"Woodentop" is an episode of the Thames Television series Storyboard, which comprises a series of one-off plays on different themes. The episode was originally broadcast on 16 August 1983. Woodentop became the first-ever episode to long-running British police television series The Bill. The name woodentop is a colloquialism for beat policemen who…
Carver is still getting used to life at Sun Hill, as he continues to raise his popularity level amongst the other officers. Meanwhile, Brownlow has ordered the uniform relief onto the streets of Sun Hill, to lower the increase of crime in…
When a spate of bomb hoaxes begins to threaten peace and harmony in Sun Hill, Brownlow becomes eager to find the hoax callers and stop chaos from breaking out. Meanwhile, Galloway bets Cryer he is the perfect man to solve the case,…
When a gang of thugs use violence to extort money from local youths, Brownlow takes a hands off approach - and claims that he would rather play golf than try to save the residents of the 'dump' of an estate. However, Carver is determined…
P.C. Litten recognises a photo of a wanted armed robber, but takes the information to D.I. Galloway instead of Sgt. Cryer, and gets into trouble with both men. Meanwhile, a gang of thugs is robbing local shopkeepers, and P.C. Edwards…
The discovery of a body of a teenage suicide leaves a bitter taste in Ackland's mouth, and finding herself being drawn into a seedy world of pornography, drugs and prostitution, Ackland considers leaving Sun Hill for good after the…
After a residents' meeting complaining about the drug problem on their estate, DI Galloway mentions that he had heard that an old illegal club has reopened in an abandoned theatre complex - this time dealing drugs. He asks a parent, Tombo…
PC Dave Litten is on secondment to CID, and is desperate to impress his boss, DI Roy Galloway. Galloway and Litten are about to have a meal at the local pub when a call comes through that a valuable necklace has been stolen from a local…
PC Carver and PC Edwards are called to a domestic and are informed by the neighbour that a child was taken by his father. Meanwhile, the mother has turned up at the station to report the abduction in person.
After a briefcase is found by a young car thief, Det. Insp. Galloway thinks he can finally nick the 'Arthur Daley' of Sun Hill. Because of car problems he is unable to interview his chief suspect. After a warehouse fire that is supposed…
Alfie Mullins is a non-returned prisoner, not a dangerous prisoner as reported. He is an old-fashioned safe-cracker who, just as he is returning to the prison, is approached by one of a gang of thieves who want Alfie to open a safe they…
A tip in a counterfeit perfume case pulls in two very old aged pensioners who appear to have been pinching things since WWII. But after leading Carver and Ackland in a merry chase it turns out they aren't the real culprits.
The second series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of twelve episodes, broadcast between 11 November 1985 and 10 February 1986. Many of the cast and crew shared their memories of making this second series for the book Witness Statements, including stars John Salthouse, Eric Richard, Trudie Goodwin, Mark Wingett, Peter Ellis, Nula…
The third series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of twelve episodes, broadcast between 21 September and 7 December 1987. The series was first released on DVD as part of a three-season box set on 10 May 2006 in Australia. It was later made available as a separate season in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2007 and in Australia on 3 August…
The fourth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of forty-eight episodes, broadcast between 19 July – 29 December 1988. This series was the first to adopt a half-hour format, and the theme tune had its first of several updates. The series was first released on DVD on 4 December 2006 in Australia, incorrectly packaged as Seasons 4 & 5,…
The fifth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 104 episodes, broadcast between 3 January – 28 December 1989. The series was first released on DVD as part of the Collection 3 and Collection 4 DVD boxsets in Australia, made available on 8 August – 7 November 2007, respectively. The first four episodes of the series were later issued…
The sixth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 104 episodes, broadcast between 2 January – 27 December 1990. The series was first released on DVD as part of the Collection 5 and Collection 6 DVD boxsets in Australia, made available on 9 April – 8 October 2008, respectively. The series was later re-issued as two-half series boxsets…
The seventh series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 105 episodes, broadcast between 1 January – 31 December 1991. The series was released on DVD for the first time on 6 June 2012, in Australia. It features the above artwork, which features images of Sgt. Alec Peters and WDC Viv Martella. A number of The Bill Audio Commentaries for…
The eighth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 105 episodes, broadcast between 2 January – 31 December 1992. The series was released on DVD for the first time on 6 June 2012, in Australia. It features the above artwork, which features images of PC Steve Loxton and DC Mike Dashwood.
The ninth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 155 episodes, broadcast between 5 January – 31 December 1993. The series was released on DVD for the first time on 3 October 2012, in Australia. In 2020, Audio Commentaries were released for the episodes 'Blind Spot' (with writer Roger Davenport) and 'Compliments of the Service' with…
The tenth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 156 episodes, broadcast between 4 January and 30 December 1994. On 3 October 2012, The Bill Series 10 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 10 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released (in Australia).
The eleventh series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 149 episodes, broadcast between 5 January – 29 December 1995. Cast members Jaye Griffiths (DI Johnson) and Martin Marquez (DS Pearce) both left their roles as series regulars, being replaced by Russell Boulter & Billy Murray (DSs Boulton and Beech), with Beech taking the place of DS…
The twelfth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 156 episodes, broadcast between 2 January and 31 December 1996. On 6 February 2013, The Bill Series 12 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 12 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released (in Australia). The show aired the death of PC Cathy Marshall early in the series, actress Lynne Miller departing…
The thirteenth series of the British television drama The Bill was broadcast from 2 January to 30 December 1997. The series consisted of 152 episodes, including three-hour-long specials. There were just two cast departures in the series after four the year before; actor Tom Butcher left the role of PC Steve Loxton after seven years on the show, however he…
The series began with the appointment of new executive producer Richard Handford, who replaced Michael Chapman after his 9-year reign came to an end in the previous series. The appointment preceded discussions with broadcaster ITV about returning to the format of hour-long episodes, which the show last used on a regular basis in 1987. The request was…
The fifteenth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 87 episodes, broadcast between 7 January and 31 December 1999. The series saw a notable change as female officers were no longer introduced by the W acronym in ranking, with the last mention of this when Liz Rawton was introduced as a WDC in Follow Through. By the following episode,…
Series 16 of British television drama The Bill consisted of 86 episodes, broadcast between 4 January – 26 December 2000. As well as 83 regular episodes, the series also included a two-part recap special, Kiss Off, featuring a condensed broadcast of the Series 15 episodes "Lone Ranger", "Old Flame", "Push It" and "Kiss Off", prior to a special episode, The…
Series 17 of British television drama The Bill consisted of 92 episodes, broadcast between 5 January and 21 December 2001. As well as 85 regular episodes, the series also included a spinoff Beech is Back, following a special 90-minute episode in Australia. The story follows ex-Sun Hill officer Claire Stanton, now a DI, as she goes to Australia to try and…
Series 23 of British television drama The Bill was broadcast from 3 January until 28 December 2007. The series consisted of 92 episodes, and saw the conclusion of two long running-storylines, the disappearance of schoolgirl Amy Tennant and DC Zain Nadir’s undercover drug sting, prior to the return of single-themed episodes, removing much of the serialiased…
The 24th series of The Bill, a British television drama, was the antepenultimate series of the programme. This series was the last to feature the killing of an officer, PC Emma Keane. The death on-screen led to the resignation of the longest serving character, PC Reg Hollis, his controversial exit off-screen after actor Jeff Stewart attempted suicide on…
The 25th series of The Bill, a British television drama, was the penultimate series of the programme. This series saw the show transition to a post-watershed time slot of 9pm, dropping from two episodes to one week-by-week as ITV aimed to save up to £65 million. Producers used the post-watershed slot to introduce "darker, more gritty" storylines. DI…
The 26th and final series of The Bill, a British television drama, was the last series of the programme. Nearly two years after the final episode, Supt. Jack Meadows was featured in an episode of Leipzig Homicide, which involved him investigating a suspected murderer who has been living in London. In the episode it is revealed that at some point during the…
