JO
and of course Crossroads
and what happened to Doctor Who during the late 80's
But that was no real loss.
Well the McCoy years no, but Colin Baker should have definitely got longer on air.
Anyway this is a thread about The Bill
They have wanted to get rid of it - moving it all over the place then finally moving it to a later slot once a week, revamping it and making it completely different to what viewers were used to - quite simular to watch C4 did to Brookside.
and of course Crossroads
and what happened to Doctor Who during the late 80's
But that was no real loss.
Well the McCoy years no, but Colin Baker should have definitely got longer on air.
Anyway this is a thread about The Bill
:-(
A former member
There always the Audio tapes, maybe Big Finish could do Audio series of The bill
SW
Heh. In the early eighties, even Emmerdale didn't run all year round, it would go off during the summer. There were a few pre-watershed dramas and almost immediately before The Bill went twice weekly, they were showing repeats of Auf Weidersehen Pet, edited into half-hour chunks with the swearing removed, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30 to combat EastEnders. And there were things like The Practice, a medical drama by Granada, which ran twice a week in 1985 but flopped.
As for the slots itself, immediately before The Bill started Tuesdays at eight was normally home of light entertainment, it was very much indistinguishable from Wednesday at eight and the likes of Des O'Connor would go there. Thursdays at eight was usually quizzes or sitcoms.
Doubt many here would be old enough to remember
, but if anyone is of a certain age what did The Bill replace when it launched on ITV? Did ITV have regular pre-watershed dramas or was it just local tat?
Heh. In the early eighties, even Emmerdale didn't run all year round, it would go off during the summer. There were a few pre-watershed dramas and almost immediately before The Bill went twice weekly, they were showing repeats of Auf Weidersehen Pet, edited into half-hour chunks with the swearing removed, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30 to combat EastEnders. And there were things like The Practice, a medical drama by Granada, which ran twice a week in 1985 but flopped.
As for the slots itself, immediately before The Bill started Tuesdays at eight was normally home of light entertainment, it was very much indistinguishable from Wednesday at eight and the likes of Des O'Connor would go there. Thursdays at eight was usually quizzes or sitcoms.
FN
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four’s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings’s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd “police station”, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don’t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when “filmic” effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the “old-bill” was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be – Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted – If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not – I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be – The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch – complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of “Smithy”, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn’t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, “arty” camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year – A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
Doubt many here would be old enough to remember, but if anyone is of a certain age what did The Bill replace when it launched on ITV? Did ITV have regular pre-watershed dramas or was it just local tat?
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four’s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings’s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd “police station”, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don’t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when “filmic” effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the “old-bill” was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be – Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted – If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not – I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be – The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch – complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of “Smithy”, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn’t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, “arty” camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year – A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
JO
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four�s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings�s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd �police station�, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don�t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when �filmic� effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the �old-bill� was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be � Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted � If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not � I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be � The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch � complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of �Smithy�, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn�t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, �arty� camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year � A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
I agree with you here, although I've only just discovered Series 1-4 & the 1988 series this year. There's some excellent characters there (Cryer, Galloway, Roach, Dashwood, Carver, Ackland, Martella, Taffy & Burnside, to pick a few). I do still rather like the 1988 series although agree the atmosphere of Series 1-3 was excellent. To me The Bill started losing it's touch when they dropped the 1988 theme and then when you had the likes of Tosh Lines (who's departure was unavoidable sadly), Bob Cryer, Ted Roach, June Ackland, Jim Carver, etc. dissapear it was just never the same.
It's a shame it is going but in hindsight it kind of was inevitable. Shame however that a production that continued Thames' connection with ITV ever since they went off air on 31st December 1992, has finally come to an end.
Doubt many here would be old enough to remember, but if anyone is of a certain age what did The Bill replace when it launched on ITV? Did ITV have regular pre-watershed dramas or was it just local tat?
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four�s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings�s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd �police station�, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don�t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when �filmic� effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the �old-bill� was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be � Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted � If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not � I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be � The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch � complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of �Smithy�, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn�t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, �arty� camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year � A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
I agree with you here, although I've only just discovered Series 1-4 & the 1988 series this year. There's some excellent characters there (Cryer, Galloway, Roach, Dashwood, Carver, Ackland, Martella, Taffy & Burnside, to pick a few). I do still rather like the 1988 series although agree the atmosphere of Series 1-3 was excellent. To me The Bill started losing it's touch when they dropped the 1988 theme and then when you had the likes of Tosh Lines (who's departure was unavoidable sadly), Bob Cryer, Ted Roach, June Ackland, Jim Carver, etc. dissapear it was just never the same.
It's a shame it is going but in hindsight it kind of was inevitable. Shame however that a production that continued Thames' connection with ITV ever since they went off air on 31st December 1992, has finally come to an end.
MW
I agree, the station looked (right up until 2002) like a police station, it followed the Met's internal colour schemes (light grey top, dark grey bottom walls for corridors/custody, Light and dark blue for offices) but for some reason, after the fire they decided light blues and teal were the way forward, that lost the station the feel of being a police station. We also ended up with a cast that were all young and not like police officers:
Compare and contrast:
http://www.billfans.com/forum/gallery/69_25_10_08_2_37_47.jpg
1995
http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~kang/child%20pictures/children-jump.jpg
2008
as you can see, they've replaced the cast with a much younger selection, in the old days, they officers looked like officers, not school kids.
Compare and contrast:
http://www.billfans.com/forum/gallery/69_25_10_08_2_37_47.jpg
1995
http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~kang/child%20pictures/children-jump.jpg
2008
as you can see, they've replaced the cast with a much younger selection, in the old days, they officers looked like officers, not school kids.
FN
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four�s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings�s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd �police station�, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don�t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when �filmic� effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the �old-bill� was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be � Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted � If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not � I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be � The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch � complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of �Smithy�, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn�t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, �arty� camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year � A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
I agree with you here, although I've only just discovered Series 1-4 & the 1988 series this year. There's some excellent characters there (Cryer, Galloway, Roach, Dashwood, Carver, Ackland, Martella, Taffy & Burnside, to pick a few). I do still rather like the 1988 series although agree the atmosphere of Series 1-3 was excellent. To me The Bill started losing it's touch when they dropped the 1988 theme and then when you had the likes of Tosh Lines (who's departure was unavoidable sadly), Bob Cryer, Ted Roach, June Ackland, Jim Carver, etc. dissapear it was just never the same.
It's a shame it is going but in hindsight it kind of was inevitable. Shame however that a production that continued Thames' connection with ITV ever since they went off air on 31st December 1992, has finally come to an end.
I had forgotten that it was the last Thames TV programme remaining on ITV from the days when they had the London Franchise. I think that the fact that it had a separate production base (then over in Barlby Road, near Notting Hill) rather than being studio-based would have helped there.
This is the sort of thing that I miss - (Excuse the writing on-screen)
The scene that starts at 05.35 and runs to 08.38 - One camera in a fixed location whilst Cryer and Edwards walk right through the centre of Whitechapel Market.
A really difficult place to do a "two-hander" scene, especially with a running time of over three minutes. There are no camera changes and apart from the police officers, only other actors are the three market traders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
Doubt many here would be old enough to remember, but if anyone is of a certain age what did The Bill replace when it launched on ITV? Did ITV have regular pre-watershed dramas or was it just local tat?
The Bill was first shown in October 1984, and the first three one-hour-episode series were transmitted on either Monday or Tuesday at 9pm.
It wasn't really a direct replacement for any other police series - I guess that The Sweeney had finished a few years before, I think Granada's Bulman was still in production (though tired) and the BBC's main offering was Juliet Bravo.
What is so easy to forget is just how different The Bill was to anything else on TV when it started.
Back in 1984, nearly everything was studio-based, and produced using traditional three-wall "sets", correctly lit, with several dolly-mounted studio cameras. Then only Channel Four�s Brookside used real houses and interiors as a production base.
Thames converted a former cigarette packing factory in Wappings�s Artichoke Hill into a rundown, EastEnd �police station�, cast unknown, though generally superb actors and set about filming a drama, that really looked like a documentary. Internal scenes were naturally lit, sound was often poor, and a single, hand-held video camera followed the action as if the viewer was a bystander.
Don�t forget that back then, not even all of the regions had gone over to videotape for their news output, so the change in appearance to the production on-screen was just as big as when �filmic� effects were introduced a few years back.
Choosing unknown actors enabled them to walk some of the busiest streets of the East End, in full uniform, surrounded by members of the public, with very few people aware of what was going on. No double decker catering buses, and numerous props vans, the �old-bill� was filmed using a VW Camper for the crew, and an old Luton van for props.
The original set looked like you imagine a police station to be � Depressing, maze-like, in need of a repaint, and somewhat grey throughout. The set was quite small, so always looked busy, and the use of extras as police officers was restricted � If an officer was present in a scene, even as background, they were from the known cast, and viewers recognised them, as you would collegues from work.
I remember watching the first episode, and being unsure if it was a documentary or not � I had never seen anything like it.
London looked as scary as I recalled it to be � The regeneration of the EastEnd was in its infancy, and postwar council flats and disused dockside warehouses dominate. The ethnic mix was highly alien to someone from the provinces, the public can be seen stopping to watch the filming and the locations seem highly undesirable.
Swearing was liberally and realistically included, and as really happens, villains often got the better of the police.
All of the characters were so well-drawn, but the show-stoppers were to me the superb performances by Eric Richard and John Salthouse as Sgt Cryer and DI Galloway. These men had so much respect for each other, yet could shout and scream like sworn enemies. These were people that I wanted to watch � complex, passionate, sometimes bitter, and certainly far from perfect. They did do things mainly by the book, but knew that you had to fight fire with fire, despite the changes that were coming in to make that more difficult. I want coppers to be out there giving real grief to the people that spoil life for others, and they fitted the bill perfectly.
Sadly, the move the half-hour episodes diluted some of the subject matter, but the programme remained watchable for many years. The cast grew bigger, as did the police station, and the real East End was substituted by leafy West London and sunny Surrey.
Instead of looking like an outpost of the KGB, Sun Hill gained an interior that would put to shame many smart legal practices, and what is it with these big touch-screen monitors they now have?
Totally believable character such as Bob Cryer were replaced by the likes of �Smithy�, and former stars of Neighbours. The police station didn�t look like a police station anymore, and the characters became equally unbelievable.
The relaunch promises so much, and I knew so many people who were optimistic that it would return to its roots. Instead it gained incidental music, �arty� camerawork, and lost most of the cast. It was if anything, further from where it needed to be than before.
I loved The Bill. No other programme stuck in my memory like those first few series back in the mid-eighties. They were really groundbreaking, and where the producers should have looked when moving back to 9pm last year � A mix of Ashes to Ashes meets Law and Order UK.
I agree with you here, although I've only just discovered Series 1-4 & the 1988 series this year. There's some excellent characters there (Cryer, Galloway, Roach, Dashwood, Carver, Ackland, Martella, Taffy & Burnside, to pick a few). I do still rather like the 1988 series although agree the atmosphere of Series 1-3 was excellent. To me The Bill started losing it's touch when they dropped the 1988 theme and then when you had the likes of Tosh Lines (who's departure was unavoidable sadly), Bob Cryer, Ted Roach, June Ackland, Jim Carver, etc. dissapear it was just never the same.
It's a shame it is going but in hindsight it kind of was inevitable. Shame however that a production that continued Thames' connection with ITV ever since they went off air on 31st December 1992, has finally come to an end.
I had forgotten that it was the last Thames TV programme remaining on ITV from the days when they had the London Franchise. I think that the fact that it had a separate production base (then over in Barlby Road, near Notting Hill) rather than being studio-based would have helped there.
This is the sort of thing that I miss - (Excuse the writing on-screen)
The scene that starts at 05.35 and runs to 08.38 - One camera in a fixed location whilst Cryer and Edwards walk right through the centre of Whitechapel Market.
A really difficult place to do a "two-hander" scene, especially with a running time of over three minutes. There are no camera changes and apart from the police officers, only other actors are the three market traders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
Last edited by From Norwich on 30 March 2010 2:26pm - 5 times in total
DA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
That really is a great scene. It seemed quite common to film amongst the public from what I have seen of 70s and 80s TV. There are scenes in 'Bless this House' where you can see members of the public watching Sid James filming the scene.
That really is a great scene. It seemed quite common to film amongst the public from what I have seen of 70s and 80s TV. There are scenes in 'Bless this House' where you can see members of the public watching Sid James filming the scene.
RM
as you can see, they've replaced the cast with a much younger selection, in the old days, they officers looked like officers, not school kids.
I think PC Valentine and DCI Meadows are now the only regular cast members that are over 45, as far as I can think?
as you can see, they've replaced the cast with a much younger selection, in the old days, they officers looked like officers, not school kids.
I think PC Valentine and DCI Meadows are now the only regular cast members that are over 45, as far as I can think?
JO
I had forgotten that it was the last Thames TV programme remaining on ITV from the days when they had the London Franchise. I think that the fact that it had a separate production base (then over in Barlby Road, near Notting Hill) rather than being studio-based would have helped there.
That's what I think is more sadder, in some respects. Although Thames lost their franchise all those years back they still had that continued connection with ITV via The Bill. I know that Talkback Thames makes X-Factor (or was it just Popstars?) but this continued association with ITV now sadly comes to an end in 2010, hard to believe that it's nearly 20 years since Thames lost their franchise actually
This is the sort of thing that I miss - (Excuse the writing on-screen)
The scene that starts at 05.35 and runs to 08.38 - One camera in a fixed location whilst Cryer and Edwards walk right through the centre of Whitechapel Market.
A really difficult place to do a "two-hander" scene, especially with a running time of over three minutes. There are no camera changes and apart from the police officers, only other actors are the three market traders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
I agree, I absolutely love the "on the streets" scenes, at times you forget it's just a drama as it all feels so real, I do wonder if they ever had a situation where a real crime broke out right round the corner from where they were filming & either a real life criminal ran onto the bit they were filming or if any member of the public stopped any of the actors to report a crime. Highly doubt it but just I just wonder, that's all
I had forgotten that it was the last Thames TV programme remaining on ITV from the days when they had the London Franchise. I think that the fact that it had a separate production base (then over in Barlby Road, near Notting Hill) rather than being studio-based would have helped there.
That's what I think is more sadder, in some respects. Although Thames lost their franchise all those years back they still had that continued connection with ITV via The Bill. I know that Talkback Thames makes X-Factor (or was it just Popstars?) but this continued association with ITV now sadly comes to an end in 2010, hard to believe that it's nearly 20 years since Thames lost their franchise actually
This is the sort of thing that I miss - (Excuse the writing on-screen)
The scene that starts at 05.35 and runs to 08.38 - One camera in a fixed location whilst Cryer and Edwards walk right through the centre of Whitechapel Market.
A really difficult place to do a "two-hander" scene, especially with a running time of over three minutes. There are no camera changes and apart from the police officers, only other actors are the three market traders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkdv3RWUgE#t=5m30s
That really is a great scene. It seemed quite common to film amongst the public from what I have seen of 70s and 80s TV. There are scenes in 'Bless this House' where you can see members of the public watching Sid James filming the scene.
That really is a great scene. It seemed quite common to film amongst the public from what I have seen of 70s and 80s TV. There are scenes in 'Bless this House' where you can see members of the public watching Sid James filming the scene.
I agree, I absolutely love the "on the streets" scenes, at times you forget it's just a drama as it all feels so real, I do wonder if they ever had a situation where a real crime broke out right round the corner from where they were filming & either a real life criminal ran onto the bit they were filming or if any member of the public stopped any of the actors to report a crime. Highly doubt it but just I just wonder, that's all