Continuing to watch the earliest years of the long-running British police drama, The Bill.
Since the last entry in this viewing diary, I have watched another five episodes.
Before I started this watch-through, I wondered if channels like UK Gold avoided repeating the earliest episodes of The Bill for a specific reason. Maybe these episodes weren’t the finest examples of the show. (It felt like a reasonable theory at the time.)
I’m now in the second series of hour-long episodes, and I’ve watched another five.
Readers of my last post in this blog will know that I perceived a dip in the quality of storytelling toward the conclusion of the first series. I wondered if this was just an end-of-series lull, or a sign of something else, so I changed my watching routine to find out. Instead of continuing at a rate of roughly one episode every weekday, I watched the first episode of series two right after the final episode of series one. There are a few differences, but mostly superficial.
The first difference I noted was the change to the opening titles. Moving away from the ‘view from the constables on the street’ of the first series (which didn’t really work, in my opinion) to the montage of rapid, action-packed cuts that became a series mainstay for many years.
The first episode of series two (“Snouts and Red Herrings”) also introduces some new characters while PC/DC Litton (Gary Olsen) is quietly written out. His is the first major character to depart the series.
The big question in my mind was whether there would be an upturn in quality for series two. A few clicks around the internet would quickly provide an answer—I don’t need to spend ten hours watching it to find out—but that would be cheating. And about as much fun as being on an obbo with Reg Hollis.
The episodes I’ve watched so far typify the second series.
“Hostage” was about a man armed with a gun. He went on a rampage and held an old lady hostage in her flat. The drama increased when Bob Cryer volunteered to be a hostage and talk the gunman down. In the end, the armed police unit—which included Roach and Galloway—shot the gunman. It was a tight, focused story with some crackling dialogue.
The following episode, “This Little Pig,” was a sort-of comedy. It featured a mix of cases and jobs for the uniform officers of Sun Hill. They did not mention events from the previous episode, which included PC Robin Frank getting shot and wounded. Nothing mentioned the fact that Galloway and Roach had shot a gunman, either. I can see Roach taking that in his stride, but what about family man Roy Galloway?
In fairness, PC Frank isn’t part of the main ensemble of cast, but he was in the background with a few lines of dialogue ever since the third episode. We know his backstory, but we rarely see him in the course of his duties. That is no excuse whatsoever to have a character wounded and not even mention it the following week. Until now—including aspects of the pilot episode—*The Bill* had so far adhered to its own internal continuity. This is the first time something like this has happened, and it stands out like a sore thumb.
Each episode comprises a myriad of call outs and set pieces. Rarely is there one defined crime running through the episode. This is becoming fairly typical, and I have to say it’s an unsatisfactory viewing experience. Series two has only dulled the aura and slightly diminished the mystique I constructed around the first three series of The Bill—at least, in the episodes I’ve seen.
So, I used to scream a question every time a run of repeats looped back to the half-hour episodes. They omitted the first three series entirely. Why won’t they show them? The question is now answered: because they were not that great. Please excuse me. I feel a bit of a sob coming on—then, of course, I’ll still be back for more. I always am.
Broken links to other parts of this series have now been deleted. The original Word documents are heavily corrupted but I am working on rebuilding the series (time and professional commitments permitting) Subscribe to get more in the series as soon they’re published.
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