The Bill

The Bill is a British police procedural television series that was broadcast on the ITV network from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. It revolves around the fictional incidents dealt with by the Metropolitan Police Service. The programme originated from a one-off drama, entitled Woodentop, which was broadcast in August 1983.

In its final year on air, The Bill was broadcast once a week, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays, in a one-hour format. The programme focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. The Bill was the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom until its cancellation, and was among the longest running of any British television series. The series was originally produced by Thames Television; later, after a company merger, this changed to Talkback Thames. The title of the programme originated from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police. This was also Geoff McQueen's original title idea for the series.

The Bill (series 17)

Series 17 of British television drama The Bill consisted of 92 episodes, broadcast between 5 January and 21 December 2001. As well as 85 regular episodes, the series also included a series of seven special episodes featuring former Detective Sergeant Don Beech, and the newly promoted Detective Inspector Claire Stanton, one of which was filmed in Australia, which concludes the Beech storyline, which began in Series 16. Although the idea of making the series into a serial drama did not fully take effect until April 2002, many of the stories in the latter half of the year were multi-part stories, some containing up to six episodes, such as the "Night Games" saga. The two-part episode "Lifelines" is the last two-parter to feature in the series until the return of episode titles in 2007. On 14 August 2013, The Bill Series 17 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 17 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released (in Australia).

Cast Changes

Arrivals

The Bill (series 21)

Series 21 of British television drama The Bill was broadcast from January 5 until December 29, 2005. The series consisted of 106 episodes, making it the series with the highest number of episodes in the show's final decade. This series saw the programme change hands as executive producer of three and a half years, Paul Marquess, stepped down to make way for new producer Jonathan Young. Subsequently, this resulted in the removal of much of the 'soap' feel which was introduced by Marquess, and the main focus turning towards the actual policing aspect of the programme. The majority of this series however remained serialised, with the transition back to single-hander episodes being phased in slowly, following into Series 22.

This series saw the highest number of cast changes in the latter series of the show, with a significant number of key characters axed following the conclusion of several long-running storylines. This series also saw the departure of the show's longest serving cast member at that point, DC Jim Carver (Mark Wingett), who had been with the show since its pilot episode in 1983. As a dedication, a special half-hour 'two-hander' episode was recorded, featuring Carver and Sgt. June Ackland (Trudie Goodwin), who also appeared with Wingett in the show's pilot in '83. This series also featured the final episode of The Bill: Uncovered, a series of special documentaries following the lives and events of particular characters or groups of characters. This particular special, however, was never broadcast in the United Kingdom and was subsequently only shown on terrestrial television in Australia.

Picking Up the Pieces

Picking Up the Pieces or Pickin' Up the Pieces may refer to:

Film and television

Music

See also

Picking Up the Pieces (Seventh Day Slumber album)

Picking Up the Pieces is the third studio album released by Christian rock band Seventh Day Slumber.

Track listing

References

Picking Up the Pieces (film)

Picking Up the Pieces is a 2000 black comedy film directed by Alfonso Arau and starring Woody Allen, David Schwimmer, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Kiefer Sutherland, Cheech Marin, and Sharon Stone.

Plot

Tex (Woody Allen), a butcher who kills his unfaithful wife Candy (Sharon Stone). After cutting up the body, Tex buries most of her body parts in the desert in New Mexico. A blind woman accidentally trips over Candy's hand, which has not been buried. Picking it up, her sight is restored, and she proclaims the hand to be the "Hand of the Virgin Mary." The hand then becomes the talk of the village and people flock there to heal themselves. This ranges from a crippled man growing new legs, a teenager being relieved of his acne and a midget having his manhood enlarged. Tex hears of these miracles, and attempts to retrieve the hand without being caught.

Cast