June Ackland | Service Record |
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June Ackland was a character in The Bill from 1983 until 2007.
The saintly June Ackland was married to Sun Hill for longer than she'd care to remember. Apart from a brief fling with DCI Gordon Wray, she was a paragon of virtue until getting together with Jim Carver in a meeting of lonely souls, a relationship that ultimately turned sour. June had great instinctive perception and sympathy. She could communicate easily with people from all walks of life, had a natural authority and was respected by her colleagues and superiors alike. She may have lost some of her early idealism, and may have been made a little sardonic by the gritty realities of a policewoman's life and working in a force which is not famously unchauvinist. But she still gave 110 per cent to the job, worrying away at details some coppers might forget, determined that if criminals got fair treatment so must the victims.
There was a kind of sadness, a resignation about June Ackland. It came partly from the feeling that, however hard she worked, she was never going to solve the problems of mankind, or even of her tiny Sun Hill patch of it. Always very involved in her work, June took a long while to get over her father's death. He was a teacher, and they were very close. She looked after him as an invalid, and when he died in hospital there was some sense of release for her. But she rarely felt guilty about that. The real problem for June was that her standards were too high for her own good. She never really took the time to think about her own needs and abilities, and seemed to underestimate herself. June always managed to keep her cool while all around were losing theirs, however. She had a lot of charm and the relief came to rely on her good nature. And if there was an inner core of loneliness, she took care to keep it hidden.
June was a team player who believed in the solidarity of the group, a common enough attitude amongst the force, but she brought an intensity to her work that was almost unique. You had to wonder what kept her so dedicated after all these years - was it ambition, personal demons or a commitment to a job she considered honourable? More popular with her colleagues than she probably thought, June's promotion to sergeant was richly deserved. After a stint as head of Sun Hill's Community Safety Unit, she returned back to Uniform.
Since her off-on relationship with Jim came to an abrupt end, June felt increasingly vulnerable. She briefly found strength through her relationship with Gabriel Kent, but following the discovery of his true identity and the betrayal she felt, June toughened up. She was no longer soft and cuddly 'Auntie June' who took on everyone else's problems. She was less open, more sardonic and defensive, particularly when she had to return to the station from retirement to pay off the debts accrued by ex-husband DC Jim Carver. This was a new tough June, ready to pack her punches. She mellowed slightly upon meeting headteacher Rod Jessop though, whom she ultimately decided to retire with after 23 years at Sun Hill. She tied second with Matt Boyden as the longest serving Sergeant at Sun Hill, with both being Sergeants for 11 years, with Bob Cryer serving Sergeant the longest, with 17 years.
In 2017, actress Trudie Goodwin shared her memories of working on The Bill in a two-part edition of The Bill Podcast the first part focusing on her early life and career, being cast in Woodentop and sharing anecdotes about the making of Series 1-4. In Part Two, Trudie shares her memories of the Sergeant Ackland years, car chases, handbags, pregnancy, colleagues no longer with us, the Gabriel Kent saga and moving on from "The Bill".
Service Record[]
- Main article: Service Record
- 1983 - Sun Hill
- 1993 - Seconded to Operation Bumble Bee
- 1996 - Acting Sergeant after Ray Steele resigns
- 1996 - Promotion: Sergeant
- 2002 - Head of Community Safety Unit
- 2003 - Internal Transfer: Uniform
- 2004 - Ran over by Tony Stamp
- 2007 - Retired
Family[]
- Gabriel Kent (son, birth name: Robert Ackland)
Relationships[]
- Briefly involved with PC Dave Litten (1985)
- Had an affair with D.C.I. Gordon Wray (1990)
- Brief relationship with Jim Carver
- Brief relationship with Gabriel Kent (Real Name David Kent)
- Married Jim Carver (2004)
- Separted from Jim Carver
- Brief fling with PC Roger Valentine
- Divorced from Jim Carver
- Now married to Rod Jessop
Major Storylines[]
1987: The Death of June's Dad[]
Sun Hill Karma, Skipper, Overnight Stay
June's dad died in 1987 after being ill in hospital. The news of his death badly affected June, causing her to get drunk while on an undercover operation at a hotel. Sgt. Penny and Sgt. Cryer had to hide her in a sauna until she sobered up to prevent her from affecting the operation.
1995 Target[]
A collection of episodes (Fire, All Tucked Up, Bait) named 'target' for VHS video release which showed June being the victim from someone trying to kill her. The mother and friend of a con June had put away some years earlier conspired to kill June a number of times. These episodes saw the return and murder of DS Jo Morgan.
Preceded by: Unknown |
Sun Hill PC 1983-1996 |
Succeeded by: None |
Preceded by: Sergeant Ray Steele |
Sun Hill Sergeant 1996-2007 |
Succeeded by: Sergeant Callum Stone |
Preceded by: None |
Sun Hill CSU Sergeant 2002-2003 |
Succeeded by: DS Ramani De Costa |