The Bill - Axed After 25 Years
It was recently announced that The Bill was being axed after 25 years the long running police drama started off as a one off episode named Woodentop in 1984 it was quickly noticed what great potential it had and became The Bill in October 1984, over the years we have seen many changing faces of the officers on duty and the show has had plenty of famous faces pass through its doors.
The show has always been very popular and when the show was on twice a week it averaged 10 million viewers between the two shows however its downfall has been entirely ITV's fault allowing it to be moved and cancelled in favour of showing the football or it's reality shows like I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, meaning viewers have been left hanging once to often not knowing when it would next be on.
In 2009 it was announced that The Bill would be moving to a post watershed slot of 9pm in the hope of allowing the show to attempt grittier story lines and because of this long running character Tony Stamped (Graham Cole) was axed as he was deemed to old and wouldn't fit into the new revamped show despite his dedication of 25 years, this was another loss in a long line of departures.
In 2007 Trudy Goodwin who played long suffering Sgt June Ackland left the show, she first appeared in Woodentop alongside on screen husband DS Jim Carver (Mark Wingett) who left The Bill in 2005.
PC Reg Hollis (Jeff Stewart) was axed in 2008 and after learning this news the actor tried to commit suicide and has not been on television since.
It is also worth mentioning that not only did The Bill go from three episodes a week to two and then one plus not being on tv at all it has changed days over recent years from a Wednesday to a Thursday and now a Tuesday is it any wonder its fans have opted out of watching it when the shows schedule has become so topsy turvy?
CEO of talkback THAMES Lorraine Heggessey said “We are devastated that after 26 successful years on ITV, The Bill will be coming to an end. One of the show’s strengths has been its ability to evolve over the years as can be seen with the latest challenge of transforming itself into a 9pm primetime show.
We are incredibly proud of what the show has achieved. It is a credit to everyone who has worked on The Bill that the series will be signing out on a creative and editorial high with both critical and industry-wide acclaim and a loyal fan base who have supported the show throughout."
The last day of filming will be around 14th June and that episode will air around August or September.
I personally think this is a massive mistake to get rid of such a popular well made show I have watched it nearly all of my 25years and cannot believe it is being axed when its greatness has been proven over the years with its ability to evolve I think its a big mistake and I shall be very sad when it ends. I just hope if they don't reconsider that another channel begins showing old episodes so we can all enjoy the pleasure of some great characters and stories.
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