Yes, Chandler replaced Brownlow as senior officer of Sun Hill nick, but Chandler was only the rank of Superintendent whereas Brownlow was the divisional Chief Supt..

From that point on, the Chief Supt. characters all became the Borough Commander (Guy Mannion, Adam Okaro, etc.).


I can remember these episodes as well from their original transmission.

..as a direct result of events that were, in but a few weeks time, about to be played out on Watch, if they hadn't inexplicably leapt forward in time by about six bleedin' years..
Yeah, definitely - in fact 99-2002 was probably its best run of all, and the events of that period and just after completely shaped everything that happened subsequently. Another reason to be well hacked off with Watch, as we'll miss every second of that as well, now .

Wasn't Guy Mannion played by Nick Miles, who we all know now as Jimmy King from Emmerdale?

(Sorry haven't been watching the reruns! )

Yes

I started watching The Bill again around about 2002 Roberta Taylor [ Gina Gold ] was great IMHO, I hope Drama keep running them in order, Iv'e started watching the Drama episodes now because Watch TV have jumped 5 years from 2000 to 2005 last week idiots

My Bill love has definitely waned now. I look first to see which characters are in the ep before I watch now and if its the awful new CID lot don't bother watching.

Enjoyed the Reg episodes, he was a great character and liked his pairing with Des and the 'Reggy babe' thing. Was his adoption mentioned before or was this a new plot twist.

I like the pairing of Boyden and Vicky as well. They have a good chemistry and it wasn't a case of 'lets make them a couple' like with June and Jim which was laughable.

Chandler was a good character on reflection. A total contrast to Brownlow and a good actor.

The episodes from 2004 with the verbal sparring between Gina Gold & Irene Radford [Lynda Bellengham] are my faves her sons are in a gang but Irene won't hear a bad word against them great stuff.

the actor who played detective Rod Skase (Skase was intensely dislikeable) is currently appearing in an advert for some shabby financial-product (pocket.com) - and not in the celebrity way, as himself, but as a character in the ad. How degrading for him. You don't often see familiar actors reduced to that.

Slightly off topic but I'm sure its Sally Geeson (Bless this house)that has a non speaking part in an ad for double glazing!

Mark Wingett (PC/DC/DS Jim Carver) was in an advert last year for Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cornflakes!!

According to UKTV the response from viewers was that they wanted more recent episodes of The Bill so they skipped to 2005, who would no prefer 2000 eps?

That's surprising - it was leading up to All Fall Down again on Watch, one of, if not the most iconic storyline in The Bill's history. You would think viewers would want to see that again, or maybe they are also Drama viewers and saw it too recently and there are people who watch both Drama and Watch pace and prefer watching two separate eras at the same time.

I just watched Wednesday and Billy the Kid. I quite liked the storyline in Wednesday and the focus being on Danny Glaze. Billy the Kid was a bit of a dull episode though.

Just remembered that Huw Higginson (George Garfield) used to advertise garden fertiliser!

And of course DC Kerry Holmes (Joy Brook) in that Maltesers advert.

Set in the French Revolution wasn't it?

That's right! And not forgetting Billy Murray (dodgy DS Don Beech) done the InjuryLawyers4U ads for ages.


You're right ... Crunchy Nut with Chocolate Curls - French Revolutionary Chocolatier

Sorry to those who already knew but I just discovered that series of The Bill not released in the UK (1990 onwards) but previously available to order from Australia can now be bought on Amazon UK imported from Australia with duty already paid and free delivery (if required). They work out around £40 for each half-year set and very good value from 1993 when there were 3 episodes per week. If ordering check Multiregion and "order fulfilled by Amazon". Pay no attention to the number of episodes stated in the blurb which appears to be generic and therefore inaccurate in some cases; look instead at the number of discs - 8 for around 50 episodes and 12 for around 75.
Last edited by Ken Tun : 28-07-2014 at 08:51

What were the Watch viewers thinking, it was probably feedback from people who aren't even fans of the show. Any real fan would have preferred the 99/2000 episodes. I like the 2002/2003 but some of the storylines get a bit laughable. I'm still angry with ITV for removing it, one of the most iconic shows on British TV, truth is they didn't want to spend the money on it anymore.

I understand the disappointment but there is surely a point relevant to 'any real fan' that the episodes skipped went out less than 6 months ago. I'd still like to know why there is an apparent aversion to showing any of the 30-minute episodes

Excellent episode today - good to see lots of Conway. Some of his lines were brilliant - 'I think you're a poisonous hypocrite who probably hasn't had sex for a long time'. In a sense this was maybe Conway's last big episode, perhaps aside from the Quinnan leaving storyline.

I think the quality of the Drama episodes recently has been very high.

I thought they would end up on one of the ITV channels surprised they have never showed them on there there quite easy to get hold of if you want them now though

BIB , i really like Conway


What is wrong with Stamp,,, its been a year and he still doesnt forgive Jim Carver for being an alcoholic

I've brought the whole of 1998, 1999, 2000 on DVD, they are awesome, love these episodes

I can't stand Stamp one of the worst, most annoying character in the show's history. I was pleased when he was eventually written out. Such a judgemental, close minded character. The writers obviously didn't want to make him very likeable.

Tony's a bit of a weird one. I always think he was very well-acted. I'd say he was often likeable - he had a good sense of humour and seemed to get on with most of the relief. But every so often he certainly had a grudge, often without any real justification! I suppose you could say Boyden was similar though. I generally liked him and I don't think he was a viscous character but there were certainly plenty he had issues with.

I actually thought Stamp become rather less cynical in his last few years and actually the character overall wasn't as good.