I think we've had 3 really strong episodes in a row now, with today's being the strongest. Tomorrow's just can't be better! I've never seen it before though so I'm looking forward to it!

I like to see The Bill returning. I know one is currently on Gardening leave.

Today's episode was OK. Nice to see Geoff Daly involved but I thought the story was pretty weak, and spread way way too thin for an hour-long episode. Bit dull.

5/10.

I can't quite work out whether I liked today's episode or not! I loved the first scene with Kerry and the drug squad DS in Jack's office ('no not on my part - and it's Kerry) and there were some nice lines throughout. I also liked the two 'action' scenes at the park and the dog track. It definitely wasn't as good as the last three episodes though and the CID episodes we've seen so far have generally made me appreciate that The Bill's main selling point was its use of uniform; I think this CID was very strong but it's not quite the same when it's just them as often it just feels like a generic cop show.

I preferred this one more than The Cross so I'll say 6/10.

Watch it on Watch channel and its in my planner to see when I get a minute.

With fewer than 20 episodes (or 4 weeks) to go until the end of the series currently showing on WATCH, does anyone know what will happen then? Will they run into the next series that has been shown fairly recently, or will they jump back in time?

I don't see why they wouldn't carry on into the next series (i.e 2009) - indeed I'm pretty sure in the August listings I read there were 2009 episodes in there. They dropped ti 1 a week in the summer of 09 so I guess it shouldn't take too long to get through the episodes right up until the end - maybe 3 months or so. I'd have thought they'd go back a bit further next time though (if they keep having the show) - maybe back to the start of the PM era in 2002 or something. I know they were showin May 2005 episodes last June time (2012) so if it takes 18 months to go through the last 5 years of the show then they probably want to go back a bit further so they're not just repeating the same things over again. I'm happy to watch some again but if you have that feeling of 'I saw that one recently and know exactly what happens' it's not really the same!

I thought it was a pretty strong episode today. Interesting to see the differing approaches of Santini and Cryer - I think the scene with Santini, Cryer, Monroe and Deakin should have been the final one though with the nice exchange of 'Innocent until proven guilty eh Bob?'

7/10

Yeah enjoyed this episode and the contrast between Santini and Cryer, and strong story today. 7/10 for me as well.

Reasonably interesting episode today, espeically seeing the administration involved in keeping track of confidential data. I thought Libby Davison was very good in the scene where she was having a go at the CPS person.

Some nice lines too such as: Are we going to be closed down...we'll do our best...thank you Mr Deakin...he means to close you down!'

6.5/10

Good story today with Rawton. I agree with you - the administration side was interesting with the tapes. This is something that would have been glossed over were it a post-2002 episode so glad The Bill have been realistic to an extent.

Although, the story didn't really get going until after the first 15 or so minutes, but once it did, it was a strong episode.

6/10.

Has that guy who talked to Edna Dore been in anything else? Could of swore he looked familiar from somewhere else.

Any ideas if this episode is out on DVD?

Yep on the Series 14 DVD

Pretty interesting episode today, especially seeing some of the dynamics developing with Beech's corruption (and Boulton/Daly's position too) plus questions over Deakin's supervision - I wonder when the producers decided about how the storyline would actually unfold?

6/10.

Strong episode. Again, first 10 minutes were quite slow but after that, a great episode. Beech/Boulton dynamic was interesting to see, nice to see all of CID.

And yeah, they decided on the storyline around late 1997 when the new producer came in to revamp the show. In fact, we've already seen Beech's corruption develop in an early 1998 three-parter, "Good Faith", which is where the storyline began.

A bit behind with the Bill episodes as I'm recording them on series link, but I'm up to 'All For One' which I watched this evening. The episode where Santini tries to save the man in the car that's about to go in the river, and then he gets rid of the coke that was in his possession.

I thought this was an excellent episode and probably my favourite episode so far. I think Santini is a brilliant character, excellently played by Michael Higgs. I thought it was a good, tight little story which helped show the relief's distrust of Santini and the viewers are still left wondering if he's really a goodie or a baddie as well. Also liked the scenes with Brownlow and how he tried to use the situation to his advantage to give the station some good PR.

I've decided I just love all the episodes involving uniform. I haven't been keen on any of the CID episodes they've shown so far. The only character I really like from CID is Liz Rawton.

My stupid Sky+ HD failed to record today's episode. Will catch up on the midnight showing and give my thoughts on the episode.

Yes, there have been some problems with series link re The Bill on Drama. For example the 8 AM showing on Wednesday linked to next Monday!

I've had the same problems - I thought it might just be me... I always record the midnight showing, then when I wake up in the morning I check if it's recorded - if it hasn't then I record the 8am showing before I head out to work, then set up the series link again once I get home from work. I've had to do this twice now.

Watched today's episode just now. Thought it was very meh. Probably the worst of the current series.

The crime plot was just long-winded and dull, but loved seeing Duncan Lennox and Holmes/Quinnan was an interesting combination. But yeah, a pretty forgettable episode, that would have worked better as a half-hour edition.

5/10.

There seems to be a missing episode in the WATCH reruns of The Bill this week. It's probably "Walk On By" or just possibly "In Deep".

Watched today's episode on Drama. Really strong episode - enjoyed seeing Monroe at the forefront of the investigation. So many different facets to this episode - the missing girl, her father who was involved in dodgy business with the Chinese, the slightly bent DS from Stafford Row, the beaten-up girl, the brothel. Really interesting to watch.

The last scene between Monroe and Brownlow was great. Nice dig at Brownlow at the end. Probably the strongest self-contained crime story we've had so far.

8.5/10.

Tuesday's episode - another cracker with Lennox and Holmes investigating the assault on the nurse. Loved the side-story of uniform plus Jack Meadows and Lennox on a training course and the subtle dislike of the team towards Eddie, so the writers being consistent there. Engaging story. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 8.5/10.

Wednesday's episode - strong. Again, good story with the arson attack and Boulton's animosity towards the profiler. Could have easily lasted more than an hour. I see some improvement in the self-contained crime stories and the way they're being written compared to a couple of weeks ago. Not as good as Tuesday but still strong. 8/10.

Thursday's episode - an episode that utilised both uniform and CID, concerning the missing baby. Best episode of the week. Nice to see the profiler back with Boulton - they make a really good pair. We had the parallel narrative with Deakin and Boulton pursuing different lines of inquiry. Another great crime story. 9/10.

Haven't seen today's episode but looks like a cracker with Burnside back.

I think this has been a very strong bank of episodes this week.

Lots to catch-up on....

Thursday was my favourite of the past 7 (Ticking Clocks - with the missing child.) I was hooked throughout, liked the hectic feel to the opening moments and good to see a decent mix of characters. I really liked the interaction between John and Viv actually, more than I was expecting to. 8.5/10

I actually really liked The Fat Lady Sings - good to see Duncan joining (although I didn't find him so likeable to begin with!), Kerry Holmes had her best episode yet and many of the scenes with Quinnan were enjoyable. I also liked the structure to the whole thing with Deakin, Monroe and Conway being mentioned even though they weren't actually in the episode! 8/10

I thought Team play was an enjoyable enough episode, although a bit like with the riot training in Conviction in 2009 I thought it worked less well than it might have. It felt like the subplot of team training was slightly there just to obstruct Lennox's investigation, although there were still some nice interactions. I'd give that one 7.5/10

For Interest Only had some good scenes near the start and I liked Reg's lateral thinking but felt it dragged a bit in places. Strange Bedfellows (Friday's episode) had a few really nice character scenes and good lines. And the arson attack storyline was most notable for the various interactions between Boulton, Viv, Deakin and Meadows. All of these would get 7/10 for me.

I didn't actually like Monday's episode with Monroe and the abduction all that much (there seem to have been a lot of abductions last week!) It was nice to see more of Monroe and I liked his comment to Brownlow at the end but it didn't hook me especially. 6/10

Really looking forward to tomorrow's episode - nice to see uniform again after a predominantly CID based period and think it's a really strong episode.

Ah yes, forgot about the For Interest Only story. Decent story, but as you say, it did drag on. But decent. Another story that might have worked better as a tight half-hour episode. 6.5/10.