The Bill Commemoration Thread

[Abigail]

This thread is for everyone to discuss their favourite story lines, characters, eras, credits and scriptwriters. We all know how dire the program has become in recent years and it's been talked about many times so this is a thread to celebrate what the show used to be.

Feel free to post youtube links, photos and whatever else you feel appropriate. You can post about "low points" (e.g. the PM era) but let's try and keep this thread on a positive note and have a wander down Memory Lane :)


I'll kick it off. I've watched on and off since the late 90s. I remember the opening credits of feet very well. My all time favourite storyline - and the one that really stands out in my mind - is the drug smuggling with Zain and Kristen Shaw. The two part finale was pure brilliance and had me gripped throughout.

I can think of some terrible characters over the years. Polly never did anything for me, I found her very whiny. Des and Reggie were an excellent duo, two people that I would never have thought of being good together.

[Katy]

i loved Des, and i loved him with sheelagh played by Bernie Nolan. which one was Polly Abigail, i tink i remember her if its the one i was thinking of was really annoying.

I stopped watching years ago, i liked Honey as well in the early days and Kerry.

[Siobhan]

I love that girl who went completely bunny boiler.. Bradford i think her name was.. Loved Burnside and Lyons... Chandler was great and that episode where the chief of Police entire family dies was heartbreaking...
my all time favourite were Des, Reg and Mickey

[parkerman]

My favourite of all time was the Don Beech/John Bouton/Claire Stanton storyline. It was well scripted, well acted and went on for many episodes building up to a brilliant climax. Strangely enough they managed it all without DI Manson or DS Carter anywhere to be seen.

The Zain Nadir story was another exceptional storyline. Again well scripted, well acted and played out over many episodes.

The idea of taking time to develop a story and the characters in The Bill has been completely lost in the last couple of years and goes a long way to explain why The Bill is just a very poor shadow of its former self.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6hUmQH8n68

[alan45]

I liked the Old Bill because as an ex peeler myself I found it very true to life. The humour of the characters and their interaction was believable. I could relate most of them to people I knew or had worked with. How sad a day it was when that clown Marquess introduced Todd Crappy to our screens with what has to rate as the most laughable and unrealistic storyline ever to pollute our TV Screens. A character like Gabriel K*nt would neber have lasted 10 minutes in any station I ever served in. The storyline was obviously never researched but was more for sensation than anything else.

We all remember with fondness the likes of June Ackland, Jim Carver, Reg Hollis and Tony Stamp, Ted Roache, Tosh Lines, Don Beech, Andrew Galloway and Big Frank Burnside. The stories both on and off duty were believable, enjoyable and always left you wanting more. There was humour, sadness and drama all done to perfection. ITV obviously forgot the old maxim ''If its not broke dont fix it.''

[Abigail]

which one was Polly Abigail, i tink i remember her if its the one i was thinking of was really annoying.

.

She was blonde. Went to prison for a while, murder I think it was.

[Chloe O'brien]

I've watched the bill since the begining until last year when STV axed it. I can't remember any particular storylines but like Alan I remember the old characters like Galloway, Cryer, Burnside and Tosh lines. There has been some good characters in recent years like Gina Gold, Terry, Smithy and Jo. But the majority have been rubbish. One of the biggest mistakes the writers of the bill made was picking popular actors over quality. In the early years all the actors were unknown but now they could act. Not just pretty faces like the cast members they have now.

[Abigail]

One of the biggest mistakes the writers of the bill made was picking popular actors over quality..

That and becoming the grave yard for EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Brookside has-beens. Perhaps the only exception to this was Roberta Taylor.

[Abigail]

Siobhan (or any other mod), what's going to happen to The Bill sub-forum when the program ends? Will it be moved to Classic shows?

[Siobhan]

Probably... when it is cleaned up (the forum I mean) like Bad Girls and Brookside!!