The lowdown:  'The Bill' is one of the longest-running police shows in the world, with more than 2,300 episodes
by the end of 2008. First broadcast as a regular series on 16 October 1984, it was preceded by a one-off program
called 'Woodentop', which was part of a series called 'Storyboard' that was designed to showcase potential new
shows. 'The Bill' follows the men and women of Sun Hill police station in inner London, as they deal with a range 
of crimes, both serious and petty, as well as the daily trials and tribulations of life on the beat. The format has
changed a lot over the years, from 50 minute episodes to 25-minute ones and back to 50 minutes in recent years,
while at times ITV has broadcast up to three new episodes per week. Recent cutbacks at ITV mean it will now be
shown just once per week. As well as numerous cast changes, the show has shifted from purely focusing on the
investigation of crimes to a more in-depth look at the private lives and loves of the Sun Hill officers. This change
attracted much criticism, with many viewers feeling that it had moved too far in the direction of soap opera, but
it subsequently shifted direction again to focus more on life on the beat rather than in the bedroom.

The episode:  Sylvester McCoy appeared as a career criminal named Morris Shaw in the episode broadcast on
8 November 2006. Officially number episode 457, it is actually number 2118, and the different numbering is the
result of a decision in 2002 to abolish individual episode titles in favour of numbers, beginning from Episode One.
This was the 80th episode of season 22, and saw the Sun Hill team investigating an assault and stabbing, as well
as an armed robbery at the head office of a betting shop. The robbers are wearing masks of Tony Blair and George
W Bush (were the producers making some kind of statement?) and take a hostage, the betting shop's manager.
Tony Blair escapes, but Dubya crashes the getaway car, resulting in a seige. The police eventually convince him
to surrender, and he takes off his mask to reveal Morris Shaw. He has a long criminal record and is reluctant to go
back to prison, but refuses to divulge the identity of his accomplice. The police learn that the accomplice is Shaw's
own son, while the "hostage" was also in on the crime and had some big gambling debts. Shaw tells all when the
police inform him that the manager will go free due to lack of evidence, leaving the Shaws to face justice alone.

Trivia: 'The Bill' officially broke the record held by 'Dixon of Dock Green' for the longest-running British police drama
on 10 August 2005, although there were only 434 episodes of the latter over more than 20 years.

Video clips:    Morris Shaw    4.2mb                Shaw confesses    4.0mb
    << Back to the Sylvester McCoy page