Bob Cryer

Bob Cryer was born in 1947. This makes him 37 years old when the series began, 54 when forcibly retired in 2001, 57 when he appeared in 2004 for the funeral of ex-DS Ted Roach and 71 in 2018 when he appeared (off-screen) to DCI Meadows' retirement party from the Met

He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1970 (he celebrates his 20 year service in the 1990 episode "One For The Road") at the age of 23, after going into the army which didn't agree with Cryer; he still harboured a great deal of angst about his time there whenever his path crossed with army soldiers during his police life; there was one thing which was, he had a very strong aversion to firearms which seemed weird to many people with Cryer being a fully licensed firearms officer, Bob felt uneasy with the handling of guns which was something which became worse when he shot somebody in a hostage situation who it turned out was unarmed at the time; although Bob was cleared of any responsibility to the death of the young person, he still continued to kick himself for it...

Married to wife Shirley whom he had two children, Bob was a very moral and upstanding officer who was very like the the Dixon of Dock Green of Sun Hill; in his time at Sun Hill, Sergeant Cryer wasnt afraid to speak his mind to his senior officers if they did something which Bob didnt agree with; especially with either Chief Inspector Conway or Ch, Superintendent Charles Brownlow who both saw Bob as a very firm hand at the wheel; he had a strong personal friend and working relationships with his fellow Sergeants Tom Penny, Alec Peters, June Ackland and Matt Boyden; however on occasion, Bob would disagree with them, but they never held a grudge towards him... he and Inspector Andrew Monroe didnt get on well at first, but throughout time, they both developed a strong working relationship the same which Bob saw as an experienced officer and strong thinking leader...

Sgt. Cryer was the father figure to the relief, whose advice and knowledge was always gratefully accepted by those under his command who asked for it; there were a couple of officers that he thought needed kicking into shape, one being PC Francis (Taffy) Edwards who was seen as a lazy and useless constable who just put his feet up and read the local newspaper on his lap all day behind the front desk of the station; however Edwards in turn saw Cryer as a dominating, bossy figure and a nosy old git; Bob was highly respected throughout Sun Hill; however he turned down all thoughts of promotion beyond the rank of Sergeant due to not having too much power at his fingertips and not giving orders to those he was working with; in other words, having worked with many officers who he in turn respected for their hard work, Bob couldn't bring himself to tell them what to do... Cryer had one rule, as Sergeant, he would ask a member(s) of his relief to do something and if they thought he was having a joke with them, he would then order them to do the job he asked of them...

When Bob went through a short stint as a plain clothes officer in CID, the experience further convinced him that he belonged in the uniform branch and at the sharp end of policing; during his time at the station, his up-to-date advice would come in very handy when CID desperately needed quick information; Cryer had a less friendly history with fellow Detective Sergeant later Detective Inspector Frank Burnside which was something which would cause a certain amount of conflict when Frank took the top job after Galloway's departure which Bob felt that Burnside was a bent copper due to him being convinced that he had slimed his way past a 1970s initiative which was designed to root out corrupt officers from the Met called Operation Countryman; later on, Bob had to eat a certain amount of humble pie when he discovered that Burnside had actually been a crucial operative of the Operation, whose play-acting had led to him adopting something of a reputation...

Cryer hit a bump a few years after when his son Patrick was involved in a traffic accident, he was the driver of a car that was found sunk in the canal; with the vehicle's occupants dead, Bob's relationship with his son was frosty from that point on and found it difficult to deal with similar dispirited youths in the execution of his duties however his approach to policing remained old-fashioned, but still got the job done; in 1995, Bob almost had a serious complaint entered into his tidy record when his firm-but-fair approach was interpreted by a Pakistani shopkeeper that the Sergeant was racist, but Cryer remained convinced that political correctness was getting in the way of the job and felt that by singling out different groups within the community for special treatment wasnt working and the larger issues were often being overlooked which he made clear to Brownlow and Conway who both agreed with him that correctness needed to be changed within the Met; as time wore on, Cryer's colleagues fell by the wayside. Penny retired after being found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and Peters was promoted to a largely desk-bound role after being stabbed in the stomach before he quietly retired from the force... Bob was pleased when DI Burnside moved on to pastures new and he became less tolerant of what he seen as the stupid mistakes of younger and less experienced officers which one of the examples were PC Nick Klein who he thought was far more interested in his sideline job as a DJ rather than having any real instincts for doing his job as a policeman; another was DC Mickey Webb who Bob took an instant dislike to for seeing the 25 year old as a layabout who didn't even have enough respect for the job to tuck in his shirt, let alone to go out and investigate crimes... Cryer found himself a lone voice and was told by his superiors that "times have changed", and "we can't expect today's officers to be overworked and no play"

Bob found it difficult to move with the times, an example when when June Ackland jokingly asked Cryer "Why have you never used a computer?" he commented "I'm perfectly happy with the quill and parchment, thanks" you very much"... after the departure of Ch. Superintendent Charles Brownlow, Bob was somewhat dismayed to be working with newly promoted fresh faced Superintendent Tom Chandler who he thought of as "The new broom at Sun Hill who started as he meant to go on, sweeping away anything that he felt was outmoded" who in turn thought of Bob as a "Tired" and "Old Schooled" officer; throughout the first weeks in his new position, Chandler's focus initially was on DCI Jack Meadows after the Don Beech Scandal; but the attempts to move him on proved fruitless which frustrated his new boss, so Tom began to turn on Bob instead; but Chandler found it harder to rattle his "Old Fashioned Sergeant" and soon enough told Chandler "If you want me to go... that's fine... but not without a fight!" because Bob knew what his new boss's intentions. he wanted him out; when he was questioned by Inspector Monroe about his close relationship to PC Smith, Cryer simply stated that he felt Smith was made of the right stuff, and that he "wanted to see a Sergeant Smith sitting in this office" which perhaps Bob saw a little of his younger self in Dale Smith, as the two had both shared an army background, and a no nonsense, non-PC approach was like his own; Chandler didnt waste any time and openly commented to others that he already had somebody lined up ready to take Cryer's place the moment he decided to take a back seat... the aversion to weapons would turn out to be ironic, given the fact that in a hostage situation which involved a depressed man at a school, Bob was accidentally shot by PC Dale Smith whom he gave a reference only weeks previously and openly supported his application to join SO19 and encouraged the younger officer to broaden his horizions; however Chandler was delighted which the incident had come at just the right time to have Bob take retirement from the Met..

It was June Ackland who told Bob at the hospital after having surgery to remove the bullet from his leg that he was being replaced by newly promoted Sergeant Craig Gilmore; back at Sun Hill, June told Chandler, Monroe and Boyden that Bob was in shock at the announcement; however when Chandler told Ackland that he would go to the hospital to see Cryer, June politely told him "I'd think that'd show a sign of respect to all the years that Bob served at Sun Hill over the years"... throughout the following weeks, many Sun Hill officers spoke of Smithy like he should be put infront of a disciplinary board for what he did; but Bob held no malice for Smithy and invited him to his retirement party as a special guest; it was there that Bob told everyone who attended (being the entire Sun Hill relief including Chandler) that Smithy had given him the courage to do something which he couldn't do himself which was to finally say that enough was enough he'd completed his work and now it was time to relax; what really got up Bob's nose was Chandler's speech he gave at the party which Cryer confronted the Superintendent before he joined the others and explained "It was a very nice speech Sir... but you dont mean it...and you know it... you've only been here five minutes, maybe when you've been here a couple of years, people will sit up and listen"...

Two years later, Dale returned as a Sergeant to replace the deceased Matt Boyden in 2003 which was what he told Andrew Monroe years before; when Bob Cryer left Sun Hill, he was the longest serving Sergeant,with at least 17 years experience at Sun Hill from 1984 until 2001; following his retirement, Bob returned on several occasions for the funerals of colleagues (Derek Conway & the Sun Hill fire victims) and Matt Boyden in 2003, to help CID solve an abduction and to help his niece bring down Cathy Bradford, which proved unsuccessful...

Bob's final appearance was in 2004 when he along with ex-Sgt Alec Peters and DCI Jack Meadows attended the funeral service for ex-DS Ted Roach and along with them, he investigated the hit and run that killed him; however before Bob left the countryside, he told Jack that he had bought a motorcycle and planned to ride around Europe, he just hadn't got around to telling his wife yet; in 2014, he attended DCI Jack Meadow's retirement party (off-screen)

In December 2017, it was announced that actor Eric Richard has recorded a two-part interview for The Bill Podcast to be released in 2018. The first part can be heard HERE. Part Two can he heard HERE.

Service Record

Main article: Service Record

1984 - Working at Sun Hill police station as a Sergeant
1990 - Shoots dead a robber who it turns out is holding an unloaded weapon
1990 - Celebrated 20 years service in the Met
1991 - Briefly promoted to become a plain clothes Duty Sergeant
1992 - Returns to uniform duties, as Sergeant of his old relief
1995 - Complaint by a member of the public, who accuses Cryer of being racist
2001- Firearms Incident: The Shooting of Bob Cryer

Family and Relationships

Wife: Shirley Cryer
Son: Patrick Cryer
Son: David Cryer (though he was never mentioned during the time Bob was at Sun Hill)
Niece: Robbie Cryer
Nephew: Philip