Z-Cars: Series 2
Season 2 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Z-Cars Season 1.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 2 Progress Shield
On Watch - Newtown
Sep 19, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Full Remission
Sep 26, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Truth Or Dare
Oct 3, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Information Received
Oct 10, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Friendly Relations
Oct 17, 1962 · 50 min
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!
Corroboration
Oct 24, 1962 · 50 min
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
The Thin Girl
Oct 31, 1962 · 50 min
A neat operation in car stealing begins to go wrong when the thief tries mixing business with pleasure.
Johnny Sailor
Nov 7, 1962 · 50 min
Johnny attacks a man in a pub - the wrong man. Steele and Lynch have to find him before he finds the right man.
Person Unknown
Nov 14, 1962 · 50 min
Detective Superintendent Miller, aggressive as ever, leads the local Newtown force as they attempt to find a man who has attacked several young girls.
Ambush
Nov 11, 1962 · 50 min
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 a
Known To The Police
Nov 28, 1962 · 50 min
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 'thi
The Navigators
Dec 5, 1962 · 50 min
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"".
Business Trip
Dec 12, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Five Whistles
Dec 19, 1962 · 50 min
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.
Search
Dec 26, 1962 · 50 min
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 attemp
All Up By Seven
Jan 2, 1963 · 50 min
Arrest usually pile up at night - except in this case that involves a safe, the Army, a divorce and a potted plant.
Trumpet Voluntary
Jan 9, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Five And A Match
Jan 16, 1963 · 50 min
Export cigarettes are being imported into the Newtown area. Lynch and Steele pick up some fag-ends of information.
The Hitch-Hiker
Jan 23, 1963 · 50 min
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 giv
A Simple Case
Jan 30, 1963 · 50 min
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
Act Of Vengeance
Feb 6, 1963 · 50 min
The act is sudden, brutal and corroding. The problem facing Barlow is what the victim has done to warrant it.
The Listeners
Feb 13, 1963 · 50 min
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 be
The Main Chance
Feb 20, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Follow My Leader
Feb 27, 1963 · 50 min
The trail of counterfeit notes begins in a chemist's shop. Following it is more complicated than Lynch and Graham would ever have believed.
Members Only
Mar 6, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Matter Of Conviction
Mar 13, 1963 · 50 min
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 Bad Lad
Mar 20, 1963 · 50 min
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 cas
Enquiry
Mar 27, 1963 · 50 min
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 contai
Pay By Results
Apr 3, 1963 · 50 min
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 reporte
The Peterman
Apr 10, 1963 · 50 min
A big bump in the night and the hunt for the safebreakers is on. But the safebreakers are hunting too - for the expert.
The Birds Of The Air
Apr 17, 1963 · 50 min
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 th
Train Of Events
Apr 24, 1963 · 50 min
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 Wa
By The Book
May 1, 1963 · 50 min
""Crimes like this, there's always two, always. I've never known it otherwise"". And DCS Robins is talking about murder.
Nothing Serious
May 8, 1963 · 50 min
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 n
Alarm Call
May 15, 1963 · 50 min
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 Try By Weir
May 22, 1963 · 50 min
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 t
Quiet Confidence
May 29, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Scare
Jun 5, 1963 · 50 min
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 lea
Caught By The Ears
Jun 12, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Come On The Lads
Jun 19, 1963 · 50 min
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 m
The Whizzers
Jun 26, 1963 · 50 min
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.
Police Work
Jul 3, 1963 · 50 min
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.