The Bill

The Bill is a long-running British police drama shown on ITV1.

Changing to serial format

After the conclusion of the 1987 series, the decision was taken to drastically change the format. The Bill would now run year-round, and instead of one 50-minute episode, two 25-minute episodes would air every week.

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The title sequence was also updated with a new Area Car, new cast shots to reflect changes, and the first remix of Overkill, by Pask & Morgan: this version is better-known than the original. It also introduced another trademark to the titles: Sergeant Bob Cryer was always the last person to be shown. In this title sequence, he is talking and nodding.

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The series continued relatively unchanged (except for cast) until 1992: new Area Car and cast footage, and Cryer is now shouting at someone. In 1994, the Area Car changed again and Cryer started looking up in amazement.

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In 1996, an ingenious addition was made. Separate title sequences were created with specially-filled footage: one for episodes that took place during the day and one for those set at night. Again, a new Area Car in the credits, and the timing of the music was subtly changed. Instead of kicking in immediately after the screech of tyres, it now begun at the same time. In both title sequences, Cryer looks up for the camera.

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Throughout this era, the focus of the show remained broadly the same: very much focused on police work, with very few personal stories for the characters unless they were on their way out. Episodes would often feature interesting crimes which were wrapped up by the end of the episode. A common plot feature would be an episode following two incidents in parallel, that started off seemingly unrelated would end up directly related. The twist was usually in how.

Related Topics:
Character - Crime

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