The Bill

FavoritedFavorite Checked In Check In 46

ITV (ended 2010)

35 TOTAL REVIEWS Write A Review
0 EPISODES ONLINE Watch Online
TheOldBill User Score: 36827
EDITOR

EDIT

Show Summary

Status: Ended
Premiered: Oct 16, 1984

Welcome to The Bill guide at TV.com. The Bill recounts the goings-on within and around Sun Hill, a Metropolitan Police Station located in the fictional Borough of Canley, in east London. Running for over 25 years, The Bill was Britain's longest running police drama series, finally outstripping Dixon of Dock Green on 10 August 2005. It adapted to meet the challenges of the highly competitive world of independent television, evolving from a standard post-watershed police procedural drama, through a period as a twice- and, later, thrice-weekly early evening ratings grabber with stand-alone plots, then as a twice-weekly one-hour drama with ongoing soap-style exploration of the troubled personal lives of its police officers. The Bill reverted to a once a week, post-watershed drama on 23 July 2009, but ITV decided not to renew the show when the contract came up for renewal the following year. The Bill is not your average cop show, but rather an extraordinary police drama that brings each episode to the audience through the eyes of the characters. An excellent cast, supported by some of the country's leading writers and directors and some innovative camera work gives an incredible sense of realism. Other police dramas have been created in an attempt to mirror its conventions and match its success, but none has lasted. The Bill truly deserves its accolade as Britain's most successful police drama.moreless

8.2

Avg Rating: Great

351 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate Now!

Episode Guide

See All

S 26 : Ep 31	Respect, Part Two	Aired 8/31/10
S 26 : Ep 30	Respect, Part One	Aired 8/24/10
S 26 : Ep 29	Tombstone	Aired 8/17/10
S 26 : Ep 28	Death Knock	Aired 8/10/10
S 26 : Ep 27	Balance of Power	Aired 8/3/10

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

John Salthouse

Det. Insp. Roy Galloway [ 1984 - 1987 ]

9.0
Eric Richard

Sgt. Bob Cryer [ 1984 - 2001 ]

9.8
Mark Wingett

P.C./D.C. Jim Carver [ 1984 - 2005 ]

9.3

The Bill News

See All

1

2010 TV network scorecard

By David Knox, Dec 10, 2010

Never mind the ratings, we rate the Aussie networks on what they brought to the table in 2010. read more
0

What to Watch: October 18 - 24

By David Knox, Oct 17, 2010

Our pick of the best shows on Aussie screens this week including premieres of Undercover Boss Australia, Iron Chef Australia, Grand Designs Australia and Beauty and the Geek Australia, as well as Justin Bieber on CSI, The Bill farewell special and more. read more

Fan Reviews (35)

See All

it is 25 years old next year

10

"Perfect"

By sean190, Jul 06, 2010

it is great it is the longest running programe on itv out stripping heartbeat pc stamp is good as ever in the show they could of done a special remeberance spin of with all the cast like reg hollis ans june ackland and gina gold mat boyden bob cryer charles brownlow it will be on until 2010 october 2010 when it will be in its 26th year and they have had manny changes to the show and with pc beth green leaving next year and i think tony stamp will be next to leave the show then it will be jack meadows and then the only orginal cast member from 1999 will be dale smithmoreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 3

Flag
Share Hide
What on earth are they doing to this programme?

4.5

"Poor"

By sassyj64, Nov 10, 2009

I have been watching TB since Woodentop. Over the years Producers have come and gone, and the show has waxed and waned somewhat. So the promise of new grittier storylines actually gave me some hope that 2009 would end on a real upswing and breathe some new life into the formula.

Not on this current showing it won't.

The post-watershed change appears to have sucked most of the humour and humanity out of the characters. Now we have the monotony of DC X and DS Y investigating Teenager Z who's in grave danger because of A, B or C. DC X/DS Y get overly involved, and somebody has to pull them back when they let their emotions interfere with the job (although it often turns out they were right all along if only *someone* had listened to their angsty rant earlier).

Unfortunately, for me that pretty much sums up the 9pm episodes so far. There's been the odd flicker of amusement, but mostly it's been as dour and humourless as a sixties kitchen sink drama. The main problem is that whilst some of the episodes have been undoubtedly "worthy" they have also been dull and pedantic, the Pinter-esque style and moralising in a programme like TB is just not what I look for in what was my favourite show.

I would also like to see an episode containing no one under the age of 25. Yes, children and teens in danger are worthy subjects; but crimes against children are not the only crimes out there. And shifting the focus away from the central police characters towards the impact of crime on minor characters doesn't seem to have worked either.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide
The Bill stands out as a polished, well produced series. Worthy of mention in any drama critic. An actor who stands out for me is Jason Barnett who plays Eddie. Sheer delight and always enjoyable to watch.moreless

9.0

"Superb"

By culverbil, May 07, 2009

Ref. Jason Barnett
What a great character, so laid back, obvious sense of humour. A joy to watch. I am glad his scripts are bigger. Excellent actor. I hope to see Jason Barnett more often. C`mon ITV strike while the iroin is hot.

The Bill is certainly an excellent series which, for me, gains preference to any other on television series. I must emphasise that this is because of actors like Jason Barnett who bring such a quality to the viewing of drama. I trust that with such an interest, this message will come to the attention of those in the right places to further this actors options.
By the way could you correct the man`s gender on your information sheet?
Regards, culverbil.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide
the episodes are just not what they used to be and it is not focosing on policing it has gone back to series 1 but more modern

9.5

"Superb"

By kristal16654, Feb 09, 2009

it is alright but there are characters leaving left right and centre and they have cut it to one episode a week and it is in the new time slot soon of 9pm instead of 8pm slot and it could be on either saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday i think it could be on a weekend nowing them and i dont like to see di samantha nixon to leave the series it should of been pc tony stmp or dci jack meadows seen they are the two longest serving cast members and it will lose a lot of other good charactersmoreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 1

Flag
Share Hide
Arguably the best police show on tv, a legend, a legacy and for me a way of life

10

"Perfect"

By JohnnyDepp21JS, Nov 05, 2008

I have been brought up watching this show, I remember the days of Frank Burnside from when i was a nipper and the feet at the end of the credits too, the storylines are exquisite and always deliver. The entertainment factory with certain characters quirkiness makes this arguably the best police drama on tv today in my humble opinion of course. Also The Bill has managed to maintain its older audience and draw in a younger audience and enertain both equally well, theres been a massive amount of people go in and out of The Bill and each has left their own mark behind, I love Smithy, Mickey and Will, before them it was Nick Klein and Phil Hunter, before that there was Luke Ashton and there are so many fantastic moments i could sit and talk about forever throughout the episodes, instead I'll put it simply, this show is amazing!!!!moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 0

Flag
Share Hide

WRITE A REVIEW

The Bill Forums

Add a Topic See All

Last Activity

Replies

What does CIB stand for
Just watching an old bill, when it was the bill and june ackland was arrested and the CIB called in, they have feature a lot in th...

By TonyMorgan2, Dec 15, 2010

10/14/11

5
Reply
the bill is axed
sadly its's axed from itv1 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2908626/The-Bill-axed-after-27-years.html

By spursgalea, Mar 26, 2010

09/02/10

7
Reply
What happened to the old Bill?
Err..... maybe it's just me but I haven't noticed the bill on the air since Nov 5th - and the TV.com episode guide would see to su...

By beggarshill, Dec 08, 2009

12/09/09

2
Reply
finding an episode
i am looking to watch an old episode from series 11 called strictly personal (1995 old i know), i doubt i will find it anywhere, b...

By worthy1990, Dec 01, 2009

12/03/09

2
Reply
The Bill's New Format
ITV Announces a new format for The Bill23 Jan 09ITV has today announced that for the first time on British television it will be r...

By Sonic2k5, Jan 24, 2009

09/12/09

18
Reply