Paul Marquess, the new Executive Producer of The
Bill has revealed intriguing information on the new direction of the show. Posting a message on the official
site, Marquess was firstly quick to dispel last week's newspaper
article from The Mirror. He said, "The ‘insider’ quoted in
The Mirror was nothing of the sort – and got it entirely wrong...There are no plans to turn THE BILL into a soap. It will, however, become a
continuous serial – a logical development following the multi-part stories
that have been broadcast over the last couple of years."He added "Continuous serialisation does not mean that this programme won’t be THE BILL – far from it. I am determined to preserve and enhance THE BILL’s key strengths – so all stories will be police/crime based and/or motivated. Indeed I intend to resist ‘going home with the characters’ as much as I can. The idea is to focus and strengthen a very strong brand, not water it down."
Marques promised that he will be able to tell real long-running stories with the new format – which could sustain for months or even years. He says that this will help make the show more realistic and more true to police cases in real life.
As far as cast changes are concerned, he added "I – as a viewer – felt that certain characters hadn’t made enough of an impact. In the case of Ben Roberts (Chief Inspector Derek Conway), in recent years his character has featured less and less. I was forced to tell Ben the news as soon as he got back in the country – to ensure he didn’t hear from someone else.
He stated that 10 new characters won't be brought in 'as a job lot'. Instead, they will be brought in gradually – as they turn the spotlight on more established characters like Ackland, Carver, Meadows and Hollis.