The WORST seasons of The Bill
Every season of The Bill ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst seasons of The Bill!
The Bill follows the officers of Sun Hill, a Metropolitan Police station located in the fictional Borough of Canley in London's East End. Created in 1983 by Geoff McQueen as a one-off drama called "Woodentop", The Bill was spun off as a full series, and ran for over 26 years and 2,425 episodes. Covering both uniformed officers and CID detectives, the series is renowned for its accurate and authentic portrayal of policing in London.
#1 - Season 16
First Aired 1/4/2000
Series 16 of British television drama The Bill consisted of 86 episodes, broadcast between 4 January – 26 December 2000. As well as 83 regular episodes, the series also included a two-part recap special, Kiss Off, featuring a condensed broadcast of the Series 15 episodes "Lone Ranger", "Old Flame", "Push It" and "Kiss Off", prior to a special episode, The Trial of Eddie Santini, which provides closure to the Santini storyline from 1999. On 5 June 2013, The Bill Series 16 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 16 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released (in Australia).
#2 - Series 5
First Aired 1/3/1989
The fifth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 104 episodes, broadcast between 3 January – 28 December 1989. The series was first released on DVD as part of the Collection 3 and Collection 4 DVD boxsets in Australia, made available on 8 August – 7 November 2007, respectively. The first four episodes of the series were later issued on DVD in the United Kingdom, under the title Volume 4, on 15 March 2010. The next thirteen episodes of series 5 were released on DVD in the UK, under the title Volume 5, on 11 July 2011, the next 48 episodes of Series five were released on DVD in the UK under the title Volume 6, on 15 October 2012 and the remaining episodes were released on DVD in the UK under the title Volume 7, on 2 September 2013.
#3 - Series 4
First Aired 7/19/1988
The fourth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of forty-eight episodes, broadcast between 19 July – 29 December 1988. This series was the first to adopt a half-hour format, and the theme tune had its first of several updates. The series was first released on DVD on 4 December 2006 in Australia, incorrectly packaged as Seasons 4 & 5, when in fact the set only contained the entire series four. The series was later issued in four separate volumes in the United Kingdom, available on 30 June 2008, 2 March 2009, 11 May 2009 and 15 March 2010. It was later reissued in Australia on 31 August 2011. The above DVD artwork is taken from the most recent Australian release. It features an image of DS Ted Roach. The British volume artwork features a variety of collage images featuring characters from across the season. The original Australian box set features a sole image of DI Frank Burnside.
#4 - Series 3
First Aired 9/21/1987
The third series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of twelve episodes, broadcast between 21 September and 7 December 1987. The series was first released on DVD as part of a three-season box set on 10 May 2006 in Australia. It was later made available as a separate season in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2007 and in Australia on 3 August 2011. The above DVD artwork is taken from the most recent Australian release. It features an image of Ch. Supt. Charles Brownlow. The British artwork features a collage image featuring DI Roy Galloway, PCs Nick Shaw and Viv Martella, and DC Mike Dashwood. The image right is the Australian three-season DVD box set features a sole image of chief superintendent Charles Brownlow.
#5 - Series 2
First Aired 11/11/1985
The second series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of twelve episodes, broadcast between 11 November 1985 and 10 February 1986. Many of the cast and crew shared their memories of making this second series for the book Witness Statements, including stars John Salthouse, Eric Richard, Trudie Goodwin, Mark Wingett, Peter Ellis, Nula Conwell, Jon Iles, Larry Dann, Colin Blumenau, Robert Hudson, Ashley Gunstock and Ralph Brown; along with writers Barry Appleton, Lionel Goldstein, Ginnie Hole and Christopher Russell, producer Peter Cregeen and directors Michael Ferguson and John Woods.
#6 - Series 1
First Aired 10/16/1984
#7 - Series 24
First Aired 1/2/2008
The 24th series of The Bill, a British television drama, was the antepenultimate series of the programme. This series was the last to feature the killing of an officer, PC Emma Keane. The death on-screen led to the resignation of the longest serving character, PC Reg Hollis, his controversial exit off-screen after actor Jeff Stewart attempted suicide on set, after being axed by producers following 24 years on the show. Another long-term character, Inspector Gina Gold, left the show after six years as part of the aftermath of the storyline, Gold retiring after becoming increasingly terrified at the thought of losing another officer.