Storylines[]
At the start of the year, Quinnan discovered the human side of prostitution when posing as a brothel client (To Crack A Nut); Haines returned to Sun Hill to help Meadows track down a consignment of lethal heroin (Hot Stuff); and Johnson had a lot to answer for when Marshall was assaulted during an undercover operation (Hard Knocks). Quinnan was spat at by a prisoner with Hepatitis B leading to him having injections (New Management); DI Johnson left under a cloud (Done is Done); and Deakin's new role as Acting DI brought him into confrontation with Monroe (Getting Even).
New arrival DS Don Beech proved to be more than a match for Skase (Expert Witness); Bob Cryer's exemplary record was on the line when a professional police hater brought a complaint against him for swearing (Uncle Bob); and having been rejected for the post of Area Welfare Chief, Cato walked out of Sun Hill (Is that the Time?). Two new probationers - Keane and Slater - joined the station (New Moves); Hollis' green fingers caused havoc when he tried to introduce a station garden (Flora and Fauna); and Deakin and Greig were held hostage by a desperate villain (Alone).
A new Chief Inspector - Paul Stritch - arrived (Little Green Apples); Slater managed to get himself punched by an irate boyfriend (Learning Curve); and Hollis tackled canine kidnappers (Not Just For Christmas). Harris had to deal with a flirtatious informant (Swan Song); Boyden tried to turn a top class prostitute into an informant, completely unaware that she was an undercover DS! (In On The Game); and Deakin got his old rank back of Detective Inspector (Deeds of Mercy).
Keane faced her first undercover operation for CID (When Opportunity Knocks); Jarvis and Hollis picked up fleas from a tramp (Have a go Hero); Eric Richard (Sgt. Cryer) reached a milestone when he appeared in his 500th episode (In the Midnight Hour); Ackland was hospitalised after being assaulted by a young drug dealer (Looking After Your Own). Beech was caught with his pants down literally when Cryer and Keane found him ensconced with a prostitute (O.T.S.); Hollis and Jarvis witnessed a fight between two officers at a Section House party (See No Evil); and officers investigated a missing hell's angel, uncovering a lethal code of honour and brutality (Water Wings).
Garfield had the unenviable honour of taking Stritch out on the beat with him (Upstairs Downstairs); someone tried to frame McCann for robbery (Skin Deep); and Boyden received a letter from the Child Support Agency having been named as a father - much to his surprise! (Mother's Ruin). Carver worked undercover as a barman to expose an extortion racket and got a surprise when Beech arrived unexpectedly (Too Clever By Half); Conway's diving team found a corpse in a dock (Still Waters) - the diving scenes in this episode were supervised by avid diver Mark Wingett (who plays Jim Carver); and Cryer was taken hostage at gunpoint (Night Beat).
Stritch's new timekeeping tests landed Loxton with a murder charge (Response Time); a two part story saw the brief return of Jo Morgan (Knowing the Score and Some you Lose) and was followed by a three part story in which Ackland was the target of a hit man and Morgan met her death (Fire, All Tucked Up and Bait). These episodes proved to be the first significant departure from the rigid template McQueen had laid down some 11 years earlier. Crucially Ackland's emotional reaction to the threat formed the centrepiece of the drama and not the investigation itself. The decision to screen the story across multiple episodes ensured that events took on the pivotal status required to justify a shift in The Bill's emphasis. Undoubtedly the move proved a success, with the three-parter capturing some of The Bill's highest-ever viewing figures.
Neatly, the death of Jo Morgan at the story's conclusion provided a legitimate reason to introduce an ongoing thread into The Bill's previously self-contained episodic format. Damage Limitation (the episode that immediately followed) dealt, in part, with the aftershock of Morgan's death, and in so doing indicated to the viewer that from now on The Bill was to embrace the kind of long running character and plot developments previously avoided.
Beech was under pressure when an old friend of his was implicated in a violent murder (Strictly Personal); Quinnan found himself facing a complaint of sexual harrassment by a burglary victim (Allegations and Allegiances); and DS John Boulton made his debut (Saved). In a one hour special CID was in a race against time to find a girl locked in an airtight van (Deadline); there was a riot on the Meadowlands Estate (Photocall); and McCann got 96% in part one of his Sergeant exams (Love Me, Love My Dog). Sun Hill played a grudge football match against young offenders (Neutral Territory); and Carver's loyalties were tested when his ex-girlfriend became embroiled in a suspected drug attack (Journey Home).
Episodes[]
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| Preceded by: 1994 Episodes (Series 10) |
1995 Episodes (Series 11) (Episode Chronology) |
Succeeded by: 1996 Episodes (Series 12) |