The Bill
 The Bill was created from a one-off drama called Woodentop
(a CID nickname for officers in uniform) in the 1983 Storyboard
season and began life as a one hour weekly series.
In its fourth year it reverted to two half hour shows per week,
and in 1993 it changed to three half hour episodes per week. A new
rule was also introduced: there had to be a police person in every
scene.
Handheld camera work was introduced to provide a touch of
on-the-streets realism and it certainly helped with the pace of
the program, although characterisation and plot development were
victims of the truncated format. According to the creator of the
show, Geoff McQueen, the format changed to half hour episodes to
allow a greater input from dissimilar creative types.
In Australia it was not seen until 1986, and it was not until
1995 that the ABC began to copy the three episode per week
schedule of Britain (though two of them are screened together on
Saturday nights). In 1988, the famous 'plodding feet'
title-sequence was dropped (to the dismay of some fans) and later
that year, with ratings falling, The Bill reverted to a
one-hour format.
 The Bill is set in (fictitious) Sun Hill Police Station,
which is located somewhere in the East End of London (although
most of the locations are actually shot in South London). There
are characters in civilian clothes, members of the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID), and the uniformed members.
Sometimes the CID are short-staffed and place some of the Uniform
Division in plainclothes. We see squads from different shifts, but
mostly from "A Relief"
Criticised by some real policemen for its portrayal of policing
methods (but loved by other members of the force), The Bill
was also attacked for suggesting - years ahead of the Stephen
Lawrence tragedy and subsequent enquiry - that racism was a facet
of today's force. Nevertheless, the series continued to show just
how policemen cope with the realities of the modern world, showing
officers of the law as people with a job to do, however unpleasant
that job may be.
Head of the station was Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow,
a man mainly concerned with the image of his force, and beneath
him worked an ever-changing squad of inspectors, sergeants,
detectives and constables. Most notable were Bob Cryer, the
paternal station officer, the hot-headed DCI Galloway (who was
never afraid to bend the rules), and his devious successor DCI
Burnside (given his own spin-off series Burnside in 2000).
Young PCs "Taffy" Edwards and Jim Carver, the
hypochondriac Reg Hollis, ambitious Dave Litton, impetuous Ted
Roach, well-groomed Mike Dashwood, scruffy "Tosh" Lines
and dependable WPCs Ackland and Martella were also prominent favourites.
The series was finally cancelled in 2010 after 26 years of broadcast.
It continues to be shown in re-runs in many countries, from Brunei
to Zambia, Gibraltar to Norway, and Israel to Saudi Arabia.
TRIVIA NOTE
The show is called The Bill because "Old
Bill" is an English nickname for the police.
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