"The Bill" (1984) TV series 1984-????

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Creator:

Geoff McQueen

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | unknown

Release Date:

16 October 1984 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Episodes follow uniform officers and detectives from an inner London police station as they enforce law and order on a day to day basis.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | British | East End | London England | Police

Awards:

4 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Graham Cole	...	PC Tony Stamp / ... (487 episodes, 1984-2008)
Jeff Stewart	...	PC Reg Hollis / ... (401 episodes, 1984-2008)
Trudie Goodwin	...	Sgt. June Ackland / ... (398 episodes, 1984-2007)
Simon Rouse	...	DCI Jack Meadows / ... (361 episodes, 1990-2008)
Mark Wingett	...	D.C. Carver / ... (295 episodes, 1984-2007)
Roberta Taylor	...	Insp. Gina Gold / ... (274 episodes, 1990-2008)
Alex Walkinshaw	...	Sgt. Dale Smith / ... (252 episodes, 1992-2008)
Chris Simmons	...	DC Mickey Webb / ... (220 episodes, 1998-2008)
Eric Richard	...	Sgt. Cryer / ... (202 episodes, 1984-2004)
Lisa Maxwell	...	DS Samantha Nixon / ... (198 episodes, 2001-2008)

Runtime:

25 min (1988-1998) | 50 min (1984-1988, 1998-)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Australia:PG | UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:15 (some episodes) | UK:PG (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Thames Television

Trivia:

In the early years of the show, the location of Sun Hill was given as the real London borough of Tower Hamlets. At some point later on the location was changed to the fictional borough of Canley, which corresponds to the real borough of Tower Hamlet on maps.

Quotes:

PC Debbie Keane: [talking about a credit card thief Sonia Papadopoulos] Hey, you know this Sonia what's-her-face?
PC George Garfield: What you mean Sonia Shop-till-you-dropoulos?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Red Dwarf: The Starbuggers - Series VI (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Overkill

This was once a high quality and wonderful TV series but no longer

A few years ago I would not have hesitated to state that this was beyond the shadow of a doubt the most wonderful and high quality show on television. The realistic and hard hitting nature of the show, the believable dimensions of genuine police work that were incorporated into the script, the strict attention to police procedures and protocol in the show and the wonderful and comprehensive portrayal of the characters all made this show a pleasure to watch. The storylines were, more often then not, very intriguing and interesting and the script was second to none. Characters such as DI Frank Burnside, DS Ted Roach, DCI Jack Meadows, DCI Kim Reid and several others provided the show with an intriguing and very gripping dimension and the acting was superb and also second to none. It stood in a category of its own as a police drama and was far better than the American (and even British) police dramas in the same genre

Unfortunately, in recent years, the show has taken a dramatic turn for the worse and now would have to be categorized as one of the worst shows that is presently on TV. For some reason that I'll never quite understand, the TV executives decided that they had to dumb down the show and all of its characters to a primitive soap level and make a perfectly good show into a sleazy and pathetic joke. Now the scripts are appalling, quite a lot of the acting weak and disjointed (probably because good actors are being provided with pathetic scripts), the storylines thoroughly boring and there is almost no serious police work at all in the show. It is exceedingly painful to watch for the reasons outlined above and it unfortunately cannot even be taken seriously as a TV show. Every aspect of the show has become so juvenile and pathetic and I would now have to concede that the American TV police dramas are now much better than the present format of `The Bill' ever could be. It is a disappointing turnaround for such a wonderful show. Whatever happened to high quality television?