History of The Bill
Encyclopedia
From the ITV police drama's first screening in 1983, the history of The Bill
includes a variety of major plotlines and changes to the programme's format.
broadcast a one-off drama
called Woodentop
. It was written by Geoff McQueen
, who had previously worked on LWT's
The Gentle Touch
. Woodentop followed Police Constable Jim Carver (Mark Wingett
) on his first day, mentored by Woman Police Constable June Ackland (Trudie Goodwin
). The production was seen as innovative for the use of natural lighting, handheld cameras and an authentic portrayal of British policing. Thames Television commissioned 12 further episodes for transmission in 1984.
Woodentop was directed
by Peter Cregeen
, who had played a part in Z-Cars
and Juliet Bravo
. The cast included Peter Dean as Sergeant Wilding who went on to play Peter Beale
in EastEnders
.
. Several new characters were introduced for the first time, such as Sergeant Bob Cryer, Detective Sergeant Tommy Burnside (later changed to Frank) and Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow.
Early episodes of The Bill had a duration of fifty minutes, with some of thirty-five being produced over the first three series of The Bill. The fifty minute episodes were broadcast post watershed
, allowing the programme to include scenes of nudity, drug use, violence and swearing.
The Bill's production base changed from the first two series where it was filmed in Wapping
, east London, due to an industrial dispute at an adjoining premises. During March 1987, filming for the third series went ahead in Ladbroke Grove
, west London
. In 1989, the location changed to Merton
, South London
, a production base they continue to use currently.
The early series was considered to be realistic of how the police operated, with Geoff McQueen's focus on the mundane and the ordinary aspects of a police station
, such as filling in forms and paperwork. The investigations displayed in each episode would vary from muggings
and domestics
, to bomb scares and armed robbery.
During 1989, Peter Cregeen
left ITV to work for the BBC
and was replaced by Michael Chapman. Meanwhile, the owners of the set of Sun Hill Police Station set in Barlby Road, decided to renovate the building. This caused Thames Television to look for a new area to host the filming of the police station and selected a disused hospital in Clapham
, but this did not go ahead. Instead, Thames settled for an old wine warehouse in Merton industrial estate, near Wimbledon
, South London
.
In 1993, the continued success of the programme led to ITV commissioning three weekly episodes which began at the start of the year.
In 1994, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary in October. The special anniversary episodes that week followed Detective Inspector Sally Johnson in court charged with manslaughter after a drug user had died during a police raid. In July that year, the creator and writer Geoff McQueen
, died at the age of 46. In 1995, Detective Sergeant Don Beech joined the ranks of Sun Hill, later causing the removal of the CID team
in 2000.
During 1997, The Bill underwent a series of changes. The Bill's ratings were challenged by BBC One
who introduced a number of docusoaps
such as Driving School
. Michael Chapman, having been Executive Producer since 1989, handed over to Richard Handford. The new Executive Producer introduced a different title sequence
, changing the previous theme music and removing the "plodding feet" at the end credits
, with a new one hour long format introduced in August that year.
room. The theme tune was also revamped, with a change from the irregular time signature
.
During 2000, the programme witnessed one of the largest cast changes in its history. This was due Detective Sergeant Don Beech's corrupt
activities which led to the storyline known as the Don Beech Scandal
. The scandal was brought about by Beech entering into a corrupt business relationship with a local crime boss, Howard Fallon, who frequently paid Beech to delay investigations and lose evidence. Unknown to Beech, fellow Detective Sergeant Claire Stanton was an undercover officer from the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB)
who had infiltrated Sun Hill CID to expose suspected corruption. Don Beech also killed Detective Sergeant John Boulton who was in a relationship with Claire Stanton. After killing Boulton, Beech fled to Australia
giving way to two spin-off programmes, Beech on the Run and Beech is Back
. Don Beech's actions led to seven CID detectives removed from Sun Hill and introduced six new characters.
During 2001, Sergeant Bob Cryer was forced into early retirement after he was mistakenly shot during an armed siege by Constable Dale Smith, who was at the time attached to SO19
. Cryer was replaced by Sergeant Craig Gilmore. The title sequence was changed to include static photos of the cast and the music was remix
ed to include the "Overkill" theme tune, last featured in 1988. The series was also broadcast in widescreen
ratio
, for the first time.
, changed the format of The Bill to a serial one, rather than the previous stand alone episodes which included a soap opera narrative.
2002 gave way to several major storylines and the axing of characters, such as the murder of Chief Inspector Derek Conway, when the panda car
he was driving was petrol bombed
in March that year. Following Conway's death, a memorial fund was organised and a large sum of money was donated by Superintendent Tom Chandler, which prompted Constable Des Taviner to donate an even large sum of money which he had confiscated off a group of youths. While a petrol bombing attack was underway on the police station, Des Taviner discovered that the money was forged. Taviner managed to get hold of a petrol bomb, and threw it into a temporary office in the station yard, where the money was being kept in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Unknown to Des, contractors had left their gas canisters in the office. The canisters ignited leading to the Sun Hill Fire
, which caused the death of six characters.
During 2003, a live episode of The Bill
was broadcast to commemorate the 20th anniversary since the pilot episode, Woodentop
. The live episode centred around a siege in the yard, involving a drunken man taking Detective Constable Juliet Becker hostage with a knife, after Constable Cathy Bradford had failed to search the man. Juliet Becker later died of her injuries. During September 2005, a second live episode was broadcast to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ITV1. The second live episode centred around Sun Hill Police Station under siege, after a grief-stricken father laid siege to the station after the driver of the car that killed his son was found to be not guilty.
During 2005, a second fire at Sun Hill
was caused by Police Community Support Officer
Colin Fairfax crashing a van laden with explosives into the front office of Sun Hill Police Station, as a revenge attack after he had been dismissed for his racist behaviour towards Constable Leela Kapoor. This storyline caused the death of three characters.
While the series remained fairly grounded in the early days of the new serial format, gradually more sensational and soapy storylines were introduced, many of these aimed to boost the show's ratings. The earliest of these took place in 2002 where viewers witnessed a gay kiss between PC Luke Ashton and Sgt. Craig Gilmore. More of these particular scenes would follow, for example with the lesbian kiss between DS Debbie McAllister and DC Juliet Becker. The show later went on to tackle same-sex marriage
in the police force, with the partnership registry of PC Lance Powell and Sgt. Mark Rollins in 2005. The Bill under Marquess featured a male on male rape storyline in 2003, where the victim was DC Mickey Webb, and later in 2005 Sgt. June Ackland revealed she was raped in her teens by a 13 year-old boy. Other sensational aspects of the show were the manner in which characters were killed off - such as the death of PC Cass Rickman at the hands of a serial killer, and that of Superintendent Tom Chandler who shot himself after raping his wife DS Debbie McAllister. Chandler was replaced by Adam Okaro, a black Superintendent played by Cyril Nri
. The misguided PC Gabriel Kent
became the most prominent character in the darker and sensational storylines, joining the series in early 2003 and lasting out the remainder of the Marquess era as an increasingly unhinged individual. Arguably the most controversial storyline during the Marquess period was the relationship between PC Kent and what viewers assumed was his birth mother, Sgt. June Ackland. PC Kent often stretched viewer credibility with the crimes which he was willing to commit in order to keep his secrets, including deliberately killing his colleague PC Kerry Young while managing to avoid the evidence ever pointing back to him.
Another sensational storyline of Marquess's tenure came when the station suffered another explosion in February 2005, three years after the previous, this time caused by disaffected PCSO Colin Fairfax, who drove a van into the front of the station, killing DC Ken Drummond, (who was in the back of the van), SRO Marilyn Chambers and PC Andrea Dunbar (an undercover journalist). A few months after the episode aired, Paul Marquess was signed away by Endemol, the makers of Big Brother, to head their new drama division. His replacement was Johnathan Young
, whose name has appeared on the credits since September 2005.
's retooling of the programme has led to noticeable changes in The Bill. Whilst personal storylines remain, they are of less abundance than before, and more time is spent on crime-based stories. Sensational storylines have also been dropped since Young took over. The deaths of officers are far less frequent and the focus of the more dramatic storylines is largely on the crimes being dealt with, and not on the personal lives or conduct of the officers. Arguably the most memorable storyline of the Young era so far was DC Zain Nadir's undercover operation.
Although the serial format remains in place, the storylines are generally more self-contained and are often dealt with in two or three episode blocks. An example of this might be the recent Closing The Net two-part storyline and Witness, a storyline which spanned out over eight episodes . The Bill has more frequently featured self-contained episodes, focusing on one or more crime storylines wrapped up in one hour. In this way, the programme more closely resembles the earlier period helmed by Richard Handford.
Under Johnathan Young
's tenure, a second live episode was broadcast on 22 September 2005 to mark the ITV
Network's 50th anniversary. The episode was written by Graham Mitchell and, again, co-produced and directed by Sylvie Boden.
On the 3 January 2007 to bring in the new year, the episode opening titles
were revamped once again, paying homage to the original 1984 titles. The 2007 ones have shots of London, interspersed with police work and shots of Sun Hill Police Station. The break bumpers and music were also updated.
Because of the more compact and less serialised format adopted under Johnathan Young, episode titles were reintroduced, beginning with Episode # 490 which was titled Sweet Revenge - broadcast on 21 March 2007. A spokesperson for the programme commented on how the titles summed up the 'essence' of an episode.
In 2009 the show moved to 9:00 PM with only 1 episode a week. Resulting in a significant cutdown of the cast.
The show began High Definition broadcasts on July 1, 2009 with episode number 682, titled "Conviction: Cover Up". 2 episodes later, the episode numbers were reset to 001, rather confusingly being on the third episode of a 6 part story, and also, due to episodes being aired out of production order, meaning that the episode numbers 684-689 and 691-693 went unused even though episodes 690 and 694-697 have already been broadcast.
groups and huge media attention, in order to get ITV to reconsider. The final episode of Britain's longest running police procedural drama was aired on Tuesday 31st August 2010 followed by a special tribute show named "Farewell The Bill".
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
includes a variety of major plotlines and changes to the programme's format.
Pilot
During 1983, Thames TelevisionThames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
broadcast a one-off drama
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
called Woodentop
Woodentop (The Bill)
"Woodentop" is an episode of the Thames Television series of one-off plays Storyboard. The programme was originally broadcast on 16 August 1983. It is also the forerunner to the long-running British police television series The Bill...
. It was written by Geoff McQueen
Geoff McQueen
Geoffrey "Geoff" McQueen was a television screenwriter. A carpenter and joiner by trade he worked abroad for many years before he began writing in 1978. His first success came in 1982 when an episode of The Gentle Touch he'd written was aired.-Career:He is probably best remembered for creating...
, who had previously worked on LWT's
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of...
. Woodentop followed Police Constable Jim Carver (Mark Wingett
Mark Wingett
Mark Wingett , is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of Jim Carver in the ITV1 police procedural The Bill.-Career:...
) on his first day, mentored by Woman Police Constable June Ackland (Trudie Goodwin
Trudie Goodwin
Trudie Goodwin is an English actress best known for playing Sergeant June Ackland in the high-profile British television police drama The Bill from 1984 to 2007. On September 7th, 2011 it was announced that Goodwin is to join the long-running soap Emmerdale...
). The production was seen as innovative for the use of natural lighting, handheld cameras and an authentic portrayal of British policing. Thames Television commissioned 12 further episodes for transmission in 1984.
Woodentop was directed
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
by Peter Cregeen
Peter Cregeen
Peter Cregeen is a British television director, producer and executive. He is possibly best known for being the original director of ITV's successful police drama, The Bill, and his substantial contribution to the serial thereafter...
, who had played a part in Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
and Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
. The cast included Peter Dean as Sergeant Wilding who went on to play Peter Beale
Peter Beale
Peter Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Thomas Law from 2006 until 2010. The character has previously been portrayed by James Martin, Joseph Shade, Alex Stevens and Francis Brittin-Snell. Law took over the role on 31 August 2006...
in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
.
1984-1987 - "The Originals"
The first episode of The Bill was broadcast at 21:00 hours, on 16 October 1984. From the pilot episode, the actors who portrayed, Carver, Ackland, Litten and Morgan (renamed to Edwards) were retained. The character of Detective Inspector Roy Galloway was also retained from the pilot, but was recast to be played by John SalthouseJohn Salthouse
John Salthouse is a British actor and producer. He is perhaps best known for creating the role of Tony in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party and DI Roy Galloway in The Bill from 1984 to 1987...
. Several new characters were introduced for the first time, such as Sergeant Bob Cryer, Detective Sergeant Tommy Burnside (later changed to Frank) and Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow.
Early episodes of The Bill had a duration of fifty minutes, with some of thirty-five being produced over the first three series of The Bill. The fifty minute episodes were broadcast post watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
, allowing the programme to include scenes of nudity, drug use, violence and swearing.
The Bill's production base changed from the first two series where it was filmed in Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
, east London, due to an industrial dispute at an adjoining premises. During March 1987, filming for the third series went ahead in Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road in west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is also sometimes the name given informally to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles...
, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1989, the location changed to Merton
London Borough of Merton
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in southwest London, England.The borough was formed under the London Government Act in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, a production base they continue to use currently.
The early series was considered to be realistic of how the police operated, with Geoff McQueen's focus on the mundane and the ordinary aspects of a police station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
, such as filling in forms and paperwork. The investigations displayed in each episode would vary from muggings
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and domestics
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, to bomb scares and armed robbery.
1988-1998 - Change to the half-hour format
During 1988, the decision was made by Thames Director of Programmes to extend the show to a half hour episode twice a week. The programme was also moved to pre-watershed rather than post, significantly curbing bad language and violence. The new format aired on 19 July 1988.During 1989, Peter Cregeen
Peter Cregeen
Peter Cregeen is a British television director, producer and executive. He is possibly best known for being the original director of ITV's successful police drama, The Bill, and his substantial contribution to the serial thereafter...
left ITV to work for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and was replaced by Michael Chapman. Meanwhile, the owners of the set of Sun Hill Police Station set in Barlby Road, decided to renovate the building. This caused Thames Television to look for a new area to host the filming of the police station and selected a disused hospital in Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, but this did not go ahead. Instead, Thames settled for an old wine warehouse in Merton industrial estate, near Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
.
In 1993, the continued success of the programme led to ITV commissioning three weekly episodes which began at the start of the year.
In 1994, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary in October. The special anniversary episodes that week followed Detective Inspector Sally Johnson in court charged with manslaughter after a drug user had died during a police raid. In July that year, the creator and writer Geoff McQueen
Geoff McQueen
Geoffrey "Geoff" McQueen was a television screenwriter. A carpenter and joiner by trade he worked abroad for many years before he began writing in 1978. His first success came in 1982 when an episode of The Gentle Touch he'd written was aired.-Career:He is probably best remembered for creating...
, died at the age of 46. In 1995, Detective Sergeant Don Beech joined the ranks of Sun Hill, later causing the removal of the CID team
Don Beech Scandal
The Don Beech Scandal was a storyline in the long-running police procedural British television series, The Bill.The storyline centred around the corrupt Detective Sergeant Don Beech. Since the character's debut in 1995, his corruption had steadily grown...
in 2000.
During 1997, The Bill underwent a series of changes. The Bill's ratings were challenged by BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
who introduced a number of docusoaps
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
such as Driving School
Driving School
Driving School is a docusoap that was broadcast on BBC One in 1997, which followed a group of learner drivers around Bristol and South Wales...
. Michael Chapman, having been Executive Producer since 1989, handed over to Richard Handford. The new Executive Producer introduced a different title sequence
The Bill title sequences
The Bill's title sequences have varied greatly over the 26 years it has been on air.-Woodentop:The series started as an episode for ITV as part of its Storyboard strand of one-off dramas entitled Woodentop...
, changing the previous theme music and removing the "plodding feet" at the end credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
, with a new one hour long format introduced in August that year.
The 1998 Revamp
After 1998, the original foundations of Geoff McQueen's writing was relaxed to include some characters private lives, but still remained that an incident would not be seen without a member of cast involved. The old title sequences were entirely removed, in favour of displaying things that are seen to be associated with policing, such as reflective jackets, a suspect being interviewed, and a map in the CADComputer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
room. The theme tune was also revamped, with a change from the irregular time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
.
During 2000, the programme witnessed one of the largest cast changes in its history. This was due Detective Sergeant Don Beech's corrupt
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
activities which led to the storyline known as the Don Beech Scandal
Don Beech Scandal
The Don Beech Scandal was a storyline in the long-running police procedural British television series, The Bill.The storyline centred around the corrupt Detective Sergeant Don Beech. Since the character's debut in 1995, his corruption had steadily grown...
. The scandal was brought about by Beech entering into a corrupt business relationship with a local crime boss, Howard Fallon, who frequently paid Beech to delay investigations and lose evidence. Unknown to Beech, fellow Detective Sergeant Claire Stanton was an undercover officer from the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB)
Directorate of Professional Standards
The Directorate of Professional Standards is a directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Directorate is responsible for investigating complaints against the professional conduct of Officers, the DPS replaced the Complaints Investigation Bureau .The DPS focuses on standards, and the...
who had infiltrated Sun Hill CID to expose suspected corruption. Don Beech also killed Detective Sergeant John Boulton who was in a relationship with Claire Stanton. After killing Boulton, Beech fled to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
giving way to two spin-off programmes, Beech on the Run and Beech is Back
Beech is Back
Beech is Back was a six-part mini-series spin-off from The Bill revolving around the corrupt Don Beech played by Billy Murray.The series was preceded by a regular episode of The Bill, entitled Beech on the Run, which was broadcast on 19 August 2001...
. Don Beech's actions led to seven CID detectives removed from Sun Hill and introduced six new characters.
During 2001, Sergeant Bob Cryer was forced into early retirement after he was mistakenly shot during an armed siege by Constable Dale Smith, who was at the time attached to SO19
Specialist Firearms Command
Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command is a Central Operations branch within Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the rest of the service, which is normally unarmed...
. Cryer was replaced by Sergeant Craig Gilmore. The title sequence was changed to include static photos of the cast and the music was remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed to include the "Overkill" theme tune, last featured in 1988. The series was also broadcast in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
, for the first time.
Serial Format (2002)
During 2002, Executive Producer Richard Handford left the show at the start of the year, being replaced on a temporary basis by Chris Parr. In February, Paul Marquess become the shows producer. Paul Marquess who had previously worked on BrooksideBrookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
, changed the format of The Bill to a serial one, rather than the previous stand alone episodes which included a soap opera narrative.
2002 gave way to several major storylines and the axing of characters, such as the murder of Chief Inspector Derek Conway, when the panda car
Panda car
The phrase panda car refers to a small or medium-sized police car operated by British police forces. They are used for ordinary patrol work, with larger and more powerful vehicles being used for emergency response, Road Policing Unit duties and as Armed Response Vehicles-History of the term:Panda...
he was driving was petrol bombed
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
in March that year. Following Conway's death, a memorial fund was organised and a large sum of money was donated by Superintendent Tom Chandler, which prompted Constable Des Taviner to donate an even large sum of money which he had confiscated off a group of youths. While a petrol bombing attack was underway on the police station, Des Taviner discovered that the money was forged. Taviner managed to get hold of a petrol bomb, and threw it into a temporary office in the station yard, where the money was being kept in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Unknown to Des, contractors had left their gas canisters in the office. The canisters ignited leading to the Sun Hill Fire
The Sun Hill Fire (2002)
The Sun Hill Fire was a storyline in the long-running police procedural television series, The Bill, which was broadcast from 1984 to 2010.During the latter part of 2002, the fictional London borough of Canley is troubled by racial tensions between racist groups and Asian youths over a planned...
, which caused the death of six characters.
During 2003, a live episode of The Bill
Live episodes of The Bill
The Bill has aired two live episodes in its history, the first being in 2003 to commemorate its 20th anniversary of the pilot episode "Woodentop" and the second in 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ITV1.-Live Episode :...
was broadcast to commemorate the 20th anniversary since the pilot episode, Woodentop
Woodentop (The Bill)
"Woodentop" is an episode of the Thames Television series of one-off plays Storyboard. The programme was originally broadcast on 16 August 1983. It is also the forerunner to the long-running British police television series The Bill...
. The live episode centred around a siege in the yard, involving a drunken man taking Detective Constable Juliet Becker hostage with a knife, after Constable Cathy Bradford had failed to search the man. Juliet Becker later died of her injuries. During September 2005, a second live episode was broadcast to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ITV1. The second live episode centred around Sun Hill Police Station under siege, after a grief-stricken father laid siege to the station after the driver of the car that killed his son was found to be not guilty.
During 2005, a second fire at Sun Hill
The Sun Hill Fire (2005)
The Sun Hill Fire was a storyline in the long-running police procedural British television series, The Bill.-Events of the Sun Hill Fire:...
was caused by Police Community Support Officer
Police community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...
Colin Fairfax crashing a van laden with explosives into the front office of Sun Hill Police Station, as a revenge attack after he had been dismissed for his racist behaviour towards Constable Leela Kapoor. This storyline caused the death of three characters.
While the series remained fairly grounded in the early days of the new serial format, gradually more sensational and soapy storylines were introduced, many of these aimed to boost the show's ratings. The earliest of these took place in 2002 where viewers witnessed a gay kiss between PC Luke Ashton and Sgt. Craig Gilmore. More of these particular scenes would follow, for example with the lesbian kiss between DS Debbie McAllister and DC Juliet Becker. The show later went on to tackle same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
in the police force, with the partnership registry of PC Lance Powell and Sgt. Mark Rollins in 2005. The Bill under Marquess featured a male on male rape storyline in 2003, where the victim was DC Mickey Webb, and later in 2005 Sgt. June Ackland revealed she was raped in her teens by a 13 year-old boy. Other sensational aspects of the show were the manner in which characters were killed off - such as the death of PC Cass Rickman at the hands of a serial killer, and that of Superintendent Tom Chandler who shot himself after raping his wife DS Debbie McAllister. Chandler was replaced by Adam Okaro, a black Superintendent played by Cyril Nri
Cyril Nri
Cyril Nri is a British actor, writer and director. He attended the Young Vic Youth Theatre in Waterloo, London. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and is probably best known for playing the role of Superintendent Adam Okaro, now Chief Superintendent, in the long-running ITV police...
. The misguided PC Gabriel Kent
Gabriel Kent
Gabriel Kent is a fictional character in The Bill. He was played by Todd Carty from 2003 to 2005.-Personal life and background:PC Gabriel Kent was the most corrupt and deranged police officers ever to work at Sun Hill....
became the most prominent character in the darker and sensational storylines, joining the series in early 2003 and lasting out the remainder of the Marquess era as an increasingly unhinged individual. Arguably the most controversial storyline during the Marquess period was the relationship between PC Kent and what viewers assumed was his birth mother, Sgt. June Ackland. PC Kent often stretched viewer credibility with the crimes which he was willing to commit in order to keep his secrets, including deliberately killing his colleague PC Kerry Young while managing to avoid the evidence ever pointing back to him.
Another sensational storyline of Marquess's tenure came when the station suffered another explosion in February 2005, three years after the previous, this time caused by disaffected PCSO Colin Fairfax, who drove a van into the front of the station, killing DC Ken Drummond, (who was in the back of the van), SRO Marilyn Chambers and PC Andrea Dunbar (an undercover journalist). A few months after the episode aired, Paul Marquess was signed away by Endemol, the makers of Big Brother, to head their new drama division. His replacement was Johnathan Young
Johnathan Young
Johnathan Young is a British television producer. His credits include EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City, The Bill and The Sinking of the Laconia....
, whose name has appeared on the credits since September 2005.
2005 & Beyond
Johnathan YoungJohnathan Young
Johnathan Young is a British television producer. His credits include EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City, The Bill and The Sinking of the Laconia....
's retooling of the programme has led to noticeable changes in The Bill. Whilst personal storylines remain, they are of less abundance than before, and more time is spent on crime-based stories. Sensational storylines have also been dropped since Young took over. The deaths of officers are far less frequent and the focus of the more dramatic storylines is largely on the crimes being dealt with, and not on the personal lives or conduct of the officers. Arguably the most memorable storyline of the Young era so far was DC Zain Nadir's undercover operation.
Although the serial format remains in place, the storylines are generally more self-contained and are often dealt with in two or three episode blocks. An example of this might be the recent Closing The Net two-part storyline and Witness, a storyline which spanned out over eight episodes . The Bill has more frequently featured self-contained episodes, focusing on one or more crime storylines wrapped up in one hour. In this way, the programme more closely resembles the earlier period helmed by Richard Handford.
Under Johnathan Young
Johnathan Young
Johnathan Young is a British television producer. His credits include EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City, The Bill and The Sinking of the Laconia....
's tenure, a second live episode was broadcast on 22 September 2005 to mark the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Network's 50th anniversary. The episode was written by Graham Mitchell and, again, co-produced and directed by Sylvie Boden.
On the 3 January 2007 to bring in the new year, the episode opening titles
were revamped once again, paying homage to the original 1984 titles. The 2007 ones have shots of London, interspersed with police work and shots of Sun Hill Police Station. The break bumpers and music were also updated.
Because of the more compact and less serialised format adopted under Johnathan Young, episode titles were reintroduced, beginning with Episode # 490 which was titled Sweet Revenge - broadcast on 21 March 2007. A spokesperson for the programme commented on how the titles summed up the 'essence' of an episode.
In 2009 the show moved to 9:00 PM with only 1 episode a week. Resulting in a significant cutdown of the cast.
The show began High Definition broadcasts on July 1, 2009 with episode number 682, titled "Conviction: Cover Up". 2 episodes later, the episode numbers were reset to 001, rather confusingly being on the third episode of a 6 part story, and also, due to episodes being aired out of production order, meaning that the episode numbers 684-689 and 691-693 went unused even though episodes 690 and 694-697 have already been broadcast.
Cancellation
On March 26, 2010 it was announced that ITV would not be commissioning further episodes beyond the current series, citing the new format failing to arrest the ratings decline. However, fans started fighting back, with online petitions, FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
groups and huge media attention, in order to get ITV to reconsider. The final episode of Britain's longest running police procedural drama was aired on Tuesday 31st August 2010 followed by a special tribute show named "Farewell The Bill".