Z Cars - The Original Theme Tune (plus rare colour clip) - BBC1 1968

Z Cars was the top British police TV drama during the 1960s - or at least it tied in first place with its rather genteel and older stablemate, Dixon of Dock Green. Starting in 1962 Z Cars continued its run until 1978. Although it was broadcast in black and white until the 1970 series, this footage of a 1968 rehearsal was filmed in colour. To my knowledge the actual episode does not exist in the archives. The actors are Joss Ackland (who played DI Todd, 1967-68), John Slater (DS Tom Stone, 1967-74) and James Ellis (starting as PC and ending as Inspector Bert Lynch, 1962-78). I haven't worked out who the actress is with Joss Ackland. The opening titles shown here are the second version, which featured a Ford Zephyr 6 Mark 3. The name Z Cars didn't stand for Zephyr as was commonly supposed. Rather it stood for Z Division with its call signs Z-Victor 1 and Z-Victor 2. Just as well, because later series featured a Ford Escort! The show which ran for 801 episodes also spawned two other police dramas: 'Softly Softly' and 'Softly Softly Task Force' which featured Barlow and Watts. These in turn had a spin-off called Barlow at Large. In addition Barlow and Watts appeared in two other series, Jack the Ripper and Second Verdict. The fondly remembered Z Cars theme tune was based on a Liverpool folk song titled Johnny Todd and it was arranged by Fritz Spiegl. It was updated in later years (why oh why do they do that?) but the original that's played here is the 'proper' version that most people remember.

Added 23 Sept 2026