Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Back to Basics, 15 Oct 2006
For anyone who watches The Bill today in its current form as a glossy soap opera they may be surprised by its more humble beginnings. The original series takes us back to a time when the show was a lot grittier and almost entirely driven by a crime or police procedural narrative. The original show was post-watershed so be prepared for characters swearing a lot and also for glimpses of hard violence and nudity. The characters are rough around the edges, there's the mix of the youthful idealism of new probationer Jim Carver, the diligient by the book Bob Cryer, the lazy pig Dave Litten and the tempestous and permanantly angry Roy Galloway.
Made in the mid 80s it's also serves to highlight the complete contrast of policing today. Female officers wear skirts and carry handbags, Uniform plods don't wear stab vests and actually walk the beat on the street, CID Officers are old sweats with constant cigarettes, whisky and cups of tea at hand. Sun Hill police station is a poorly lit maze of corridors suggesting an old converted Victorian building like most old schools, and there's no bank of computers with instant information at hand.
The Bill was noted from being shown from the police perspective. This is not entirely true of the original series, though its true of the series is a whole, but here we do have scenes of crimes being commited before the police arrive. Several plot strands go through an episode there's a main crime story, a crime related subplot (Which may or may not eventually tie in with the main plot) and then various scenes of officers responding to or dealing with everything from domestic disputes to handbag snatches, which add a flavour to the overal feel of the show.
With it's straight fly on the wall style, one can almost call The Bill messy. This is far from a criticism, it adds to the whole flavour of the piece. There are scenes when several characters are having multiple conversations, or trying to hear the radio against noisy traffic, ringing phones, people banging at the desk.
The episodes are uniformly (no pun intended) of a high standard and it's the classic combo of strong scripts and compelling characters which keep you watching. We're introduced to Sun Hill through the eyes of PC Jim Carver, a probationer who's just started at his first posting. He represents the enthusiam of the job, of being part of a community, contrasted with the jaded, seen it all attitudes of some of the older characters. The ensemble cast are good and work well together and all stand out in their different way, it's only PC Robin Frank who is barely fleshed out. The stand out character is DI Roy Galloway, the cigar smoking hardened detective. He is utterly watchable more so because he's unpredictable. He's smiling one moment, exploding with righteous anger the next. It's the momentary glimpses beneath the tough outer shell which delight, when he suggests two officers by a picnic hamper for an old lady, or when he has to face two parents whose daughter has commited suicide. There are lots of nice little touches with the other characters which let us get to know them instantly, from Sgt. Tom Penny, convinced that CID have stolen his ruler to the cheeky charm of PC 'Taffy' Edwards.
For anyone who's watched The Bill over the years this is the perfect opportunity to see Carver, Ackland, Cryer, Hollis and Burnside in their first appearances. There's even a blink and you miss it glimpse of PC Tony Stamp, a solid backbone of todays show.
Stand out episodes include Its Not Such A Bad Job After All and Burning the Books, the weakest is perhaps Rough in the Afternoon.
The Bill is a must by for fans of the show and for anyone who enjoys a good police drama. For dvd fans however this boxset is a massive let down.
The only extra so to speak is the inclusion of the pilot Woodentop. This was originally a one off drama from which The Bill was eventually commissioned. It's quite slow paced but the basic ingredients from which evolved The Bill, is there.
The box itself it rather frustrating with overlapping dics meaning you often have to take two out just to be able to get the disc you want. And perhaps its churlish to criticse the cover, but I'm surprised at the absence of Sgt. Bob Cryer, one of the longest serving characters and practically synonymous with the identity of the show.
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38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Old Bill is the best, 22 April 2005
The Bill. One of the longest running television shows in the world. The bill began as an hour long television play called Woodentop (which I believe is on this DVD) Today it has been running for 22 years. While it may not be all that good anymore This DVD takes us back to the begining. Series 1, televised between 1984 and 1985 gives a fly on the wall look at modern day policing in a fictional East End London Nick, Sun Hill. The series stars Eric Richard as Sgt Bob Cryer, John Salthouse as DI Roy Galloway, Mark Wingett as PC Jim Carver, Trudie Goodwin as WPC June Ackland, Colin Bleumenau as PC Francis "Taffy" Edwards, Gary Olsen as PC Dave Litten, Tony Scannell as DS Ted Roach, Joh Iles as DC Mike Dashwood, Robert Hudson as PC Tony "Yorkie Smith, Ashley Gunstock as PC Robin Frank, Peter Ellis as Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow, Nulla Conwell as WPC Viv Martella, Roger Leach as Sgt Tom Penny and Alec Dann as Sgt Alec Peters The first series of The Bill is one of the best cop shows ever made. it may have had a low budget and the camera work may be shakey but the stories are second to none and the actors all put 110% into it. Highlights of Series 1 include Funny Ol Business Cops and robbers which features the First appearence of DS (later DI) Burnside, The Drug Raid which features an uncredited background appearence of Graham Cole as PC Tony Stamp a couple of years before he joined the cast proper. While all episodes are classics my personal favorites include The Drug raid and Burning the Books. here's hope the excellent series 2 and 3 are on their way. This DVD set is unmissable for any fan of the Bill or television in general. Groundbreaking and orignal
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Police Drama, 12 Jun 2005
When The Bill was first devised by the late writer Geoff McQueen, he elected to develop a programme which showed the reality of Policing in the 1980's. As with the early 1980's drama, Juliet Bravo, McQueen wanted to show Police investigating and dealing with everyday problems, as opposed to the more far fetched action packed storylines associated with Thames other Police Drama, Dempsey and Makepeace. To do this he came up with the groundbreaking idea of only showing events from the Police Officers perspective, so for example we would not see criminals planning a robbery, unless a Police Officer was present undercover. Further realism was added by using handheld cameras, to give the series a documentary feel, an idea later adopted for the mid 1990's drama, This Life.
20 years on, although the fashions, hairstyles and cars look dated, as with The Sweeney the episodes are all very enjoyable, and this does not distract from the quality of the episodes on offer. The pilot episode is not as good as the rest of the series, but as several characters were recast and even changed accents in some instances, it can not be regarded as part of the official series, but rather a separate alternative entirety
It's also a chance to meet up again with old favourites such as Bob Cryer, Jim Carver, Ted Roach, Frank Burnside and Roy Galloway. It's such a shame that this programme was allowed to evolve from the early years into the tired sensationalist driven drama of today.
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