Matthew Boyden

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Matthew Boyden
Tony O'Callaghan as Sergeant Matthew Boyden
First appearance	Balls In The Air (07/11/1991)
Last appearance	Episode # 111 (01/05/2003)
Cause/Reason	Murdered
Information
Occupation	Police Officer
Title	Sergeant
Portrayed by	Tony O'Callaghan

Sergeant Matthew Boyden was a character in the long-running ITV drama The Bill. He was in the show for 12 years. He was played by Tony O'Callaghan.

Boyden was an extremely disciplined, charismatic and competent officer, known for his dry London wit, who was elevated to the position of Sergeant at the age of 30; however his womanising ways prevented him from advancing any further through the ranks, although he was for a period promoted to Acting Inspector after the Sun Hill Fire. Boyden initially arrived at Sun Hill after an indiscretion with a WPC. Despite nearly losing his job his extramarital affairs continued ultimately costing him his marriage whilst his daughter Amy became increasingly estranged from him and he saw even less of his growing grandchild Sophie.

Towards the end of his stint in the show Boyden was at the centre of one of the most controversial storylines in the show when he inadvertently committed paedophilia after sleeping with Acting DI Samantha Nixon's daughter who (unbeknown to him) was only 15 years old. A few years earlier he had a similar infraction with a girl of the same age, who later committed suicide. He also developed a previously unknown homophobic streak, struggling to work comfortably alongside Sgt. Craig Gilmore.

Tragically he was murdered by his own daughter. Anxious to fund her drug addiction Amy Boyden ordered her boyfriend to shoot her father so she could profit from his insurance money. Boyden died in drive-by shooting incident.

Preceded by Joseph Corrie

Sun Hill Sergeant 1991-2003

Succeeded by Dale Smith