History     1984

Though Geoff McQueen and Michael Chapman decided to retain the basic format established in Woodentop, they added new characters and made the decision to build a purpose-built 'police station' in a single-storey warehouse and office complex in Artichoke Hill, Wapping, in the East End of London. The new set up was cramped and thus the team had to improvise - Chief Superintendent Brownlow's office also doubled as Michael Chapman's office, and the canteen set was used both on and off-screen for cast and crew.

The first episode of The Bill was 'Funny Ol' Business - Cops and Robbers', broadcast on Tuesday 16th October 1984 at 9pm. The first scene showed Sergeant Alec Peters handing over the relief to Sergeant Bob Cryer (pictured).

The episode also introduced the world to Burnside, a hard-bitten 'bend the rules' type detective, who went on to become one of the series' favourite characters, leading him to get his own series, Burnside, in 2000. He was called Tommy in his brief appearances in 1984 and 1986, changed to Frank when he returned to Sun Hill in 1988.

The series saw bomb hoaxes in Sun Hill (A Friend in Need); PC Carver investigated a child-molester (Clutching at Straws); and bad-tempered Galloway's treatment of June Ackland (pictured) almost made her resign (It's Not Such a Bad Job After All). Also that year Galloway was obstructed by the Home Office (The Drugs Raid); and the theft of a briefcase led Sun Hill CID into the investigation of a pornography racket (Burning the Books). DS Ted Roach found himself looking down the barrel of a shotgun (Long Odds); and PC Litten, on a temporary secondment to CID, fell foul of a dodgy informant (A Dangerous Breed).

The first series of The Bill proved a success, not just because it represented a new style of police drama, but also because of timing. The early and mid 1980s saw the Police increasingly in the public eye, whether it be because of the violent inner-city riots or the capture of the Yorkshire Ripper, the controversy surrounding the passage of the reforming Police and Criminal Evidence Act (‘PACE’), or the IRA bombing of the Conservative Party Conference at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, which occurred four days before Funny Ol' Business was broadcast.