Which actor appeared in the most episodes of the British TV police series "Z-cars"?

James Ellis (15 March 1931 – 8 March 2014) was an actor from Northern Ireland, and a theatre director, with a career stretching over sixty years. Originally a stage actor and director in his native Belfast, he moved to London in the early 1960s. After gaining recognition in Great Britain through the "Z-Cars" (1962–78) police series.

He starred in the role of Bert Lynch in "Z-Cars". In this police series, set in the fictional Newtown in Lancashire, his character rose from the rank of PC to Inspector throughout the series. Ellis appeared in 629 episodes of this series, an all-time record for any actor's appearances in a TV detective/police series. The impact of "Z-Cars" was such that he became a household name in this era.

"Z-Cars" or "Z Cars" (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.