The Bill: Difference between revisions

{{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]].

It began as a series of twelve [[Dramatic Hour Long]] teleplays in the literal sense of the word - the original pilot episode was written as a one-off televised "play for today", and there was [[Backdoor Pilot|no immediate intention]] of creating a series out of it. It switched to [[Dramatic Half Hour|half hour long]] episodes in 1988 following [[Executive Meddling|network pressure]], and it was in this format that it became widely known. However, in 1998 it changed back to [[Dramatic Hour Long|hour long]] episodes again, whereafter it reformatted itself to become a [[Television Serial]]. Its this kind of flexibility to change and adapt with the times that had been largely attributed to its long term success. From 1988 to 2009 it ran throughout the year with approximately 90 episodes per annum (mostly two per week, but other major TV events, i.e. football, ''[[Britain's Got Talent|Britains Got Talent]]'' or award shows meant that many weeks had just one), a rate of production matched in the UK only by the major soaps. This might be a large reason why it eventually came to be regarded as a soap opera, even before [[Crime-Time Soap|the more soap orientated plotlines]] started to come into effect later in its life.

 

 

The series had been suffering a gradual decline in its viewing figures (especially after the time-slot change), and its long-term future was seen as uncertain, especially after it was dropped from terrestrial TV in Scotland as part of a broader problem with STV, the Scottish version of [[ITV]]. Its cancellation was announced on 26 March 2010, and the show ended in September of that year. In the same year, The BBC's equivalent [[Long Runner]], the sitcom ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' (actually a decade older than ''The Bill'') was also announced to be ending, bringing the end of an era of British television to many (and, if you count in the end of the American [[Long Runner]] ''[[Law and Order]]'', this gets global).

* The "plodding feet" closing sequence, used between 1984 and 1998.

* Virtually every British TV actor having appeared in it at some point, before or after reaching the big time (this list includes a pre-fame [[Keira Knightley]], [[Sean Bean]], [[James McAvoy]], [[David Tennant]], and [[Catherine Tate]]).

 

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* [[Old-Fashioned Copper]]: Sergeant Bob Cryer was the ''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'' type. DI Frank Burnside was the other kind.

* [[Only Known by Their Nickname]]: Although it was once established that his given name was actually Alfred, DC Lines was usually referred to on-screen only by his nick-name, "Tosh".

** 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]].

* [[You Talkin' to Me?]]

 

* [[British Brevity]]: It clocked up more than 3000 episodes during its 27 year run.

* [[Doubling for London]]: In 27 years, it continued to film in the capital, even after other London set series had moved production to other (cheaper) places.