He's young, good looking with no hint of a receding hairline or a moustache.  Even so, James Lloyd is the spit of his late father, The Bill's Kevin Lloyd.  Fans can judge for themselves soon because James, 25, is following in his dad's footsteps and joining the long-running cop series.  He will play bad boy Phil Hunter's younger brother  Steve, who arrives at Sun Hill straight out of police training college.

Kevin played the much loved shambling copper Tosh Lines for 10 years.  Sadly, Kevin's drinking got out of hand and he died from alcohol-related problems shortly after he was sacked from the show in 1998.

James was working as a gofer in The Bill's production office when he was spotted by the producer and asked to audition.  He studied business at university and apart from a fleeting appearance as Tosh's screen son when he was 11, had no acting experience.

"I always wanted to be an actor, but when my dad died, I didn't want to go down that route."  he says.  "I wanted a proper job.  But in the end, I realised I wasn't cut out for sitting behind a desk.  So I applied for work experience at The Bill and it went from there really."

Walking into The Bill studios, where pictures of Kevin Lloyd gaze down from the walls, memories come flooding back to James.

"My dad was in The Bill since I was eight, so it's been a major part of my life.  We always watched it when Dad was in it, and in the summer holidays we used to go on set and muck about."

Kevin shared a dressing room with Mark Wingett (Jim Carver) for many years.  "Mark was one of his best mates."  says James.  "It's like working with family."

These days, James feels nothing but love for his dad, but it was a different story during Kevin's battle with booze.  James felt his dad had let down the family - wife Lesley and seven children, including adopted Romanian orphan Elly.

"At that age, I didn't really understand about addictions," he admits.  "I'd say,  'Don't drink.  Give it up for us.'   If I'd done this interview two years ago, I don't think I'd have been able to speak about it, because of the bad memories.  Now all I think about are the good times."

And there were good times at the family home in Derbyshire.  "I remember the jokes,"  says James.  "Dad had a briefcase he used to put the scripts in and he said to us kids, 'I'll give you £20 if you find it.'  And we found it out on the balcony.  Then he said  'You're grounded, I've told you never to go on the balcony!' "

"Other times, in the morning at home, he'd be naked and threatening to take us to school."

Chatting and laughing in a London pub, James is a picture of contentment but admits things could have been different if it wasn't for his mum, Lesley.

"One of us could easily have gone off the rails."  says James.  "But she kept us all on the straight and narrow.  She sheltered us when it was really bad."

Lesley and the rest of the family - including James' sister Poppy who also works for The Bill - will be watching James make his debut.

"If I can be half as good as my dad, I'll have cracked it."  he says.  "He'd be very proud, I reckon."