Charles Brownlow (The Bill)

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Charles Brownlow
Peter Ellis as Superintendent Charles Brownlow
First appearance	Funny Ol' Business - Cops and Robbers (16/10/1984)
Last appearance	All Fall Down (Part 1) (27/10/2000)
Cause/Reason	Resigned Due To Don Beech Scandal
Information
Occupation	Police Officer
Title	Chief Superintendent
Portrayed by	Peter Ellis

Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow, played by Peter Ellis, starred in The Bill for 16 years. He was Sun Hill's original Chief Superintendent.

Brownlow is considered the more passive of the bosses The Bill has had. He preferred to leave responsibility and most of the decisions in the hands of his fellow superior officers Chief Inspector Derek Conway and DCI Jack Meadows. He preferred spin over substance. One of his most noted empty gestures was when he decided to eat with the other officers to prove he was on the same level as them. This embarrassed most of the force but he refused to accept it had been a disaster.

He hid behind his long-suffering secretary, a regrettably endless string of appalling jokes and the regulations. He was heavily involved in the Masonic Lodge and presumably made it to the top via the Lodge and nepotism. This was a recurring theme in the series with Conway himself benefiting from membership of the Lodge.^[1]

For all his faults though Brownlow was a fundamentally decent man with a conscience and he earned a lot of sympathy when he felt obliged to resign from his post in the wake of the Don Beech Scandal. He has since made a cameo reappearance at the station funeral. He was succeeded by the corrupt Supt. Tom Chandler.