Options
The Bill. Discuss the AXE here.
madlh100
Posts: 9,893 Forum Member
✭
I've watched The Bill for years. I remember it being so good. The Cathy Bradford episodes, Serial Killer etc etc.
I can see why it is being axed. They had the opportunity to really up the programme with moving to 9o clock, but they just haven't.
I have got back into it the last few weeks though and have been impressed. Certainly tonight's episode. I enjoyed it and thought it was good. A bit unrealistic in places. Like the last bit when that IC1 was attacking Grace and Max. She went into that caravan and before calling for backup decided to make sure the other two were OK. Surely if an officer is under attack you'd at least get your radio out and press the panic button. Probably seems like a little thing, but it just annoyed me.
I don't think The Bill will ever be as good as it once was, but the last few weeks have impressed me. If these episodes had aired weeks a go then maybe the audience wouldn't have declined/decreased and we'd still have a show.
What do you think?
Tom
I can see why it is being axed. They had the opportunity to really up the programme with moving to 9o clock, but they just haven't.
I have got back into it the last few weeks though and have been impressed. Certainly tonight's episode. I enjoyed it and thought it was good. A bit unrealistic in places. Like the last bit when that IC1 was attacking Grace and Max. She went into that caravan and before calling for backup decided to make sure the other two were OK. Surely if an officer is under attack you'd at least get your radio out and press the panic button. Probably seems like a little thing, but it just annoyed me.
I don't think The Bill will ever be as good as it once was, but the last few weeks have impressed me. If these episodes had aired weeks a go then maybe the audience wouldn't have declined/decreased and we'd still have a show.
What do you think?
Tom
0
Comments
i too loved the bill for years and stopped watching last january as i found waterloo road was better then the bill. But, around 8 weeks ago i got back into it and its brilliant, its not like the bill jsut a dif drama. You dont have loads of officers in differnet ranks.
i thought meadoes was super but where is he? he will always be dci to me... i liked okara and heaton, chandler wasnt bad...brownlow was brill from what i remember.
CID use to be huge now its 5 officers
i agree it has got alot better but it took a long time to get use to the change. they have altered the filmign sicen the change thougha nd it looks better but there are still too many quick cuts to next scenes and misisng out things
do we know when the last episode airs?
Companies have lost their way with new programs and what people want.
The cast was reduced.
There were far too many scenes in the police station at the expense of location filming.
Sure, they tried tougher stories but it just didn't sit right and the writing was on the wall.
End of an era and sad.
Just unrealistic though. Another example. Tonight that bloke got into the ambulance. She didn't want him there yet it took another officer to tell Mel to remove him. He should have been removed from the ambulance as soon as he got in there.
I thought last week's episode was really good too. When they found the dead baby. Very shocking, but touching episode.
Also, the ear pieces. Surely you're not suppose to see them if you're on an operation. They stand out like a sore thumb. As if a suspect isn't going to spot one of them.
I agree with those who've said before, on this thread and others, that the move to 9pm and then to Tuesdays doomed it. The cast got too small, stupid in house promotions that made no sense (how many times has Smithy said he didn't want to be an inspector and then suddenly he's happy to - though I was just happy to be rid of Rachel. And both Stevie and Jo secretly took their sergeants exams, how convenient), and too many people left all at once, or else left with hardly any mention. That said, it's been pretty good for a few months now and has actually seemed to find its feet again after the format change and move. It's a shame it's been cancelled, I've watched it from day one, but 26 years is a good run for any show.
Well normally she probably would have done, but it was Max
The Neil and Grace story is sweet - about time Neil had something to smile about.
I wonder if Desmond has any thought on giving it a new life on Channel 5
Max is so annoying, however the actor is doing a really good job, I must admit I did enjoy him ribbing Grace & Neil
Just hope Watch don't stop showing the old episodes, like Alibi did, I love watching the old one's too, although they do tend to have the same ones on a loop!
I didn't use to like Max as a character, but I quite like the actor. Only now I only just realised it's him on Police Interceptors so every time I watch PI I'm seeing Max instead. >.<
Is it end of this month that The Bill finishes?
The Max storyline has been good and I can't wait for Terry and Mickey to take him down. I'm guessing that will be the big finale now as the other option is Neil & Grace's wedding and that isn't the way The Bill deserves to go down.
Terry and Mickey are both very likeable characters and for them to take down Max is the best option as far as I can see to ending the show, which in all honesty didn't deserve to be cut. Had ITV not peed around with it and put it in various timeslots, cancelling it, not trialing it - then this show could easily have survived and flourished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Bill_episodes
Series 26, 31 episodes, airdates: 7 January 2010 - 31 August 2010
Bleh, rubbish.
I assumed that would be the final storyline also. Although I also wondered if it might be related to Callum Stone also, just based on next week's episode. More likely to be Max/Terry/Mickey though.
Do we know if Jack Meadows is likely to be in the last episode? He was really good when he was at his best, especially with Mickey. I don't even know if he's still in The Bill now, haven't seen him for ages?
Fully expect Jack to be in the final episode. He is around and I wouldn't be shocked if a couple of old Bill characters turned up in the final episode through some strange event. Quite possibly Jim Carver being one of them.
I'd agree with this.
I hadn't been enjoying the show much since the revamp, but just when it's improving, it's going to be finishing.
Like you, looking forward to seeing what happens with the Max storyline. Plus, he shouldn't talk to Terry like that :mad:
I have watched all of the recent episodes and they are comparable to Sherlock (a programme that I am loving) the quality is superb, the acting is much improved and there is a real tension. Why it has been axed I do not know.
I think that is more about not paying Thames or Talkback or whatever their name is currently the cash to put it on it.
Now Channel 5 has been sold I think it has less chance of making a comeback, being that the previous owners make The Bill.
There is a facebook group if anyone is interested and it can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/SaveTheBill?ref=ts
Source: BARB.
These days it doesn't even make the list of ITV1's top 30 most watched programmes of the week with fewer than 2.8m viewers. So if you take the top figure there, its viewing has halved in around 14 months!
Its axe was entirely preventable, but it's probably damaged beyond repair now so I can't see another broadcaster stepping in to be honest.
Too true.
I wonder if they will tie up Max and Callum's storylines in the next three weeks or just leave them open, especially Max's now that he's back in good books again after saving Grace. Callum's always been pretty good at getting away with whatever he does, the only time he got in trouble he didn't actually do anything wrong.