The Bill (1984–2010) User Reviews

A classic show.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 13 May 2021]

The Bill was an integral part of my youth, the amount of evenings I would sit down with my family, and watch The Bill, good memories.

Iconic opening credits, big characters, and good stories, I've picked up some dvds, and caught the odd episode on drama, it's true the early years were better, it had a bit more grit. It did become a little more soap like in its later years, but it was still an enjoyable show.

Lots of good characters over the years, who didn't love June, Reg, Polly and Tony. In later years I grew to adore McAlister and Bradford, two big characters that added to the drama. I will always remember the live episode.

I know that fans such as myself have always hoped for the show's return, and who knows, maybe the rumours about Sun Hill are true, time will tell.

Worked for me, 8/10.

Engrossing police programme.

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 31 July 2009]

Yes, some plots are a bit hard to follow, and The Bill does have a tendency to get violent, but it is actually an engrossing show, that I try not to miss. A vast majority of the episodes are very exciting and quite tense, and the acting is fairly good, though I do miss Roberta Taylor as Inspector Gina Gold and Todd Carty as Gabriel Kent. I will admit, I prefer the older episodes to the newer episodes, and it is a bit of a shame that the programme is now after the watershed, as I found it easier to watch when it was at 8.00. Still, why I like The Bill is because not only it is engrossing, but the cliffhangers at the end do make the next episode unmissable. It is true though, that it is more melodramatic than it was, but I really like this programme as a programme that doesn't try to take itself too seriously. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Best show ever!

[sammy1404 · 7/10 · 9 November 2012]

I've been a fan of the Bill for ever. Since i first saw it I've been in love with it. I first watched it when Cass Rickman was in it and thought the story line was awesome. How they chase down criminals and still have enough time to gossip around the station and have affairs and relationships Over the years I've had over 40 favorite's cast members. I love them all. There's so many story lines that you will love. But i quit watching it 3 or 4 years before it finished. because all of my favorite's cast members had left. There's also a lot of hot cops. Which i like, and old and loving characters that made the show. And because it's British its not racist.

Plot Mislaid

[bancrows · 25 October 2004]

The Bill was compulsory viewing for its first decade or so, but its relatively-new executive producer and his team of gossip-writers have conspired to reduce it almost to farce, presumably driven by a desire to attract those who habitually switch off after the serial soaps.

That is sad enough, but even sadder is the fact that even its degraded form, The Bill remains one of the better current offerings on television, purely for the two or three minutes per episode now devoted to the original concept.

Perhaps we should be grateful for those few minutes, which those attracted to the programme for other reasons may ignore while making or taking bets on which of the Sun Hill staff will soon have a child kidnapped, or prove to be corrupt, have a serious problem with alcohol or drug abuse, turn out to be either adopted or the parent of a long-lost illegitimate child, become unfaithful or a bigamist, go mad or murder several colleagues.

If only we'd known.

needs some work, but overall enjoyable

[frieda-92366 · 6/10 · 15 February 2023]

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.

My opinion is...

[PaddysMovieReview · 7/10 · 12 May 2019]

The early Bill series is watchable, but the acting is dreadful, the produces must have got people off the street to star in the show, talk about trash. As for some of the actors, their dress code WTF and on occasions very revealing. The latter series of The Bill actors were more refined and I admired the show more.

The Bill: A Way of Life

[Tom_101 · 10/10 · 28 March 2010]

The Bill was essentially a cultural fountain from which a beautiful rainbow-haze of socio-introspection emerged, inspiring such famed derivatives as Cop Land, The Departed, The Godfather 3, and most recently of course, The Wire.

With multi-faceted characters and story lines that have been described as '4-dimensional Shakespeare', The Bill grabbed you by the collars from episode one and just would not let you go.

The show covered, anticipated, and even occasionally caused all the major global events between 1984 and 2010. The most famously prescient moment being episode 19 of series 5, which aired on the eve of the second Gulf War. Detective Jim Carver's misguided - and ultimately career ending - drugs raid on Craig 'Fun Boy' Richardson's flat in the Jasmine Allen Estate in early 2003, was widely viewed as a predictive allegory for the coalition's failure to find weapons of mass destruction following the invasion of Iraq several months later.

However, it was the work the Bill did to try and highlight some of the lesser-known problems experienced by police officers that won it the most praise. This was sympathetic drama covering such sensitive areas as helmet-phobia, under-uniform cross-dressing, in-van homosexuality, lost truncheons, casual drunken bestiality (regretted), siren aversion syndrome (SAS), groin chaffing caused by chasing suspects while wearing an overly starched uniform and many, many more issues that still trouble, disturb, haunt and excite officers to this day.

The last word should go to one of The Bill's most famous fans, Nelson Mandela: "…it is no exaggeration to say that I would not have made it through the dark void of loneliness that summed up my last years of incarceration on Robben Island if it wasn't for the heart-warming, casual buffoonery of Reg Hollis."

Excellent sow - Almost as good as "Softly Softly Task Force"

[Justin-Fog-895-106785 · 9/10 · 7 February 2018]

I'm a fan of BritCrime shows, and have been ever since I first saw "Softly Softly Task Force". I have seen a lot of British crime drama shows since, but there are some that have become all-time favourites. There's "Softly Softly Task Force" (former "Z Cars"), there's "Taggart", and now I discovered "The Bill". It's a well written, well-performed procedural police drama that shows realistic police work, and its quality is much higher than any American or German police crime drama show I know. Although there's a lot of dialogue and not too much action, the dialogue is highly dramatic and very well written. This show has become one of my favourite police drama shows and I hope to see a DVD release of every series produced. I'm hooked and I can't help but keep watching. "The Bill" won't reach my favourite police drama, "Softly Softly Task Force", but it comes close. I think it's a real cult classic and it's a pity they cancelled the show. I highly recommend it to any TV nostalgic and fan of high quality BritCrime TV.

Used to be a great police program but has turned into a bad unrealistic soap

[Josh-SY-UK · 1/10 · 25 October 2006]

I used to always love the bill because of its great script and characters, but lately i feel as though it has turned into an emotional type of soap. If you look at promotional pictures/posters of the bill now you will see either two of the officers hugging/kissing or something to do with friendships whereas promotional pictures of the bill a long time ago would have shown something to do with crime. This proves that it has changed a lot from being an absolutely amazing Police drama to an average type of television soap. When i watch it i feel like I'm watching a police version of Coronation Street or something similar. I have to say i still like the bill as I'm interested in Police work and that type of thing but i really miss the greatness that The Bill used to have. I want to rate it as 2 out of ten because you have to admit it has been totally ruined by the people who took the bill over.

As for the script and characters they have both gone downhill, most of the great characters are gone now (although a few still remain i think) and I'm not saying that the newer characters are poor or anything because they definitely aren't, its just that they lack the tough looks, personalities and script lines that all of the old characters used to have because most of the new ones are at the moment involved with silly relationships and family trouble.

Overall being one of the only Police programs on television these days, The Bill will always be a crappily interesting thing to watch, but like i say it has lost a lot of its uniqueness (if thats the right spelling) and would now be classed as a terrible, unreal television soap.

Recommended to watch for a good laugh over the stupidity of the police officers involved - 2/10

Suzanne Maddock

[jollyredjeanz · 10/10 · 13 May 2020]

Really miss Suzanne Maddock from The Bill, she was great and really gorgeous but did little TV after The Bill, come back Suzanne...... 😀

re-summarized

[dtroyhester · 5/10 · 11 November 2016]

Sounds allot like a wondrous trill of a epic witch hunt to track down dead end thrives I don't think that I'd like it. I watched this over lengthened jack pot office low budget film that had this young man jumping though hoops to get paid for his day job. He did exemplary work but was suspicious of his colleges plotting behind his back. Even though he had his suspensions he was still unsure of any plan until the sly move was made in order to change who he was as a person took place. He prayed that it would be over and things would bounce back after the event was over but things got worse. While he was praying they we're preying to pounce even further. Therefore he thought it'd be in his best interest to take his own leave of absence- let the 'waters' cool.

Long running British TV Police Drama

[cwpaul70 · 4 May 2003]

Created by Geoff McQueen, The Bill began life in 1983 as the pilot 'Woodentop', which centered on PC Jimmy (Mark Wingett) Carver on his first day at fictional Sun Hill. Other characters included WPC June Ackland, PC Taffy Morgan and Sgt Wilding. The following year it returned, slightly changed and with McQueen's original title of The Bill. For its first three years it had three series of one hour episodes, before it went into a half hour format in 1988, a format to stay for ten years.

Many say that the show was at its best in the nineties (my favourite era was 1995-2000) with the familiar 'plodding feet credits', great detective storys and such characters as DI Frank Burnside, Insp Andrew Monroe, DC Liz Rawton, PC Vicky Hagen, DS Don Beech and many other greats.

Although the show went through some changes from 1998, including a revert back to hour episodes, and some delving into personal lives, the show changed beyond all recognition in 2002, when new producer Paul Marquess killed off much of the cast and took to a permanant serialised format. For many fans of the show, that was the end of The Bill...

Hooked!

[cathee58 · 10/10 · 18 August 2021]

This has been airing on BritBox, so I got to watch it here in the States. I LOVE this show! I wish all of the earlier episodes were included, not just "Famous" ones. I love the stories, characters and the actors playing them. I have been doing a marathon, I am on season 25! I wish this show was still airing, as it has very good story lines.

Sunhill

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 30 March 2020]

I like the bit when the say you're nicked sunshine

A once great show ruined by pandering

[AMAZINGzingzing · 2/10 · 18 August 2021]

I remember watching the bill since the early 80s, it was great it had humor, violence and good actors, it was not politically correct and the fans loved it for this reason

fast forward to the late 90s and the bill completely changed, stortlines recycled with predictable endings, much more screentime given to female characters and minorities, endless episodes about racism and sexism.

The show became farcial when the main focus was on louisa lytton, a lousy acctress and completely unbeleviable as a copper.the comedy scenes were forced and made me groan

it was at this point that i stopped watching.

How did I miss these?

[tonkadover · 8/10 · 16 October 2021]

After watching many American versions of police work,and feeling uninspired, the old bill popped up. The quality of acting, storyline and overall enjoyment is very impressive. This is not a nationalistic competition, but the UK really is quite superior. Thank you all involved. Tgray.

What's with the camera

[jbbanjo · 4/10 · 12 March 2022]

Constantly moving, flicking back and forth from actor to actor, sentence to sentence and most of it close up. It is distracting. Lasted 20 minutes and gave up.

This was once a high quality and wonderful TV series but no longer

[president242007 · 27 January 2004]

A few years ago I would not have hesitated to state that this was beyond the shadow of a doubt the most wonderful and high quality show on television. The realistic and hard hitting nature of the show, the believable dimensions of genuine police work that were incorporated into the script, the strict attention to police procedures and protocol in the show and the wonderful and comprehensive portrayal of the characters all made this show a pleasure to watch. The storylines were, more often then not, very intriguing and interesting and the script was second to none. Characters such as DI Frank Burnside, DS Ted Roach, DCI Jack Meadows, DCI Kim Reid and several others provided the show with an intriguing and very gripping dimension and the acting was superb and also second to none. It stood in a category of its own as a police drama and was far better than the American (and even British) police dramas in the same genre

Unfortunately, in recent years, the show has taken a dramatic turn for the worse and now would have to be categorized as one of the worst shows that is presently on TV. For some reason that I'll never quite understand, the TV executives decided that they had to dumb down the show and all of its characters to a primitive soap level and make a perfectly good show into a sleazy and pathetic joke. Now the scripts are appalling, quite a lot of the acting weak and disjointed (probably because good actors are being provided with pathetic scripts), the storylines thoroughly boring and there is almost no serious police work at all in the show. It is exceedingly painful to watch for the reasons outlined above and it unfortunately cannot even be taken seriously as a TV show. Every aspect of the show has become so juvenile and pathetic and I would now have to concede that the American TV police dramas are now much better than the present format of `The Bill' ever could be. It is a disappointing turnaround for such a wonderful show. Whatever happened to high quality television?

The Bill is 10/10

[ilcooney · 10/10 · 21 January 2024]

I looked at the dates of this series and thought it might be too dated. I had been watching recent Law & Order SVU and Major Crimes and found them weak in storylines. The writing are so poor. The Bill is amazing. The storylines are complicated, engaging and the characters are extremely interesting. I wish every episode was available but they're not unfortunately. The characters are so convincing, cops and street people are very real. It's a harsh world and the drug problems reflect the the collapse of family neighbourhoods. The police have such a momentous job to do. Geoff McQueen has created such an excellent show. Vintage tv is where it's at today.

The Bill RIP

[mark-1571 · 2 August 2005]

I wrote a review a couple of years ago regretting the direction the programme had taken. I note that several other readers have also commented on The Bill's headlong descent into pantomime soap-opera. I cannot believe that many of the show's long-time fans (which included the eminent historian Andrew Roberts) now bother to watch. Very occasionally I steel myself to tune in for part of an episode but end up watching through my fingers. My most recent visits coincided with the police station being blown up for the second time in five years, the exposure of yet another psychopathic deranged serial-killer police officer, Superintentent Okaro's entire family being wiped out and the poor man going doolally and a regular character being held hostage for the umpteenth time. Not to mention yet another series regular being involved in a relationship with a criminal and struggling with divided loyalties. Enough already! Let Sun Hill join Dock Green and Newtown in that great police beat in the sky.

Unrecognisable from the original "Bill"

[Imnozy · 3 September 2003]

I have followed this series from its earliest episodes and have rarely found it hard going until recently. Although it still delivers good entertainment, the show has lost much of its grittiness (although in many ways it is probably more realistic).Up until the recent dramatic changes (the bombing of Sun Hill and resultant death of many of the main characters)there was little shown of the violence, blood etc that is part and parcel of real police work. The show has suffered considerably for those of us who remember the good old days of Burnside, Tosh Lines et al. Serialising the episodes is not in itself a bad thing, for that makes it more believable than the old concept that each case was tied up in the half hour - or one hour episode, it does however mean that much of the crispness of the show is lost in the process. For the undedicated, the focus on private lives (and romances in the station)turns it very much into a "soap" and less of a serious show. I am still recovering from the first time Jim kissed June - it was a bit like watching someone kiss his sister! I suppose that the Old Bill is gone for good, but it still is good entertainment - and I suppose this is what we watch TV for.

Yes, THE BILL made me into a pathetic television junkie.

[gmr-4 · 7 September 2000]

THE BILL is very hard to come by in the States, and even when it was running on CBC-Windsor, it was impossible to see it this far from the border. No cable CBC around here (do not have it anyway). I got hooked around seven years ago; it was aired one episode per day starting with 1988 episodes, which I viewed from Detroit. Eventually the station ran them all again in sequence.

At very first I avoided it. I never, for example, watched HILL STREET BLUES, which I thought THE BILL would be like. Wrong! Straightaway I was hopelessly hooked, even arranging my day so I could be home in late afternoon.

Keeping in mind that I have not seen an episode newer than perhaps 1995, I thought (think) THE BILL was an excellent programme, calling it my "soap opera." Some friends thought my being so devoted to a "cop show" was out of character, and perhaps yes, but it was the exotic setting . . . yet more: The stories' construction, occasionally running three tales in a mere half-hour, the dialogue, the character development and interactions, all for the most part top notch. I picked up a lot of obnoxious British lower-class slang, too. One also notes how most of the outdoor scenes are uncharacteristically sunny and warm, but surely that cannot be London?

The cheek: I once wrote offering to do a part for nothing if I could depict an obnoxious North American who gets punched out by D.I. Burnside. (P.C. Loxton would be unacceptable.)I was never favoured with a reply.

I have seen negative comment in this forum and else-where that THE BILL is turning into a real "soap," but cannot comment. All I can say to my mates over here is that British "prime time" drama as represented by THE BILL is as good as anything done in the States -- but without the bigger-than-life, distracting, razmatazz. To coin the proverbial phrase, Good Show.

The Bill is back to it's best!

[Simon D. · 5 May 2006]

I can honestly say that I have never missed an episode bar one, the episode with Honey in the casino about four years ago. During this time I have seen the highs and lows and yes some very 'soapy' episodes. I agree wholeheartedly with people who say it has been at a definite low from about 2002, maybe even a little before that, but even in it's more trashy period it retained my interest. I have cringed at many of the story lines from around 2002 onwards, but while a lot of silly stories were going on there were still some good characters. Gabriel Kent and Cathy Bradshaw were not one of these! I have to say that within the last half a year to a year the show has gone through a dramatic about turn and now more concentration on the very real pressures that the British police have to endure has ensured that an air of quality has returned. if you have stayed away for a few years then now is definitely a good period to return to it. There are characters that stand along side the best of the past, such as Gina Gold, Sam Nixon (gorgeous as she is!), DI Manson, plus there's still a crop of the old stalwarts such as the wonderfully flawed Reg Hollis. I hope the show's producers can keep this current good period going, and if they have to raise the ratings in future, to find a good solid talking point of a storyline, rather than resort to Tabloid style cheap ratings grabbers. These attempts to tempt people in may initially bring in a lot of people who like that kind of thing but they will lose many more of the more discerning audience. May this show go on and on...please!

What I think of 'The Bill'. *SPOILER FOR FANS OUTSIDE THE UK*

[street-5 · 25 October 1999]

Hello, My name is Sophie, and I'm a 12 year old girl who absolutely loves The Bill. I think that since I started watching, which was in 1995, The Bill has become better and better, and since changing to a one hour, twice weekly, format, the script writers have had more time to develop the story lines, particularly in June this year, when we had a four part story, in which we saw the return of Rosie Fox, played by the talented Caroline Catz. In this we saw Eddie have an affair with Vicky and Jess Orton, while investigating a fire at a club, and on top of this he was doing a covert operation with Area Drugs. We had a lot of exceptionally brilliant acting, and brilliant writing from Elizabeth-Anne Wheal, who wrote it. Rosie Fox eventually got her own back on the Evil Eddie, with the fantastically delivered, last line, "Gotcha". Well Done The Bill, you people RULE!!!!!!

Good Show But Needs To Improve To Retain It's Fans

[Big Movie Fan · 11 December 2002]

I have been watching The Bill since it started back in 1983. It is always hard commenting on a long running show because most shows have their good and bad patches.

The early Bill episodes were fantastic. Unlike the 21st century Bill, the early Bill focused entirely on the officer's work lives-you never got to see their private lives except in rare cases where their work impacted on their private lives. There were several different stories within each hourly episode usually split between the beat officers, C.I.D. cases and the politics of being a copper in the Met Police. The stories focused on all ranks from the constables to the Chief Superintendent. The first Chief Superintendent was Charles Brownlow, a man more interested in politics and PR and ensuring that justice was seen to be done. The first head of C.I.D. was Detective Inspector Galloway, a short tempered and stern cop who didn't think twice about shouting at his men but who was a good copper underneath. The early Sergeants were Alec Peters, Tom Penny and Bob Cryer. Bob Cryer was a veteran copper who the officers looked up to-he didn't suffer fools gladly but would support his men through and through. The constables included Jim Carver, a naive young probationer whose heart was in the right place but ended up putting his foot in it on occasion. Each of the early episodes were self contained.

In the 80's the Bill switched to a half hour format. Whilst there were some good stories, half an hour doesn't allow for much character development and at times, investigations seemed rushed. It would not revert to an hourly show until 1998.

There have been many memorable characters at Sun Hill Police Station. After D.I. Galloway left, he was replaced by D.I. Burnside, a copper who did whatever he could to achieve a result and would happily rough up a suspect to ensure justice was done. Other great D.I.'s include D.I. Deakin, a veteran old school copper and the intense D.I. Cullen. Let's not forget the old school copper Chief Inspector Conway whose job was mainly desk based but who got his hands dirty when necessary. Conway was killed off in 2002 when a petrol bomb was thrown into his car.There have been three bosses in the series, first there was Chief Superintendent Brownlow. He left in 2000 and was replaced by Superintendent Tom Chandler who seemed the right man to lead Sun Hill but who left in 2002 after he shot himself dead after being caught up in a scandal. The current boss is Superintendent Adam Okaro who is set to clean up Sun Hill and isn't afraid to go out on the streets with the troops.

The current Bill is far different to the early episodes. The show is now more of a soap and there are not really any self contained stories. The show, in my opinion, has suffered due to it's heavy emphasis on the officers private lives and the constant sexual liasons between officers. Another thing that has not helped The Bill is the constant axing of popular characters such as the crooked D.S. Beech, the intense D.I. Cullen and Supt. Chandler. Whilst their replacements have on the whole been good, The Bill needs to take more time to listen to it's fans and to give newer characters a chance before axing them.

Where does The Bill go from here? I definitely think it needs to tone down on the officers private lives and have less sex and more police work. It needs to give new characters a chance to find their feet before deciding they need to go. And it needs to be bold and have the odd self contained story as well.

All in all, The Bill is a decent enough programme which can steadily improve it it takes note of the above points. I hope it continues for a long time.