2x the normal speed

There were only two TV channels in the UK in 1963, the BBC and ITV. BBC2 started in 1967. "Z Cars" was a police TV show. Feel free to learn more about it here, though you may find you push something useful out of your brain in the process.


22 comments on “2x the normal speed

  1. LCARS was the computer display in Star Trek.

  2. I wonder if this story during the first season of “Dr. Who” aired. Shelley could see first-hand the original episodes today gone missing. What envy!

    1. Unfortunately, this takes place shortly before May 1 of 1963. “Doctor Who” began airing on November 23, and the first thirteen episodes exist in their entirety. The first missing episode was broadcast on February 4, 1964.
      While I’m unnecessarily nitpicking, BBC2 also debuted in 1964.

      1. Not the most auspicious of beginnings for the good Doctor; his debut garnered terrible ratings due to people being preoccupied by events across the pond the day before. (Something about the President in Dallas or somesuch…) (But they reran the premiere the next week, where it did considerably better.)

  3. Hang on… Brian Blessed had a career before he was Prince Vultan?!

    1. Oh yes. Quite a bit of television actually, but not many movies. Notably he had recurring role in “I Claudius” and played Porthos in a TV miniseries of “The Three Musketeers.” He was also in a couple episodes of “Space: 1999” and “The Avengers.”

  4. How did I not know Brian Blessed was on Z-Cars? I even have all the surviving series one episodes on my computer

  5. 2 tv channels!? That’s twice as many as we had in Denmark until some time in the 80’s!
    (Although, depending on where you lived, you might be able to get Swedish or German tv channels)

  6. I’ve only had a few ales…

  7. All together now:

    Bi-deeeeeeeeeeeee
    Bi-deeeeeeeeeeeee

    Doo-duh-di, di-dee-dee-dee-dee
    Doo-duh-di, di-dee-dee-duh
    etc

  8. Is that Freddie in the background in panel 2? If so, then he’s about a foot taller than he ought to be. Perhaps he’s cut a deal with some infernal powers. That might explain the curse Shelly’s here to break.

    1. Sure looks like him.

    2. I thought it was Buddy Holly. Or maybe his ghost (died in 1959). If it is Holly, then maybe someone’s been messing around with other r&r legends besides just the Fab Four.

  9. For poor ignorant Yanks like myself, you can get a good overview of the UK in this era (well, it stops at 1962) in David Kynaston’s “Modernity Britain” (2 volumes combined into a handy 880-page book). “Z Cars” is discussed at some length.

  10. On the recent podcast I, Podius, the hosts, John Hodgman and Elliott Kalan, became obsessed with Z-Cars, since it seemed like every I, Claudius actor had been on the show.

    1. Zed Cars! I thought the same thing, and came here to ask about it. I’m starting to suspect that Mr. Allison has very good taste in podcasts.

  11. Acting?
    Too bad that Paul (to my knowledge) never starred in any “Alice in Wonderland” adaption.
    He could have been… the Walrus.

    1. “The time has come,” the Walrus said,
      “To talk of many things:
      Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
      Of cabbages — and kings —
      And why the sea is boiling hot —
      And whether pigs have wings.”

  12. I fear this will go much the same as when I decided to learn about Gundam TV

  13. On this side of the bitter water Z (pronounced zee) Cars would be sporty Datsuns, but those didn’t come out until 1969.

  14. pYe Electrical! Happy days.

  15. Official Bendix Supplier! My dad worked for Bendix for many many years, from Space Race years onwards, until the Agee/Cunningham debacle destroyed much of the company.

Leave a Reply to Mark Turetsky Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *