It’s been more than 15 year since the final steps were walked on the beat, but fans of The Bill would love to see the legendary show return after two stars got together
Steven Hartley and Mark Wingett sent fans on a nostalgia trip (Image: realstevenhartley/Instagram)
Fans were left calling for a reboot of The Bill after two legends of the show rolled back the years during a heatwave reunion.
Steven Hartley, who played Supt Tom Chandler in the long-running cop show, caught up with Mark Wingett, DC Jim Carver on the programme, as they discussed their times on the show. The actors, both now 65, beamed for a photo, which Steven later shared on Instagram.
“How nice to get a surprise visit from my old dressing-room mucker and great friend,” he captioned the photo. The popular drama was broadcast between 1984 and 2010 and clocked up 26 series following fictional tales of the Metropolitan Police in south London, operating out of Sun Hill Police Station.
The police drama ran for 27 years but was axed by ITV after a format change failed to revive the once-triumphant ratings. Having previously managed around six million viewers per episode, it slumped to just three million before finally being given the axe more than 15 years ago.
But fans are clearly in the mood for more and one told Steven: “They need to bring The Bill Back!” Another responded to the snap by saying: “Does this mean a Bill reunion?! Please!” A third chimed in, adding: “Oh I’d love it if The Bill returned.”
The award-winning show, the nation’s longest running police drama, started in 1984 and won it’s first Bafta in 2009 for best Continuing Drama. Some actors and staff were reportedly told whilst filming on set that the show was over.
It had struggled in the ratings since it was revamped and moved to a later 9pm slot in 2009 when it was also reduced from twice a week to just once.
Confirming the news at the time, Lorraine Heggessey, chief executive of makers talkbackTHAMES, said: “We are devastated that after 26 successful years on ITV, The Bill will be coming to an end. One of the show’s strengths has been its ability to evolve over the years as can be seen with the latest challenge of transforming itself into a 9pm primetime show.
“We are incredibly proud of what the show has achieved. It is a credit to everyone who has worked on The Bill that the series will be signing out on a creative and editorial high with both critical and industry-wide acclaim and a loyal fan base who have supported the show throughout.
“Regrettably, we anticipate that this may result in a significant number of redundancies. We are entering into a period of consultation with employees at The Bill where this will be discussed further.”
The Bill helped launch the career of some big names. Keira Knightley and Paul O’Grady both had minor parts in the 90s.
The show did reappear on our screens in a bid to ease boredom amid the nationwide lockdown in 2020, leaving fans calling for it to get a new series years after the police left the beat.
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