains in the new flats at Alexander House. On cold nights, with the lifts out of order, they tend to stay in - but not the younger ones. Micky Pye, for instance.
Under the new act couples can marry at eighteen, but there are still strong family traditions. ""Wait till you're twenty-one - key of the door"". But not for Valma Yorke.
There have been two armed wage snatches within a couple of weeks, both of a similar pattern. Police believe it to be the work of one team. But then there is a third robbery, distinctly different from the other two.
""Squirts the window catch with an oil can first, then uses a knife. Vernon's style. One day he'll probably come face to face with a householder - what happens then?""
Helen Carter, a nervous woman, has lived alone for too long. Then she has a 'visitor', a man who stands outside her door each night. While trying to trace the 'visitor' Lynch finds himself involved with the woman herself.
The Brice brothers run Clyde Street. There are frequent beatings-up but no witnesses. Then PC Quilley is invited to a wedding by a member of the Brice fraternity. There is another beating-up at the wedding and Quilley is called before Goss to explain his association with known villains.
A Liverpool City policeman is shot. Newtown police learn that the two men responsible could be heading for their patch, still carrying the gun. The two men are tired, frightened and dangerous.
An old lag agrees to deliver a message on his release from prison. His son is on the run from Borstal and trouble is their way of life.
The 'Stiffs' - Newtown's local soccer team - have relegation problems. The last thing they need is malicious attacks from the public. The latest act of wilful damage leaves the police wondering. There are plenty of suspects and plenty of motives, but is that enough?
Johnny Marsh is an isolated teenager: he thinks alone, thinks of the past. A little thing, and something snaps. His obsession leads him into crime and violence. The police have to trace that obsession - back into the past.
Two young brothers are drowned in a canal. Newcombe, Quilley and Skinner are there on a night out. Like others they want to forget their job for a while, but the evening has gone sour.
Stolen goods which have disappeared; a search warrant that is useless. The villains are laughing at Newtown police - they have an informer within the ranks of the Law. Supt. Oakley suspects a member of the Newtown force.
Money is missing in a shop. Nield is pushed for cash and he's an ex-convict.
June Frazer is brought in for theft; her father is brought in for drunkenness and the police find a frightened woman.
Bernard Spencer enjoys newspaper publicity of his crimes, but what lengths will he go to to obtain such publicity? He is staying at the Orchard Hotel. And members of the police force are there too - on unofficial business.
An old woman is attacked and robbed and there seem to be no witnesses. Only Pearson was in a position to see anything, but there is something strange about him.
Church doors are open to everyone. Solace is always available - but church property isn't. The police are seeking a thief with a grudge - against religion.
A car crashes on the motorway but this is no ordinary accident. Goss thinks he is chasing someone who is lonely, brooding and probably violent. Maybe even a nutcase.
A load of railway telephone wire is 'knocked off' Newtown's scrap metal merchants are questioned and something is revealed. A bobby is taking bribes.
John Meaker reports his wife missing. Because of the disturbing circumstances the search is not an easy one.
The Ramp is a wasteland - it is a dangerous area to be in at night alone. Doc is a native of The Ramp, and by helping the police has put himself in immediate danger.
Saturday afternoon is a time for football and weddings. People are expecting a good match. But not everyone IS a good match.
Brian Bennett talks about someone called Sylvia. He implies something might have happened to the girl. Although they have no evidence that the girl ever existed the police mount a search for Sylvia.
Brian Bennett talks about someone called Sylvia. He implies something terrible might have happened to the girl. Although they have no evidence that the girl ever existed the police mount a search for Sylvia.
Sheila Ashton has a neat line in petty thefts. She also has a partner in crime - a twelve year old child.
Roy and Mary Chadwick are looking for people who can be persuaded to part with their money. And they've found an ideal victim.
Raymond Pritchard doesn't have much to say for himself. Maybe he's got something to hide. Skinner has a lot of questions for Pritchard - and he wants a few answers.
Gerald has been discharged from a mental hospital after thirty years and he has a record of violence. Now two men have been attacked.
Frank Livesey is an ex-prisoner who is getting on a bit. And easy money is hard to come by when you're nearly past it.
A circus comes to Newtown. It attracts the public - and trouble.
A clown is supposed to make children laugh, but he doesn't have to like them. But can you have a circus without one of the clowns?
Joe Hart's out of the spotlight now, but some people still remember him. Others would sooner forget.
A man has been given a day's unescorted parole from prison. But that was a year ago and he hasn't been seen since. To Goss and Stone falls the task of searching for him.
Never stick your neck out, that's good advice. But what do you do if you suspect someone - look the other way? Alec Quilley gets tired of having mud slung and takes some action of his own.
Bert Lynch tries to help Dixie Conlan's widow to go on living. Jack Streeter's no good for her and Lynch knows it. But does Maggie?
John Glass has returned to the North for more than just a 'quiet life'. And Inspector Goss knows it. As events come to a head Goss decides to keep Glass at the station to stew for a while.
There's one born every minute! And nobody knows that better than the tallyman. Billy and Moira intend to stay in Newtown, but Sgt. Lynch has other ideas.
Teenagers need adventure and a change of scene just as much as adults. But the adventure turns sour for Anne as she realises that it isn't a game.
Some people take Christmas very very seriously. They steal twice as much. Bert Lynch is a victim - for the second time.
Quilley and a milk float... Bagpipes... A hangover... A baby.
Detective Sergeant Bickford infiltrates a gang of villains and gets a job—as a murderer. (Part 2 of 2)
Charles Warren doesn't care how he gets people away from his property. But if he breaks the law... At the station they are far too busy to worry about the promotion rumours that are going round.
A promotion cause commotion in Newtown...
Night duty... Newcombe and Skinner... Promotion... and trouble. Then the promotion comes out in orders and Newtown loses a policeman.
A new Detective-Sergeant and Stone's old undetected crime. Something to be uncovered. A vehicle again waits near the by-pass for a victim. Another victim just waits.
Roy Gannon's out of prison and he's making for Newtown. His ex-wife's there - and so is Skinner
Newtown gets a new policeman and an unusual do-it-yourself expert. Mrs. Manley gets a shock, and so does Inspector Goss when he reconstructs the crime.
""There's a sinister feller in a mac outside my flat,"" came the call. Another villain in Newtown? Maureen's heading straight for trouble and Lionel's not far behind.
PC Covill's in dead trouble. He doesn't realise how much until Z-Victor One is involved in a car chase. A man with a record of violence comes the the station to report a murder.
A cafe and someone waiting, wearing a stocking mask and carrying a a gun. Two suspects, two detectives and a tough interrogation. But then there is another hold-up.
And then there's the one about the commercial traveller, who works when everyone else has gone to bed...
Perjury and corruption in the police force. Sgt. Stone talks about blackmail to Rachel, to Lil and to Superintendent Khan.
""The word may go round that the police aren't hard on this patch. They need to be shown that we are"".
Quiet Mr. Potter's wife and daughter have disappeared.
A lad walks into Newtown police station. A scared lad, who has information. So Sgt. Stone goes visiting.
Skinner meets two women. He helps them for different reasons.
Patten has a record. He takes what he wants, and if someone gets in the way... So Patten goes to this club. Smedley goes to hospital. So Sgt. Stone goes after Patten.
Gold! Mention it and their eyes go green with envy. Offer it and you get clutching hands.
A man is brought in for something petty, but he refuses to speak. Is he covering up for something bigger? Then another man is brought in.
For the 'mobile' police everything and anything can happen on a tour of duty. And it does!
Do 'holidays in the sun' link a toaster sold in a pub and a woman losing her cheque book?
Alec Quilley's girl friend drives a taxi at night - when there are some dodgy people about.
A man quietly enjoying the local playground; a crowd noisily enjoying the local pub. Elsewhere work and much activity - police activity.
1976
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...
There are plenty of ways to make sure a horse loses a race, but how do you make a horse WIN a race?
A quiet Sunday and Moffat finds himself in church. But not praying!
Keeping surveillance on a goods yard full of empty wagons seems a pretty barren exercise - unless you know what's at stake.
In detection you need routine and instinct. But not necessarily in that order.
A young girl is attacked and Lynch has to look into 'all the fun of the fair'.
Which is more important - a batch of missing cameras, or a missing girl?
Two boys are trapped in a disused mine. Why is their friend terrified of going to the police?
A mystery call out for noise down the docks perplexes Yates, and he's stuck there with DS Haggar and an irritating PC. They shoot horses, don't they?
Quilley is up for promotion, but personal circumstances may hinder his path. At the same time, a troublesome thief is causing him severe problems.
A series of break-ins have some peculiar traits. Haggar thinks that an old lag just out of gaol may be responsible. But what is the significance of a missing schoolboy, and why is the MO of the mystery criminal familiar?
1971
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.
To get stolen goods to the public a villain has to be an organising genius, and that's not all. The police are keeping an eye on Reg Thurley, who seems to be leading a double life.
Liam Murphy is losing control of the gang. It's time for action.
Charlie West is found with stolen property. He's in trouble, so he calls his lawyer.
Sunday is all quiet, but Monday brings 'Open Day' problems at the Station. But there are more urgent troubles outside.
Night, a deserted park and a young woman on her way home. Skinner is interviewed by Goss and Stone. Then they take the keys to his quarters.
The Bannion family is in trouble, but at first not with the police. Bannion can possibly help Goss catch a villain. But is Goss willing to help Bannion in return?
Juvenile crime in Newtown has reached a serious level. A clean-up campaign goes into operation. Then the Sheldon mob arrive in town.
There's a V.I.P. visit in the offing and everyone is making plans: Newtown police, Special Branch, Headquarters. And they're not the only ones. It's a straight line from the airport to the Remand Home. And the roads should be fairly quiet.
Three villains are under lock and key. But where is the missing eight thousand pounds? With business problems and an expensive wife Mr. Owen has lots of reasons to be worried, but there's another reason too.
Nicked cars are normally just a routine job. So what makes Annette Minto's so different? At first she just wants her car back, but then something makes her change her mind.
A hairdresser's shop is wrecked. In the middle is a frightened girl. She's alone and vulnerable and it's night time. She's no money and nowhere to go. It's not surprising that she's scared.
Danny Baker returns to Newtown. But DS Haggar is back as well. It's not long before the two of them lock antlers.
With Goss coming back Haggar wants to go out on a winner. And even he has a friend or two willing to help him.
Promotion is in the air and Goss is in with an outside chance. A sighting, plus a report from a beat man, might just add up to a feather in Goss's cap at just the right time.
Bert Lynch has almost forgotten what life is like on the cars - out there in the thick of things.
Change. New people. Different methods. Some people call it progress. Bert Lynch, out on his own, is starting to feel left behind. Not the best time for his surprise visitor to call.
Whether it's a family trying to adjust to change or the police force mounting a big crime prevention operation a team is only as strong as its weakest member.
A lad is walking home late at night...
An old man tries to stop a robbery...
Police life often puts a strain on a marriage, as Goss finds out. Stone is single, but that can also mean trouble.
It's the age of fast getaways, but Frank and George are exceptions. They're villains all the same and Sgt. Miller thinks they're worth watching.
Lynch tries to get away from it all...
Mariam Ahmed makes some trouble for the police.
Quilley - on and off duty - with trouble on both fronts.
After a robbery Tessa goes on the warpath.
Two loners. Stone cops one of them, Skinner the other.
Is Goss to blame when the operation goes wrong?
Stone arrests and charges Andy Walker as a try-on.
DS Cecil Haggar is back in Newtown. He's at a loose end, so he gravitates towards the nearest pub. There he finds trouble.
Stone and Skinner are off duty. Then there's a jewel theft and a robbery with violence.
A lass is missing...
Quilley stops at a pub. Is it routine, or isn't it?
Mrs. Goss and a lawyer add up to problems for DI Goss.
Sgt. Miller is back on duty and up against another pro. He gets some good advice.
A man with no name and no memory - or a man with something to hide?
There's a dead woman and Sgt. Miller expects trouble. Then an anonymous phone call brings more surprises for him.
Stolen gear, or planted? Stone and Lynch disagree. Lynch is trying to get one over Stone. Then the punch-up happens.
OAPs are short of cash... and then the police are involved. Stone and Skinner are looking for something old-fashioned.
Sgt. Miller wants him. So does Skinner. But Bright is clever. Miller tries the 'Chinese Water Torture'.
A man with a parcel - George T. Wood - who's looking for someone; who's been kept waiting most of his life. And a derelict building, all glass and wind - and someone up on the roof. Quilley takes a big risk.
Fred Connor is the new Detective Inspector at Newtown. He has unfinished business - with a villain named Bright.
Inspector Connor is on trial. So is Sgt. Stone and the entire Newtown police force.
Terence Nichols is in custody at Newtown police station after a wages snatch. There are three days to the trial and Stone thinks it's an open and shut case. He has a reliable witness in Sydney Adams. But one of the villains is still on the run.
A new Inspector arrives at Newtown, Ralph Edward Pratt by name, spruce as a pocket hanky and dripping self-confidence. He is fussy and believes in doing everything by the book. He also wants to get involved in everything that's going on, however trivial. It doesn't take long for Bert Lynch to take a violent dislike to the newcomer and to make every effort to avoid him!
Wives of prisoners are easier to chat up than the prisoners themselves - and Inspector Connor wants to find the missing money from a bank robbery.
Night-time and a frightened house breaker. Newtown police reveal an unusual mystery.
Sgt. Haggar and PC Quilley are back on the strength just at the time Dilly Watson, a clever thief, arrives in Newtown.
DS Haggar doesn't like Ken Knowles. ""Journalists,"" he says, ""grow fat on misrepresenting police information"". He doesn't like old Bertha either. She doesn't give information. So what chance does he stand against both of them?
Old Sepp is passing through Newtown. PC Hackett is on the way out. But both are involved with Marlene.
There's just no helping some people, as Bert Lynch finds out when Chief Inspector Logie investigates a break-in with a difference.
A newly released prisoner, Dan Fowler, returns to his wife Julia and plans to fix an old enemy. But Julia has plans of her own.
Sgt. Stone goes to the funeral of an old and respected thief in the hope of unearthing a few skeletons. But dead men don't talk and neither will this one's grandson.
While Austin Nuttall dreams of owning his own business Connor dreams of nailing a fence. And with two crimes unsolved, Connor demonstrates how to kill two men and two birds with one stone.
A gullible old man, a con man, and a do-gooder. And Tom Stone is right in the middle and in need of somewhere to live.
Skinner returns to C.I.D. He's after a villain, wanted by both the Met. and DS Haggar.
A safe-breaker, a club owner and a farmer. All three play the same game until Miller joins in and gets under their skin.
All Tom Stone wants is a quiet weekend's fishing, but then he meets Sergeant Rust. Together they catch a very queer fish, but have different ideas about landing it.
Who gets to Big Jake first, Billy Fielden or DC Skinner? One of them wants to help him, the other just wants him. And who, or what, is Big Jake anyway?
Two working women, one admired by Lynch, the other disliked by Miller. And in the background a singular third person, badly wanted by Skinner.
There's a problem for Skinner when a suspicious odd-job man takes lodgings with an old flame of Bert Lynch.
A body in a canal and Miller follows a chain of enquiries that brings him face to face with... himself.
Two girls with their husbands away. Maureen is the social type and likes a drink; Jill is the lonely type, but she finds something for the police to do.
Connor comes back to vandalism and to conflict with some local bigwigs. And Skinner's in a spot of bother
A member of a visiting Trade Delegation takes a positive step concerning th future. But Sgt. Stone's future is left for Connor and Richards to fight over.
Rowena Bishop has a reputation for storytelling. She tells Sgt. Lynch about a body down on the foreshore.
Clifford Roscoe is the local hard man. He's fresh out of jail and ready and anxious to cause trouble. But Stone and Connor are ready for him.
A bitter argument, an unexpected tragedy and Sgt. Stone finds himself pushing a suspect very hard indeed.
Pat Mason is a Salvationist and everyone likes her, particularly the regulars at Alan Doherty's pub. So why should anyone want to hurt her?
Bringing up a family in Newtown isn't easy, especially for a copper.
There's a housebreaker with a difference operating in Newtown. He leaves no marks when he breaks in and he never steals anything.
Sgt. Lynch takes an interest in Susan Rawlings while her husband is in prison.
Jupp has a large family and needs to keep his job. But events pile up against him - his boss and a robbery - and he needs to keep his cool.
Lynch and Quilley are on 'nights'. And a routine call to a break-in leads to a break-up that's far from routine.
A suspicious death. Who is and who isn't involved? And what is the fiddle going on at Munster House?
A stolen lorry load of meat parked on a busy road. A piece of cake for the police, unless the lorry driver's name is Houdini!
Joyce is very protective towards her son - even when he's in prison.
Understanding between husband and wife, detective and villain, Police Constable and member of the public - but what about the co-operation between Stone and Haggar?
Hugo Vallance, an old-fashioned Lord of the Manor, is trying to survive in a modern world - of gossip, scandal and theft.
It's the day of Lynch's promotion board. He's already passed his exams, so he knows his stuff. But - is he the right type to be an officer?
