The Bill (series 14)

The 14th series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 121 episodes.

Background

In 1998, with the appointment of new executive producer Richard Handford, discussions were made with broadcaster ITV to return to the format of hour-long episodes, which the show last used on a regular basis in 1987. As such, beginning in August 1998, the show returned to a twice-weekly hour-long format, which it retained for many years until the decision to move the show to a later time-slot came in 2009.

It is notable that the first few episodes broadcast in the hour-long format were originally written for the half hour time-slot, and thus, some episodes contain two completely different stories, written by different writers, which jump from one to another. For example, the opening episode, "Deep End", was initially written in three twenty-five minute parts, with a fourth epilogue episode, the first half of "The Party's Over", all conceived by Elizabeth Anne-Wheal. A separate story by Neil Clarke, initially envisaged as an entirely separate episode, was broadcast as the second half of "The Party's Over".

The new format also attempted to introduce a more serialized element to the programme, with the first two stories taking place over multiple episodes, however following these two serials, individual stand-alone episodes were retained. The attempt to serialize the programme wasn't made again until June 1999, which saw another four-part serial again featuring PC Eddie Santini and WPC Rosie Fox, however, once again, individual episodes were retained. The series finally made a successful crossover into the serialized format in October 2000, with a major eight-part story, which saw the collapse of CID and the end of DS Don Beech.

This series saw a small number of changes to the cast. CID saw the loss of three-long serving officers, DS Alistair Greig and DCs Suzi Croft and Tosh Lines. Actor Kevin Lloyd was sensationally sacked from the show for alcoholism, and died just days after his last episode was aired. Croft and Lines were subsequently replaced by DCs Kerry Holmes and Duncan Lennox late in the year. The series also saw the return of DCI Frank Burnside, who had last appeared in 1993.

Cast changes

Episodes