Z-Cars

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.

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.

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.

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!

The prospect of a 'finder's reward' in a dockland smuggling case makes Smith and Weir eager volunteers for extra duty.

Two men claim the same prize and trouble begins. When Lynch and Steele are called there is an unexpected development and a policeman dies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's a busy night for Smith, Weir and Sergeant Watt when burglary is rife.

A race track tout forgets to pay his alimony, and Steele and Lynch discover an ingenious fraud to beat the bookies.

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 drunk causes a disturbance, two thieves break into a pet shop - and Steele and Lynch end the night at knife-point.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

The report of a burning barn takes Smith and Weir into the country, searching for a fire-raiser.

When two feuding families go to war Lynch and Steele find themselves in the front line.

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.

""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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

""Crimes like this, there's always two, always. I've never known it otherwise"". And DCS Robins is talking about murder.

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"".

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 big bump in the night and the hunt for the safebreakers is on. But the safebreakers are hunting too - for the expert.

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.

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.

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.

A serious crime has to be reported to Headquarters. Barlow's main worry is that the crime may not have been committed at all.

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.

The trail of counterfeit notes begins in a chemist's shop. Following it is more complicated than Lynch and Graham would ever have believed.

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.

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.

The act is sudden, brutal and corroding. The problem facing Barlow is what the victim has done to warrant it.

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.)

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.

Export cigarettes are being imported into the Newtown area. Lynch and Steele pick up some fag-ends of information.

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.

Arrest usually pile up at night - except in this case that involves a safe, the Army, a divorce and a potted plant.

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.

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.

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.

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"".

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.

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.

Detective Superintendent Miller, aggressive as ever, leads the local Newtown force as they attempt to find a man who has attacked several young girls.

Johnny attacks a man in a pub - the wrong man. Steele and Lynch have to find him before he finds the right man.

A neat operation in car stealing begins to go wrong when the thief tries mixing business with pleasure.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A baby is taken from a pram near a bingo hall. Graham and Lynch are involved in a long search.

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.

It is a routine job - a break-in at a jeweller's shop. But Barlow believes the owner is in danger.

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.

Two children are the only witnesses of a robbery. It seems that the men concerned will get away with it - until Barlow takes over.

'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.

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.

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'.

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.

When Josh Tansfield tries to make a deal with the police John Watt is worried - but Barlow gets the best of a good bargain.

When a young offender escapes from custody he is seen hiding on a roof and DC Hicks is detailed to bring him down.

When a seemingly harmless practical joke goes wrong and leads to a disturbance Lynch finds himself involved in a very personal problem.

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.

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 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 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.

Weir finds that being a policeman doesn't stop when he goes off duty, particularly as his girl friend Sally has shady connections.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Complaints about a fast-moving, fast-talking door-to-door salesman give Weir and Smith a busy day, while Sgt. Watt prepares the trap.

Lynch and Graham investigate a domestic tragedy. And for Barlow there's the urgent problem of saving a man's life.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

The police have to deal with depravity in all its guises - both of the body and of the mind.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some people will pinch anything - and sometimes they get more than they bargained for!

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.

Personal radio comes to Newtown - with disastrous results.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Two men carry off a mechanical shovel from a building site.

A child cries, and family man PC Baker finds himself getting too involved.

Barlow accepts a favour from a local trader - and his integrity becomes suspect.

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.

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.

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.

Lynch is on the trail of an artist of a thief who broke into the Seaport Supermarket.

Some parents' trouble is that they protect their children too much.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

When the only witnesses disagree Sergeant Watt settles for the most likely suspect - with surprising results.

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.

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.

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.

Two crimes - same place, same time - and Smith and weir are ready and able to deal with them.

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.

""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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

A man quietly enjoying the local playground; a crowd noisily enjoying the local pub. Elsewhere work and much activity - police activity.

Alec Quilley's girl friend drives a taxi at night - when there are some dodgy people about.

Do 'holidays in the sun' link a toaster sold in a pub and a woman losing her cheque book?

For the 'mobile' police everything and anything can happen on a tour of duty. And it does!

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.

Gold! Mention it and their eyes go green with envy. Offer it and you get clutching hands.

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.

Skinner meets two women. He helps them for different reasons.

A lad walks into Newtown police station. A scared lad, who has information. So Sgt. Stone goes visiting.

Quiet Mr. Potter's wife and daughter have disappeared.

""The word may go round that the police aren't hard on this patch. They need to be shown that we are"".

Perjury and corruption in the police force. Sgt. Stone talks about blackmail to Rachel, to Lil and to Superintendent Khan.

And then there's the one about the commercial traveller, who works when everyone else has gone to bed...

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.

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.

""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.

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.

Roy Gannon's out of prison and he's making for Newtown. His ex-wife's there - and so is Skinner

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.

Night duty... Newcombe and Skinner... Promotion... and trouble. Then the promotion comes out in orders and Newtown loses a policeman.

A promotion cause commotion in Newtown...

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.

Detective Sergeant Bickford infiltrates a gang of villains and gets a job—as a murderer. (Part 2 of 2)

Quilley and a milk float... Bagpipes... A hangover... A baby.

Some people take Christmas very very seriously. They steal twice as much. Bert Lynch is a victim - for the second time.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

Hugo Vallance, an old-fashioned Lord of the Manor, is trying to survive in a modern world - of gossip, scandal and theft.

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?

Joyce is very protective towards her son - even when he's in prison.

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!

A suspicious death. Who is and who isn't involved? And what is the fiddle going on at Munster House?

Lynch and Quilley are on 'nights'. And a routine call to a break-in leads to a break-up that's far from routine.

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.

Sgt. Lynch takes an interest in Susan Rawlings while her husband is in prison.

There's a housebreaker with a difference operating in Newtown. He leaves no marks when he breaks in and he never steals anything.

Bringing up a family in Newtown isn't easy, especially for a copper.

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?

A bitter argument, an unexpected tragedy and Sgt. Stone finds himself pushing a suspect very hard indeed.

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.

Rowena Bishop has a reputation for storytelling. She tells Sgt. Lynch about a body down on the foreshore.

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.

Connor comes back to vandalism and to conflict with some local bigwigs. And Skinner's in a spot of bother

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.

A body in a canal and Miller follows a chain of enquiries that brings him face to face with... himself.

There's a problem for Skinner when a suspicious odd-job man takes lodgings with an old flame of Bert Lynch.

Two working women, one admired by Lynch, the other disliked by Miller. And in the background a singular third person, badly wanted by Skinner.

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?

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.

A safe-breaker, a club owner and a farmer. All three play the same game until Miller joins in and gets under their skin.

Skinner returns to C.I.D. He's after a villain, wanted by both the Met. and DS Haggar.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There's just no helping some people, as Bert Lynch finds out when Chief Inspector Logie investigates a break-in with a difference.

Old Sepp is passing through Newtown. PC Hackett is on the way out. But both are involved with Marlene.

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?

Sgt. Haggar and PC Quilley are back on the strength just at the time Dilly Watson, a clever thief, arrives in Newtown.

Night-time and a frightened house breaker. Newtown police reveal an unusual mystery.

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.

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!

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.

Inspector Connor is on trial. So is Sgt. Stone and the entire Newtown police force.

Fred Connor is the new Detective Inspector at Newtown. He has unfinished business - with a villain named Bright.

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.

Sgt. Miller wants him. So does Skinner. But Bright is clever. Miller tries the 'Chinese Water Torture'.

OAPs are short of cash... and then the police are involved. Stone and Skinner are looking for something old-fashioned.

Stolen gear, or planted? Stone and Lynch disagree. Lynch is trying to get one over Stone. Then the punch-up happens.

There's a dead woman and Sgt. Miller expects trouble. Then an anonymous phone call brings more surprises for him.

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.

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.

A fire-raiser for Skinner and an extortionist for Stone and Lynch. Some people have the strangest pastimes.

Several well-planned robberies, but none of the suspects with brains and style enough to organise them. So who did?

Mary and Fiona, two women of equal ability and opportunity. So why is one of them a criminal?

DI Connor runs into Marjorie, an old flame. But what a change in her!

Quilley and Braithwaite have a tricky customer to deal with; Lynch has Stone, as well as a missing child and a shop break-in.

The same crime can be committed over and over again, unless someone decides to co-operate with the police.

Joe Skinner questions a lad about breaking into a cigarette machine, but it soon becomes apparent that he is after more than a confession.

Lunchtime - relaxation for some. But not for those on duty at Newtown Station.

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.

Not so much a skeleton in the cupboard - more a body, alive and kicking, in the attic.

A young petty thief and a young Police Constable find themselves under a similar kind of pressure. The pressure to prove themselves.

When Albert Smith goes looking for his daughter Joanna his enquiries cause trouble.

Stone and Lynch are puzzled by two cases - one involving bears and the other old ladies.

Julie and Dave are happy: then they're in the nick. It seems that simply being in love is a crime these days.

A bank raid is in the offing and the only man who knows anything about it is Harry Dance.

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.

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 is back! In court he finds himself in an unfamiliar role. Against Quilley... twice!

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

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

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.

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.

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?

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

The new CID Inspector is an old mate of Cecil Haggar's... isn't he?

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?

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?

Joe Skinner fancies a bird. She seems to fancy him. So why is he investigating her background?

A casual enquiry about car thieves leads Skinner to suspect that someone is taking him for a ride.

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 fool and his money are soon parted - all the sooner if you don't know how much the money is worth.

Alec Quilley is up for promotion. He has an excellent service record, but how close an examination will his private life bear?

Why should a woman want to betray her husband to the police - even before he has committed the crime?

Continuation of the previous episode 'Squatters'. With Quilley in hospital, Lynch's attitude to the squatters hardens.

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...

When a lock-keeper complains of strange noises coming from a disused warehouse, a routine enquiry turns into a macabre situation.

Just two miles from Newtown centre lies open country and another world where people settle their grievances in a different way.

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.

Lynch receives a tip-off from a friend and finds himself in the middle of a delicate enquiry with his loyalties divided.

The men at Newtown question their own stability when the past catches up with a lady called Gwen Newcombe.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Colin Williams haunts Inspector Lynch, and Sergeant Moffatt haunts a thief called Mulligan.

A call reporting an early morning break-in is quickly answered and Render is only minutes behind the intruder.

Sunday night duty is traditionally quiet, but on this occasion it's too quiet for Miller's comfort.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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 police informer is found badly beaten on a rubbish tip, whilst Bert Lych waits for him in a local pub. Who was responsible, and what is the connection to a rough local pub?

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?

Two boys are trapped in a disused mine. Why is their friend terrified of going to the police?

Which is more important - a batch of missing cameras, or a missing girl?

A young girl is attacked and Lynch has to look into 'all the fun of the fair'.

In detection you need routine and instinct. But not necessarily in that order.

Keeping surveillance on a goods yard full of empty wagons seems a pretty barren exercise - unless you know what's at stake.

A quiet Sunday and Moffat finds himself in church. But not praying!

There are plenty of ways to make sure a horse loses a race, but how do you make a horse WIN a race?

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

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

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

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sunday - kids who have nothing to do. First Lynch, then Haggar gets involved - they do have something to do.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.