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''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series that was broadcast on the ITV network from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. It centres around the fictional incidents dealt with by the Metropolitan Police Service. The programme originated from a one-off drama, entitled ''Woodentop'', which was broadcast in August 1983. In its final year on air, ''The Bill'' was broadcast once a week, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays, in a one-hour format. The programme focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. ''The Bill'' was the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom until its cancellation, and was among the longest running of any British television series. The series was originally produced by Thames Television; later, after a company merger, this changed to Talkback Thames. The title of the programme originated from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police. This was also Geoff McQueen's original title idea for the series. Although highly acclaimed amongst fans and critics alike, the series attracted controversy on several occasions. An episode broadcast in 2008 was criticised for featuring fictional treatment for multiple sclerosis, and another episode in the same year resulted in the threat of litigation from the politician George Galloway for defamation. The series has also faced more general criticism concerning its levels of violence, particularly prior to 2009, when it occupied a pre-watershed slot. During its time on air, ''The Bill'' won several awards, including BAFTAs, a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award and the title of "best drama" at the Inside Soap Awards in 2009, this being the series' fourth consecutive win. Throughout its twenty-seven-year run, the programme was always broadcast on the main ITV network. In later years, episodes of the show were repeated on ITV3 on their week of broadcast. The series has also been repeated on other digital stations, including Gold, Alibi, Watch, Dave and Drama. In March 2010, executives at ITV announced that the network did not intend to recommission ''The Bill'', and that filming on the series would cease on 14 June 2010. The last ever episode of the series was aired on 31 August 2010. ==History== (詳細はGeoff McQueen in 1983, then a relatively new television writer, as a one-off drama. McQueen had originally titled the production "Old Bill".〔 It was picked up by Michael Chapman for ITV franchise holder Thames Television, who retitled it ''"Woodentop"'' as part of Thames' "Storyboard" series of one-off dramas and was broadcast on ITV under the title ''Woodentop'' on 16 August 1983.〔 ''Woodentop'' starred Mark Wingett as Police Constable Jim Carver and Trudie Goodwin as Woman Police Constable June Ackland of London's Metropolitan Police, both attached to the fictional Sun Hill police station. Although originally only intended as a one-off, ''Woodentop'' impressed ITV to the extent that a full series was commissioned, first broadcast on 16 October 1984 with one post-watershed episode per week, featuring an hour-long, separate storyline for each episode of the first three seasons. The first episode of the full series was "Funny Ol' Business – Cops & Robbers". With serialisation, the name of the show changed from ''"Woodentop"'' to ''"The Bill"''.〔 The series changed to two episodes, each of thirty minutes, per week in 1988, increasing to three a week beginning in 1993. In 1998, ''The Bill'' returned to hour-long episodes, which later became twice-weekly, at which point the series adopted a much more serialised approach. When Paul Marquess took over as executive producer in 2002, as part of a drive for ratings,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Bill: Changing Times )〕 the series was revamped, bringing in a more soap opera type feel to many of its stories. Many veteran characters were written out, leading to the Sun Hill fire during 2002. Marquess stated that the clearout was necessary to introduce "plausible, powerful new characters". As part of the new serial format, much more of the characters' personal lives were explored, however, as Marquess put it, the viewers still "don't go home with them".〔 The change also allowed ''The Bill'' to become more reflective of modern policing with the introduction of officers from ethnic minorities, most notably the new superintendent, Adam Okaro. It also allowed coverage of the relationship of homosexual Sergeant Craig Gilmore and PC Luke Ashton, a storyline which Marquess was determined to explore before rival ''Merseybeat''.〔 In 2005, Johnathan Young took over as executive producer.〔 The serial format was dropped and ''The Bill'' returned to stand-alone episodes with more focus on crime and policing than on the personal lives of the officers. 2007 saw the reintroduction of episode titles, which had been dropped in 2002.〔 In 2009, ''The Bill'' moved back to the 9 pm slot it previously held and the theme tune, "Overkill", was replaced as part of a major overhaul of the series.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Bill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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