Where is the original cast of The Bill now – soap role, addiction battle, tragic death and unrecognisable transformation
IT was the longest running cop drama, with 27 years of arresting storylines before the station doors slammed shut for the final time in 2010.
But The Bill is set to return for a second reboot, with UKTV developing a new version which could air as early as next year.
A TV insider said: “In the minds of many producers and execs, The Bill is a drama which is just sitting, waiting, to be rebooted.
"It’s a simple format but one which attracted a loyal army of followers who would be delighted to see it return. No doubt any new incarnation would be tweaked to make it attract a whole new generation to the show.”
Three actors looking at reviving are Mark Wingett, who played DC Jim Carver; Trudie Goodwin, know to viewers as Sgt June Ackland, and Graham Cole, whose character was PC Tony Stamp.
So what have the Sun Hill bobbies been up to since? Here we look at the cast’s lives after The Bill - from a tragic death through drinking to Strictly fame.
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Jeff Stewart - PC Reg Hollis
One of the most popular characters in the show, clean cut cop Reg was a Sun Hill fixture from 1984.
But viewers were shocked when Jeff was sacked from the show in 2008 - and he was so distraught he attempted to take his own life in the dressing room, minutes after being told the news.
Speaking to The Sun in 2011, he explained that he had been pushed to his limit by the surprise decision after a spate of personal problems.
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"When producers said the character was going, it was the straw that broke the camel's back," he told The Sun. "I just remember going to the dressing room and time seemed to go very quickly.
"It's very sobering. What I hadn't had time to do was to process what I had been told.”
After the suicide attempt, Jeff, now 66, says he made a choice to use the axing as an opportunity to pursue new projects.
He went on to win critical acclaim for his role in 2011 movie Under Jakob's Ladder.
Last year Jeff looked unrecognisable when he was snapped with unruly grey locks and stubble in London.
Trudie Goodwin - WPC June Ackland
Trudie, 70, was one of the longest-serving cast members, playing June Ackland for 24 years from the series' first episode, in 1983.
After leaving The Bill, she played Georgia Sharma in Emmerdale for four years from 2011 until 2015.
In a podcast she said she was shocked when The Bill was axed, blaming it on the producers who “messed about” with it unnecessarily.
She is thought to be in talks to return for the new series.
The actress has two daughters with husband Kit Jackson. The youngest, 34-year-old Elly Jackson, is lead singer of the Grammy award winning pop dup Le Roux.
Kevin Lloyd - DC Tosh Lines
The son of a policeman killed in the line of duty, Kevin Lloyd's life was marred by tragedy and alcoholism.
The dad-of-seven, who lost youngest daughter Chloe to meningitis when she was 17 months, played DC Tosh Lines for 10 years.
But he was sacked from the show in 1998 after turning up for work drunk and failing to learn his lines.
He checked himself into a rehab clinic but absconded to go on a bender before choking to death on his own vomit on his return.
His death, at the age of 49, came just a week after he finished filming the show.
Kevin’s younger brother, Terry, was a TV journalist who was tragically shot dead by US troops in Iraq in 2003, in a friendly fire incident.
Christopher Ellison - DCI Frank Burnside
Londoner Chris had various stints on the show, playing tough cop Frank Burnside in a few episodes from 1984 before he was made a regular character in 1988.
The actor left the show in 1998 but returned, two years later, to reprise the role until 2000, when he got his own spin-off, Burnside.
Since then Chris, 75, has appeared in EastEnders, Judge John Deed and New Tricks as well as entering the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2015.
In 2018 he starred with Rita Simons in the film The Krays: Dead Man Walking.
In an 2014 interview, the actor claimed his hardman character ruined his career and the auditions dried up.
“Burnside killed me,” he says. “He was such a strong character that he did for me for a very, very long time.
“You get to the stage where you think, ‘Maybe I should just pack all this in and get a job as a doorman.’ You don’t know what to do.”
Eric Richard - DS Bob Cryer
An original cast member, Eric played Cryer for 20 years before leaving in 2004.
The same year, the actor suffered a family tragedy when his grandson, two-month-old Charlie Smith, became the youngest British victim of the Boxing Day tsunami in Sri Lanka.
“It was shocking beyond belief and an impossible place for me to be in because you don’t expect a child to die before you,” the dad-of-three later told the Express.
The 81-year-old, who set up the Dickens Theatre Company in his native Kent and was constantly touring before the pandemic, starred in the Oscar-winning short film Stutterer in 2016.
He has also made appearances in EastEnders and Casualty and, in 2017 he had a small role in the war drama Dunkirk.
Graham Cole - PC Tony Stamp
Another of the actors in talks for The Bill reboot, Graham, 70, joined the cast as recurring character Tony in 1984, before becoming a regular from 1988.
But the actor was left fuming when he was axed in 2009 in a revamp of the show.
“As the longest-serving actor, I was one of the biggest earners and it’s no secret that costs had to be cut,” he told the Mirror.
“But I’ve spent nearly half my life on that show. What hurts the most is being axed after all that time so quickly. They’ve just thrown it all away – bye, you’re out the door. It beggars belief.”
As well as taking on roles in Law & Order and Holby City, the committed Christian threw himself into charity work and was awarded an OBE in 2010.
More recently he starred in the 2020 romance 23 Walks, with Alison Steadman, and the yet-to-be released movie Frankie Abbott.
Kim Tiddy - PC Honey Harman
Kim, 44, had some of the most dramatic storylines in her five year career at Sun Hill.
Honey was injured in a bomb blast, went on the run with a husband who was wanted for murder and posed as a single mum in an undercover sting.
The character died in 2007 after getting kidnapped and murdered by drug dealers after an attempted arrest.
Kim went on to star as Heidi Costello in Hollyoaks, but met another sticky end when her character was killed by her own dad in 2011. She also appeared in an episode of Doctors.
Now a mum-of-two, Kim played DCS Mawhinny in the TV show Moreland’s Firm, in 2019, and landed a role in The Krays: Now Blood, set for release in 2023.
Mark Wingett - DC Jim Carver
The Leicester-born actor played Carver from the first show until 2005.
He has continued to have a successful onscreen career with roles in EastEnders - where he played Mickey Miller’s dad Mike Swann - Heartbeat and the 2009 drama Missing.
He also played Thomas in the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman.
Mark, 61, has two children with partner Sharon Martin, a make-up artist. The pair briefly split after his affair with Yvonne Williams, a fire-eater who appeared on The Bill, became public, but reconciled in 2003.
Mark previously said he was “too old” to return to a reboot of the Bill but added: "I hope it does come back. It was an extraordinary programme, not only just as a drama but it was a fantastic training ground for other branches of the business, so I would love to see it come back."
Scott Maslen - Sgt Phil Hunter
Scott, 50, played Lothario Phil, leaving in 2007 to take on the role of Albert Square hardman Jack Branning in EastEnders.
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Taking a leaf from his former show, the writers made his character an ex-copper.
In 2010, Scott took a break from the show to star in Strictly, becoming a fan favourite and making it to the quarter finals with professional Natalie Lowe.