The Bill

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.

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.

I am now 25 and religiously watched 'The Bill' since I was about 8 years old. I loved the show. It probably was a bit biased in showing cops as virtual angels but it was tightly scripted with good solid acting and was not too soapy.

But ever since the changes made in the late 1990s I have not been able to watch this pile of drivel. The pathetic unbelievable plots are a joke. The characters are a bunch of sissies and it is more like an episode of 'Home and Away' than 'The Bill'. I cannot believe my mum still loves this show; but I know even she struggles to enjoy it.

So thanks to the morons who changed a great show into a pile of crap. If I ever get cable TV it will be to watch the old episodes, not the rubbish on today.

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.

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...