Jan 3, 2020
Z-Cars: Loyalties (7.68/7.69, BBC, 1972)
"Bert... A friendly word of advice. If you stick your neck out for a geezer like Cotes, you might find yourself answering higher up."
"I can look out for myself, Tom."
#Z cars#classic tv#BBC#1972#John slater#james ellis#Geoffrey Hayes#Douglas fielding#Ray barron#chris sullivan#George a. Cooper#Eileen Helsby#Sandra Payne#Desmond cullum Jones#Graham Simpson#Paddy Russell#James doran#I picked up the first dvd volume of z cars a while back second hand; although I know it well by reputation I haven't actually seen it#Before so was looking forward to dipping my toe in. The survival rate of z cars eps is very patchy; it's estimated about 40% of the#Long running series survived the beeb's archive purges but most of that is in two big clumps. The original run from 1962 to 65 is pretty#Well represented in the archives whilst the final years between 1975 and 1978 appear to be extant. Its in between that things look grim and#Whilst there are odd episodes surviving from some years others (1968 and 1971) have been entirely erased. The few that have seen a dvd#Release are amongst the earliest surviving colour episodes from 1972. The series was in a peculiar stage by this point alternating a soap#Opera format (twice weekly 25 minute episodes) with more standard drama eps (single story 50 mins). These eps on the first set are a sort#Of hybrid: two parters that make up one story split into two 25 minute eps. (the series would return to its original format of single 50#Minute eps at the end of 72). But what about the episode?? As a complete novice this was a lot of fun. The more famous characters like#Barlow and Fancy Smith were gone by this point (Barlow had his own spin off in Softly Softly) but James Ellis' grizzled Bert Lynch had been#Present from the start and he's here too. He steals a lot of focus in this ep and it's easy to see why he must have been a fan favourite#His easy going charm and soft Irish brogue forgive a more obstinate and difficult relationship with his colleagues. They include a grumbly#John Slater as the old hand whose prejudices blind him to the truth of a situation and more bizarrely a pre Rainbow Geoffrey Hayes