Sun Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sun Hill is a fictional London suburb which is the setting for British police television drama series The Bill. 'Sun Hill' is often used in the programme to refer to the Metropolitan Police Station at which the drama is based. Geoff McQueen, creator of The Bill, claimed that he named Sun Hill after a street name in his home town of Royston, Hertfordshire.
[edit] Location of Sun Hill suburb
The fictional Sun Hill suburb is located in the (similarly) fictional London borough of Canley in the East End, north of the River Thames. The Borough of Canley is approximately contiguous to the real-life London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and in the first few years of The Bill, Sun Hill police station was actually stated as being located in Wapping in Tower Hamlets. Sun Hill has a London E1 postcode, which corresponds to the real-life areas of Whitechapel and Stepney.
[edit] Location of Sun Hill Police Station
Despite the name change to a fictional London borough, and various inconsistencies in the jurisdiction of the Sun Hill police within the borough, the actual location of the Sun Hill police station has remained surprisingly consistent over the programme's 22 year run.
The series is currently filmed in a purpose-built studio in an industrial estate in Merton Park, actually in South West London. Prior to 1989, the set was located in a disused record company depot in Barlby Road, Ladbroke Grove (in North West London). The fictional location of the station, however, has remained as the original studio location for the first two years (1984-1985) of The Bill: on Pennington Street in Wapping. Filming of the third series of The Bill in 1986 was halted when a huge industrial dispute took place in the newly-opened News International printing plant. Such was the disruption in the area, and the antagonism of the strikers and protesters towards the police (even actors dressed as police), that the programme was forced to look elsewhere for a filming location.
Fictionally, the address on the front board of the station gives the address as: 2 Sun Hill Road, Sun Hill E1 4KM.
