6.4/1020 votes#1 - Four of a Kind
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/1962
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.
Director: John McGrath
Writer: Troy Kennedy Martin
- NaN/100 votes
#2 - The Limping Rabbit
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/9/1962
A girl disappears, and Steele and Lynch are faced by a conspiracy of silence in her broken family.
Director: Morris Barry
Writer: Troy Kennedy Martin
- 7.5/109 votes
#3 - Handle With Care
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/16/1962
An explosion in a quarry disturbs two lovers. It also disturbs Detective Sergeant John Watt when he finds out what caused it.
Director: Shaun Sutton
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#4 - Stab In The Dark
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 1/23/1962
A wounding case brings top brass into Victor Division to investigate. Lynch and Steele work overtime to find the villain.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#5 - Big Catch
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/30/1962
When the whalers hit Seaport after a good season Smith and Weir have their work cut out to keep trouble to a minimum.
Director: John McGrath, Morris Barry
Writer: Allan Prior
- 7.4/108 votes
#6 - Friday Night
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 2/6/1962
""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.
Director: John McGrath
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#7 - Suspended
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 2/13/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#8 - Family Feud
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 2/20/1962
When two feuding families go to war Lynch and Steele find themselves in the front line.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#9 - Fire!
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 2/27/1962
The report of a burning barn takes Smith and Weir into the country, searching for a fire-raiser.
Director: Morris Barry
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#10 - Threats And Menaces
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 3/6/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#11 - Jail Break
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 3/13/1962
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.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#12 - What Kind Of Hero?
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 3/20/1962
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!
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#13 - Sudden Death
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 3/27/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#14 - Found Abandoned
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 4/3/1962
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.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: John Hopkins
- NaN/100 votes
#15 - The Best Days
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 4/10/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Hopkins
- NaN/100 votes
#16 - Invisible Enemy
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 4/17/1962
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.
Director: John McGrath
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#17 - Down And Out
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 4/24/1962
A drunk causes a disturbance, two thieves break into a pet shop - and Steele and Lynch end the night at knife-point.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#18 - Further Enquiries
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 5/1/1962
Weir stops a car driving without lights, the first event in a night which brings 'important' people in the county to Newtown police station.
Director: Herbert Wise
Writer: John Hopkins
- NaN/100 votes
#19 - Winner Takes All
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 5/8/1962
A race track tout forgets to pay his alimony, and Steele and Lynch discover an ingenious fraud to beat the bookies.
Director: N/A
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#20 - People's Property
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/15/1962
It's a busy night for Smith, Weir and Sergeant Watt when burglary is rife.
Director: John McGrath
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#21 - Hi-Jack!
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/22/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#22 - Incident Reported
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/29/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Hopkins
- NaN/100 votes
#23 - Never On Wednesday
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 6/5/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#24 - Day Trip
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 6/12/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: Allan Prior
- NaN/100 votes
#25 - Affray
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 6/19/1962
Two men claim the same prize and trouble begins. When Lynch and Steele are called there is an unexpected development and a policeman dies.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Hopkins
The Best Episodes of Z-Cars Season 1
Every episode of Z-Cars Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Z-Cars Season 1!
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...
Genre:Drama
Network:BBC One
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Four of a Kind" is the best rated episode of "Z-Cars" season 1. It scored 6.4/10 based on 20 votes. Directed by John McGrath and written by Troy Kennedy Martin, it aired on 1/2/1962. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "The Limping Rabbit".