In Series 18 when the genre was switched to more soap opera style, the stories became more interesting and addictive. But they needed to cut down on the number of regularly appearing characters. Maybe they were trying to keep the flavor of a very busy precinct and do the usual soap opera trick of keeping you hooked with side plots in between the real drama. But the extreme youth of most of the officers and the way they were pals, and pushing crime to the background, made the high drama unbelievable. You can't have both jokey scenes and true soul-searching among characters. One or the other was superfluous. I found it very uneven in pace and ambiance and plot. Too much focus was given to each character instead of focusing on a select few. And I also think the way it was filmed needed to change for a soap opera -- too much switching from a dozen different locations, indoor and outdoor, in each episode. It needed more subtlety, more of an underlit ambiance, longer scenes instead of the constant jerking from one to the next. I think the switch in genres was fine. Probably needed. But they needed to switch more than simply going from crime incidents to personal conflict and love interests. The whole project should have been overhauled.
Review of The Bill
