The Bill: Difference between revisions

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[[File:The_Bill_2297.jpg|frame|WPC Ackland and PC Carver, out on their beat.]]

 

{{quote|''"Sierra One from Sierra Oscar"''...}}

 

 

Originally a [[Police Procedural]] whose strict aim was to show the dull minutiae of policing, its modus operandi was not unlike that of ''[[Hill Street Blues]]''. The use of [[Leave the Camera Running|long single camera takes]], shooting the series on raw videotape rather than glossy film, and the ubiquitous use of [[Steadicam]] gave viewers a genuine insight into what it must be like to work inside a real police station. The series became widely seen as a [[Crime-Time Soap]] as the years went on, however, especially after Paul Marquess took over as Executive Producer in 2002. Marquess left the series in 2005, after which the show moved considerably back towards being a [[Police Procedural]].

For most of its life the show went out at 8pm, before the [[Watershed]] - which had affected specific on-screen content. However, in 2009 it was moved to a once weekly 9pm slot, which meant a cut in episode numbers per year to about 50, and an increase in the amount of violence it may show on-screen. It also ditched the classic [[Theme Tune]], added a "film effect" filter over the action (as part of a move to broadcast it in high definition for the first time), and acquired regular background incidental music, although [[Narm|Narmish]] examples had occasionally appeared in some past episodes. The overall effect was described by some as making things feel a little too ''[[CSI]]''-like.

 

 

'''This show is notable for:'''

 

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* [[Absentee Actor]]: A side-effect of having [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]. Sometimes a character who you'd expect to be seeing all the time could go missing for dozens of episodes at a time before turning up again.

* {{spoiler|[[And the Adventure Continues...|And The Beat Continues:]] It ends this way, following Smithy and Callum as they leave the station, passing (amongst the rest of the cast either leaving for the day or staying late at Sun Hill) Jo Masters and Leon Taylor being called to some trouble and other officers bringing some arrested drunks into the station}}.

* [[Armed Blag]]

* [[Artifact Title]]: 'The Old Bill' was a common slang term for the police, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. But its not heard so much anymore.

* [[The Bridge]]: The various incarnations of Sun Hill's Computer Aided Dispatch/Integrated Borough Operations room serve the same function as this trope, complete with an equivalent to [[The Captain]] (the duty Sergeant), as well as various [[Bridge Bunnies]] (of either gender) using headsets to answer emergency calls and to direct the officers who are out and about on the beat to go to the scene of a crime. [[Bottle Episode|One episode from the early 1990s even took place entirely within the confides of the C.A.D. room]], with all the "action" taking place entirely off-screen (or only heard over the radio system). It was much better than it sounds.

* [[Bring Out Your Gay Dead]]: Most of the gay regulars have left via death or serious injury. DC Jo Masters survives by not being prominently lesbian.

* [[British Coppers]]: Obviously. In an interesting subversion, the show was initially considered by the [[Scotland Yard|Metropolitan Police Service]] to be very anti-police, as some of its characters were shown to be less than squeaky clean on screen, and it also openly showed racism within the force. As the years went on this antagonism eventually mellowed, to the point where the Met now allows the production team to use genuine Police uniforms made for them by the same company who produce the uniforms for actual officers in [[Real Life]] and regularly takes cast members out on patrol with real officers to help them with their roles. It remains the only British television cop show to feature 100% accurate police uniforms, rather than the stylised "faked" versions seen on nearly every other TV show.

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] / [[The Lab Rat]] / [[Gentle Giant]]: Eddie the crime scene examiner.

* [[Car Meets House]]: In the 1986 episode "The Chief Super's Party". DS Ted Roach was behind the wheel (and under the influence).

* [[Chase Scene]]: Given its supposed depiction of "genuine police work", the series often ''avoids'' doing over-the-top car chases, with officers often stopping a chase if things look dangerous. However, one noteable episode from 1995 titled "Instant Response" is, effectively, a car chase which lasts for ''an entire episode'', shown mainly in one-take scenes shot from the back seat of the police vehicle. It remains to this day one of the series' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|crowning moments of awesome]].

* [[The City Narrows]]: The (fictional) setting of the series is based on London's poorest borough. How much the episode in question portrays this on screen [[Depending on the Writer|Depends on the writer]], to the extent where Sun Hill can be relatively middle class at times; and nothing short of a lawless [[Wretched Hive]] at others.

* [[Cliff Hanger]]: [[Once an Episode|At the end of every single episode]] broadcast between 2002 and 2007, the period in its history when [[Crime-Time Soap|it was very heavily serialised]].

* [[Compilation Movie]]: The earliest commercial releases of the half-hour episodes on VHS videotape were almost exclusively made up of compilations of two or three episodes edited into a single "movie". Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

* [[Council Estate]]: And how!

* [[Dangerous Workplace]]: One non-fiction work dryly commented that "Sun Hill has a hearse permanently parked in the station carpark", due to the high instances of character deaths in the [[Crime-Time Soap]] era.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Jo Masters.

{{quote|'''DCI Burnside''' Charge her with being in possession of an offensive mouth.}}

* [[Desk Jockey]]: The entire purpose of the various Superintendents and Chief Inspectors seen in the series. Only seldom do they leave the office and "get involved" in cases, and usually a big fuss is made out of it when they do. The decision to kill off the character of Chief Inspector Conway after 14 years was made when a new producer came in and decided that Conway didn't really have a dramatic function to play in the series... his role was ''too'' desk bound.

* [[Dirty Harriet]]: Not counting Cathy Bradford, some of the females spend a suspicious amount of time pretending to be streetwalkers for surveillance reasons.

* [[Downer Ending]]: A particular trope that the series used to be fond of back when it started. The key thing was to show that the police ''don't'' always win, and more often than not an episode would end with two officers drowning their sorrows in the local pub, after a case they've been working on has gone belly-up. Later seasons still kept downer endings in play for certain storylines, but usually opted for slightly more uplifting [[Bittersweet Ending|bittersweet endings]] instead.

* [[Fair Cop]]: A good portion of the cast, but especially Louisa Lytton, who was about 18 and looked closer to 15. Somewhat ironically, one of things which was originally lauded about the series by the critics was that it didn't cast "good looking actors" as the cops.

* [[Fake Defector]]

* [[Faking the Dead]]

* [[Football Hooligans]]: Most recently in the episode "Great Power".

* [[Genre Shift]]

* [[IC Number]]: ''"Sierra Oscar, we're looking for an IC-3, medium build, wearing a red baseball cap and grey sweatshirt..."''

* [[Jittercam]]: An early user.

* [[Lipstick Lesbian]]: [[Gainaxing|"Bouncy Bouncy"]] Jo Masters.

* [[Living Prop]]: A lot of the background extras at the police station, who mostly exist to maintain a credibility to the setting (you will always see the same faces in every episode, even if they are only in the background). The production team even coined a phrase to describe these background actors: "TREV", which stands for 'Truly Reliable Extra Veteran'. Occasionally, a TREV would even be given a line of dialogue in an episode, allowing them to be the [[Spear Carrier]] for a day.

** Many of the coppers are played by soap stars.

** This can result, when watching episodes from the 1980s and 1990s, in a certain amount of [[Retroactive Recognition]].

* [[Oop North]]: Most noteably in the episode "Cast No Shadow", set almost entirely in Manchester and its surrounds. Likewise, the two-part story "Thug On The Tyne" took place entirely in Newcastle.

* [[Platonic Prostitution]]: One episode revealed that Reg Hollis visits one, but only for someone to talk to (he pays her anyway).

* [[Police Procedural]]

** A complete list can be found [http://thebill.wikia.com/wiki/Episodes_with_the_Same_Title here].

* [[Required Spinoff Crossover]]: The first episode of the 2003 [[Spin-Off]] series ''Murder Investigation Team'' followed the titular team while investigating a murder in Sun Hill, complete with requisite cameos from six of the then recurring members of the parent series' cast, and also the use of the regular Sun Hill police station sets and locations.

** For two of those regular characters, Sergeant Matt Boyden and PC Nick Klein, it was actually their final appearances. Boyden appears as a corpse (but is still being played by the original actor), while Klein is shown in a secure rehab unit, in recovery from his drug's habit.

* [[Retool]]: Again, many times over the course of its [[Long Runner|long lifespan]]. The most recent retool was in 2009, begining with the episode "Live By The Sword".

** "Rousing speech" is given an ironic double meaning here, when you consider that the actor who played Supt Meadows was... [[Meaningful Name|Simon Rouse]].

* [[Run for the Border]]: In this case, usually London City Airport or the Eurostar Terminal.

* [[Television Geography]]

** Play spot the Southwark street with this show. Or, if you know [[National Rail]], spot the out-of-place train. Or, a scene clearly filmed south of the Thames.

* [[Trash the Set]]: At least twice, but not always when the location had to be moved.

* [[Undercover Cop Reveal]]

* [[Walk and Talk]]

** Arguably an early pioneer, certainly as far as UK television is concerned.

* [[The Yardies]]

* [[You Do Not Have to Say Anything]]: ''"... but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say can (and probably will) be taken down and used in evidence."''

** The CID branch usually prefered the more concise ''"[[Stock British Phrases|You're nicked, you slag!]]"''.

* [[You Talkin' to Me?]]

 

=== Tropes that ''[[The Bill]]'' averts: ===

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Series]]

[[Category:The Bill]]