Country of origin United Kingdom Original network ITV | No. of episodes 96 | |
Original release 7 January –
30 December 2004 | ||
Series 20 of British television drama The Bill was broadcast from January 7 until December 30, 2004. The series consisted of 96 episodes, and saw the conclusion of the long-running storyline involving the absconding of PC Des Taviner, who was believed to have been killed in an explosion in a Gas Tower, but managed to escape from the wreckage. This series continues to use the serialized format previously introduced by Paul Marquess during Series 18.
Storylines featured in this season include the departure of PC Cathy Bradford, after being uncovered as the murderer of Tanya Kane; the return of PC Des Taviner, who kidnaps PC Cameron Tait at gunpoint after discovering that his baby girl died whilst in Cameron's care; the departure of PC Nick Klein into witness protection after becoming the prime target of crime boss Dennis Weaver; the return of ill-fated ex-sergeant Don Beech, who concocts an elaborate plan to break out of prison and reclaim a haul of stolen diamonds; the death of PC Kerry Young at the hands of the Sun Hill sniper, who turns out to be none other than PC Gabriel Kent; and a long-running storyline involving the arrival of a crime family, the Radfords, who have history with DC Rob Thatcher - whose father died after being shot by Brian Radford during a security van raid.
As a celebration of the show's 21st Anniversary, a special weekend of programmes were broadcast on UKTV Gold, including a special mocku-mentary which featured cast members, past and present, mulling over their time at Sun Hill during a quiet afternoon in the custody suite; as well several 'classic' episodes, past and present. ITV marked the anniversary with a special episode, which saw DCI Jack Meadows take a week's holiday to attend former DS Ted Roach's funeral - but, after suspecting Roach may have been murdered, he teams up with former Sergeants Alec Peters (Larry Dann) and Bob Cryer (Eric Richard) to find out the truth. Another spin-off from the show, The Bill: Uncovered, was also introduced; a series of four one-off documentaries narrated by their main star, telling the story of a particular character's path or journey throughout their time at Sun Hill. Episodes broadcast during this series include "Des' Story" and "Kerry's Story".
On October 16, 2013, the complete series was released on DVD in Australia as a Region 0, playable anywhere in the world. The DVD synopsis removes all titles, and tallies the episodes by number.