Discover how the first 48 half-hour episodes of "The Bill" were brought to life, through a series of exclusive interviews with 60 cast and crew, including some of the programme's most legendary actors, prolific writers and visionary creatives. Each in-depth chapter features detailed Observation Notes, revealing filming locations, production dates, viewing figures, character notes, unmade storylines and much more.
"The book is great! I honestly massively admire the amount of painstaking research and care that has gone into compiling it. Fantastic!" - Trudie Goodwin (WPC June Ackland)
Featuring interviews with fan favourites Trudie Goodwin (June Ackland), Peter Ellis (Charles Brownlow), Chris Ellison (Frank Burnside), Mark Wingett (Jim Carver), Eric Richard (Bob Cryer), Jon Iles (Mike Dashwood), Colin Blumenau (Taffy Edwards), Ashley Gunstock (Robin Frank), Barbara Thorn (Christine Frazer), Eamonn Walker (Malcolm Haynes), Nula Conwell (Viv Martella), Mark Powley (Ken Melvin), Larry Dan (Alec Peters), Nick Reding (Pete Ramsey), Robert Hudson (Yorkie Smith) and Graham Cole OBE (Tony Stamp), plus memories from dozens of the production team, including writers, directors, camera operators, sound, design, stage managers, floor managers, production managers, production assistants, script editors and more, each revealing how they broke into television and sharing their memories of working on the series. Opening with a special introduction by executive producer Peter Cregeen, Oliver Crocker's second unofficial guidebook is the most thorough investigation ever undertaken of how the bi-weekly format of "The Bill" was created.
"Truly astonishing research! Fans will love every tiny detail!" - Jon Iles (DC Mike Dashwood).
Autorentext
Oliver Crocker is the author of three published TV tie-in guidebooks, including the bestselling All Memories Great & Small endorsed by the James Herriot estate and featuring memories from 75 cast and crew who worked on the classic BBC series. Oliver has also interviewed hundreds of cast and crew for two Witness Statements guidebooks and The Bill Podcast played over 450,000 times in 50 countries worldwide. As a ghostwriter, Oliver collaborated with actor Larry Dann on his acclaimed memoir Oh, What A Lovely Memoir and in 2025 he completed a 96,000 true crime memoir. He lives near Cambridge with his wife Tessa and their cat Fawkes.