Storylines/Production[]
2002 was a huge year of change in The Bill. Executive Producer Richard Handford left the show at the start of the year, handing over the reigns temporarily to Chris Parr, who produced Dave Quinnan's leaving episodes. Then in February, Paul Marquess became the new Executive Producer, making monumental changes to the show and cast.
The year began with the murder of Special Constable Terry Knowles at the hands of a deranged motorist (Loaded); Taviner and Klein went undercover and successfully tracked down Knowles' killer (Do Not Pass Go); and new PC Cathy Bradford went in with guns blazing after graves were desecrated, but soon found herself locking horns with a furious PC Quinnan (Set in Stone). Quinnan, Page, Stamp, Hollis and Carver all went undercover in a hotel to expose a ring of illegal immigrant smugglers; Quinnan and Page resumed their relationship during this time, as they were posing as husband and wife; Quinnan even proposed to Page, but she turned down the offer. Feeling dejected, and wanting to make a new start, Quinnan left Sun Hill to join SO10. Then, the big changes came...
With the arrival of Paul Marquess (from Brookside) in February 2002, the show became a serial, abandoning stand-alone episodes and episode titles, more in the style of a soap opera narrative. "I arrived with a clear brief" he explained, "to turn The Bill into a serial. They'd have serial elements, but they were mixed with stand-alone episodes. So you'd watch the story of Page and Quinnan's affair for six hours then that six-parter would finish and the next time you saw them in a scene together, there'd be no eye contact, no acknowledgement they'd ever had an affair." Marquess also perceives his job as having to fundamentally change The Bill's audience demographic (currently white men over 50). His solution to the problem of making The Bill look exciting without becoming too incredible is to accelerate the narrative, such that audiences are not asked to dwell on any particular investigation for too long.
With the introduction of the new EP, several characters were axed. Derek Conway lost his life when a petrol bomb was thrown in his panda car (# 005). This was in part retaliation from a white supremacist who was beaten up by DS Singh, when racist jibes got too much for him. Singh's part was discovered by DCs Webb and Spears, and he was subsequently suspended, but rather than face up to his actions, he resigned with immediate effect (# 006).
The race wars didn't stop there though. On 18 April 2002, 8.6 million viewers (approximately 2.5 million up on average) tuned in as six Sun Hill officers were wiped out in a petrol bomb attack on Sun Hill. Insp. Andrew Monroe, PC Ben Hayward, PC Di Worrell and DC Paul Riley died instantly in the blast (# 008); DC Kate Spears and PC Sam Harker died later in hospital (# 009, #011). The explosion was in part due to the actions of PC Des Taviner, who threw a petrol bomb into Monroe's office to destroy counterfeit money he had donated to Conway's memorial fund. Taviner however didn't realise that two gas canisters were being stored in the office. Amidst this, PC Page took a drugs overdose due to her severe depression. She recovered in hospital and then went on extended sick leave (# 011).
A memorial service was held for those officers killed in the blast, new DC Eva Sharpe turned up for duty, and Chandler and McAllister showed no remorse for the victims of the fire when they had a romantic encounter in the toilets after the service (# 012). MIT arrived at the station to begin an investigation and accusations of an 'inside job' began to circle (# 013); Klein and Rickman took class-A drugs to cope with the loss of their colleagues, as Taviner and Glaze continued their investigation into the prime suspect of insighting the attack on Sun Hill, Jeff Simpson (# 015). Tony Stamp organised a football match between officers at Sun Hill and young offenders (# 019); and new probationer Gary Best arrived at the station (# 020). DC Ken Drummond and Insp. Gina Gold each made their own unique entrance at Sun Hill (# 021), Gold immediately winding up Sgt. Ackland with her brusque manner. Sun Hill's brand new Community Safety Unit (CSU) opened, run by Sgt. Ackland, and PC Luke Ashton returned to the station after traveling around the world for a couple of years (# 022). Carver admitted his feelings to long-term colleague Ackland (# 026); and Stamp was accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy (# 027).
The brand new CID was opened (# 031); and on her first day behind Sun Hill's reception, Front Desk Officer Robbie Cryer, baffled the other officers with her eerie familiarity (# 033). The officers of Sun Hill were tasked with protecting a lab specialising in foetal research from irate protesters (# 034); and DI Cullen left Sun Hill, transferring to MIT (# 036). On the day of Jeff Simpson's trial for the Sun Hill fire, Hollis was taken hostage, whilst the simmering attraction between Gilmore and Ashton became too much, and the two passionately embraced at the end of the shift (# 037). This episode marked the first time The Bill courted major controversy, as over 300 people complained about a homosexual kiss before the watershed.
DS Sam Nixon arrived at the station, almost immediately promoted into the role of Acting-DI (# 038); Stamp and Hollis investigated a local almshouse where strange happenings had been going on in the night (# 040); and DS Phil Hunter set himself up as security in a club he suspected was being used to traffic drugs. PC Kerry Young found herself in grave danger after a routine house call turned into a terrifying hostage situation (# 043); Webb was forcibly transferred to Barton Street, when Chandler discovered he was digging around for dirt in his past (# 044); but Chandler was later arrested and accused of raping Anne Merrick, an ex-girlfriend from Hendon - McAllister saved him by pretending to be his alibi. (# 045, # 046). Also that year, MIT descended on Sun Hill when it became apparent that a serial killer was on the loose (# 047); Lennox was part of the squad, having transferred there a couple of months previously. Webb discovered McAllister was carrying Chandler's baby (# 048); and Young's ex-fiancée was arrested on suspicion of being the Sun Hill serial killer (# 051). Chandler and McAllister were married in a rush ceremony (# 052), but after raping his new wife and CIB being called in to investigate another rape allegation, Chandler shot himself head (# 053).
McAllister went into premature labour and gave birth to her baby, as new PC Gemma Osbourne arrived at the station (# 054). Ashton and Young got engaged (# 057); two rival crews were locked in a power struggle on the Bronte Estate, with new Superintendent Adam Okaro arriving to settle the dispute (# 060). Nixon's daughter ran away from home, raising fears that she could be the serial killer's next victim (# 063); and Ackland launched an undercover operation in a bar with recovering alcoholic Jim Carver at the helm (# 067). Sun Hill hosted 'Cop Idol', the Christmas party, and Rickman was abducted by the serial killer, her colleagues completely oblivious to her situation (# 069).
At the end of the year, Cass' body was found washed up on the Thames (# 071); Simon Kitson, local journalist and boyfriend of Cass, became the prime suspect, later committing suicide when all evidence was against his favour (# 072). Bradford assumed the worst when she was stabbed in the arm by a hypodermic needle and Sun Hill launched an undercover operation in a department store (# 074).
Series 18 saw the introduction of the "serial" format, and the abolition of individual story titles.
Episode Count[]
| Ranking | Character | Played by | Number of Episodes | Running total | Previous year's ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sgt Craig Gilmore | Hywel Simons | 65 | ||
| 2 | PC Cass Rickman | Suzanne Maddock | 62 | ||
| 3 | DCI Jack Meadows | Simon Rouse | 59 | ||
| 4 | PC Tony Stamp | Graham Cole | 59 | ||
| 5 | Supt Tom Chandler | Steven Hartley | 57 | ||
| 6 | DC Mickey Webb | Chris Simmons | 57 | ||
| 7 | PC Reg Hollis | Jeff Stewart | 56 | ||
| 8 | DS Debbie McAllister | Natalie Roles | 56 | ||
| 9 | PC Nick Klein | Rene Zagger | 52 | ||
| 10 | PC Des Taviner | Paul Usher | 51 | ||
| 11 | PC Jim Carver | Mark Wingett | 50 | ||
| 12 | Sgt June Ackland | Trudie Goodwin | 48 | ||
| 13 | PC Luke Ashton | Scott Neal | 42 | ||
| 14 | PC Gary Best | Ciaran Griffiths | 42 | ||
| 15 | DC Danny Glaze | Karl Collins | 42 | ||
| 16 | DC Duncan Lennox | George Rossi | 42 | ||
| 17 | Insp Gina Gold | Roberta Taylor | 41 | ||
| 18 | PC Kerry Young | Beth Cordingly | 41 | ||
| 19 | DC Eva Sharpe | Diane Parish | 40 | ||
| 20 | PC Cathy Bradford | Connie Hyde | 37 | ||
| 21 | Sgt Matthew Boyden | Tony O'Callaghan | 36 | ||
| 22 | FDO Roberta Cryer | Moya Brady | 36 | ||
| 23 | DS Phil Hunter | Scott Maslen | 29 | ||
| 24 | DI Alex Cullen | Ged Simmons | 27 | ||
| 25 | DC Ken Drummond | Russell Floyd | 24 | ||
| 26 | TDC Brandon Kane | Pal Aron | 24 | ||
| 27 | DS/Acting DI Samantha Nixon | Lisa Maxwell | 23 | ||
| 28 | PC Gemma Osbourne | Jane Danson | 15 | ||
| 29 | PC Polly Page | Lisa Geoghan | 14 | ||
| 30 | Supt Adam Okaro | Cyril Nri | 13 | ||
| 31 | Ch Insp Derek Conway | Ben Roberts | 12 | ||
| 32 | PC Sam Harker | Matthew Crompton | 12 | ||
| 33 | PC Dave Quinnan | Andrew Paul | 10 | ||
| 34 | DC Kate Spears | Tania Emery | 10 | ||
| 35 | PC Ben Hayward | Ben Peyton | 9 | ||
| 36 | DS Vik Singh | Raji James | 8 | ||
| 37 | PC Di Worrell | Jane Wall | 8 | ||
| 38 | PC Ruby Buxton | Nicola Alexis | 7 | ||
| 39 | Insp Andrew Monroe | Colin Tarrant | 7 | ||
| 40 | DC Paul Riley | Gary Grant | 6 | ||
| 41 | Special Constable Steve Knowles | Alex Avery | 1 |
|
| Preceded by: 2001 Episodes (Series 17) |
2002 Episodes (Series 18) (Episode Chronology) |
Succeeded by: 2003 Episodes (Series 19) |