by Allan Prior
Starring James Ellis, John Slater, John Woodvine
with Paul Angelis, Ron Davies, Bernard Holley
Newcombe, searching for a girl who has been reported missing, learns that she is hiding out in a disused factory. When he gets there he finds more than he bargained for...
(For cast list see page 23)
Z Cars Goes on Location at 7.5
Looking back over the long and famous road travelled by Z Cars, the chances of claiming a 'first' at this stage of its history would appear to be unlikely. But in the case of this week's episode, 'Will he... Won't he...?' the claim can be made. Newtown police station lies off-screen... Witty, Stone, Bert Lynch, and the lads are brought to a disused factory and it is against this background that the story is played out.
The factory you will see is no studio set but an actual location... an eerie, atmospheric shell waiting to be demolished... and this is how this particular programme was born - from a feeling, a mood reaction to this deserted place. A second visit brought from director Gerald Blake the same haunted reaction; on our third trip, this time with writer Allan Prior, the mutual, mounting excitement between us made the programme inevitable. Tonight the efforts of not only author, actors, director - but a whole outside-broadcast team - brings to a climax the shared enthusiasm of months of preparation. The sometimes insurmountable technical problems will fade as we watch the Newtown lads facing a lost and desperate boy - a boy armed with a gun. Will he... won't he use it on them?
(Richard Beynon)