History Series / TheBill

** In "Playing Away", a 15 year old boy is discovered in a sexual relationship with a 35 year old woman. The gender-swapped version would be considered JailbaitTaboo and sexual assault, as 15 is below the [[UsefulNotes/Consent age of consent]] in the UK, but most of the relief find it funny and they decide not to press charges, noting that the CPS would probably not be interested anyway. Monroe states that there isn't even much they could charge her with, as at the time the offense of underage sexual intercourse did not apply to underage boys.

* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: In "Sweet Sixteen", Rod Skase gets overpowered by a gang of women, who tie him up and yank his trousers down. It's PlayedForLaughs and the entire relief mock him for it. Suffice to say, the incident would have been treated a lot differently had a group of men done that to a female officer.

* ThreeWallSet: Consciously averted. The producers converted a building into a complete mock-up police station, which allows plenty of opportunity for one-take WalkAndTalk scenes. Following the show's conclusion, the set (along with the other standing sets for the show) remains intact and available for hire in what is now Wimbledon Studios.

* ByTheBookCop: In early episodes the characters were largely defined by their attitudes to the 1984 PACE act. Chief Inspector Conway and DS Greig were notable adherents to the guidelines. Inspector Monroe and Sgt Carter were also textbook examples. See CowboyCop for their opposites at Sun Hill.

* CowboyCop: Sun Hill had more than it's fair share over the years, among them DI Burnside, DS Boulton, DS Beech and Sgt Boyden.

* ByTheBookCop: In early episodes the characters were largely defined by their attitudes to the 1984 PACE act. Chief Inspector Conway and DS Greig were notable adherents to the guidelines.

* FakingTheDead: Des Taviner pulled this when he was about to be exposed for his role in the 2002 Sun Hill Fire, before being caught in early 2004.

* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: In "Sweet Sixteen", Rod gets overpowered by a gang of women, who tie him up and yank his trousers down. It's PlayedForLaughs and the entire relief mock him for it. Suffice to say, the incident would have been treated a lot differently had a group of men done that to a female officer.

* TheGreatBritishCopperCapture: Frequently played straight.

It began as a series of twelve DramaticHourLong teleplays in the literal sense of the word - the original pilot episode was written as a one-off televised "play for today", which aired as part of the anthology series ''Storyboard'', and there was [[BackdoorPilot no immediate intention]] of creating a series out of it. It switched to [[DramaticHalfHour half hour long]] episodes in 1988 following [[ExecutiveMeddling network pressure]], and it was in this format that it became widely known. However, in 1998 it changed back to [[DramaticHourLong hour long]] episodes again, whereafter it reformatted itself to become a TelevisionSerial. Its this kind of flexibility to change and adapt with the times that had been largely attributed to its long term success. From 1988 to 2009 it ran throughout the year with approximately 90 episodes per annum (mostly two per week, but other major TV events, i.e. football, ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'' or award shows meant that many weeks had just one), a rate of production matched in the UK only by the major soaps. This might be a large reason why it eventually came to be regarded as a soap opera, even before [[CrimeTimeSoap the more soap orientated plotlines]] started to come into effect later in its life.

* Its stupendously high rate of major character death, especially by murder, and even more so after 2002 (31+ deaths in 23 years, including six in a fire at Sun Hill police station in 2002 and another three when a van filled with petrol plowed into the front office in 2005 -- Sun Hill is one DangerousWorkplace). See the [[Characters/TheBill Character Sheet]] for the series for a complete list of Sun Hill's fatal casualties, and the way in which they were killed off. In fact, in the show's 23 years on the air, around 71 British police officers were killed in real life[[note]]Not counting [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles Northern Ireland]]. It should also be noted that the vast majority of officers who die on duty outside of Northern Ireland tend to die in traffic accidents or due to medical issues like heart attacks[[/note]], making Sun Hill ridiculously dangerous by comparison.

* Its stupendously high rate of major character death, especially by murder, and even more so after 2002 (31+ deaths in 23 years, including six in a fire at Sun Hill police station in 2002 and another three when a van filled with petrol plowed into the front office in 2005 -- Sun Hill is one DangerousWorkplace). See the [[Characters/TheBill Character Sheet]] for the series for a complete list of Sun Hill's fatal casualties, and the way in which they were killed off. In fact, in the show's 23 years on the air, around 71 British police officers were killed in real life[[note]]Not counting [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles Northern Ireland. It should also be noted that the vast majority of officers who die on duty outside of Northern Ireland tend to die in traffic accidents or due to medical issues like heart attacks[[/note]], making Sun Hill ridiculously dangerous by comparison.

It began as a series of twelve DramaticHourLong teleplays in the literal sense of the word - the original pilot episode was written as a one-off televised "play for today", and there was [[BackdoorPilot no immediate intention]] of creating a series out of it. It switched to [[DramaticHalfHour half hour long]] episodes in 1988 following [[ExecutiveMeddling network pressure]], and it was in this format that it became widely known. However, in 1998 it changed back to [[DramaticHourLong hour long]] episodes again, whereafter it reformatted itself to become a TelevisionSerial. Its this kind of flexibility to change and adapt with the times that had been largely attributed to its long term success. From 1988 to 2009 it ran throughout the year with approximately 90 episodes per annum (mostly two per week, but other major TV events, i.e. football, ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'' or award shows meant that many weeks had just one), a rate of production matched in the UK only by the major soaps. This might be a large reason why it eventually came to be regarded as a soap opera, even before [[CrimeTimeSoap the more soap orientated plotlines]] started to come into effect later in its life.

* Its stupendously high rate of major character death, especially by murder, and even more so after 2002 (31+ deaths in 23 years, including six in a fire at Sun Hill police station in 2002 and another three when a van filled with petrol plowed into the front office in 2005 -- Sun Hill is one DangerousWorkplace). See the [[Characters/TheBill Character Sheet]] for the series for a complete list of Sun Hill's fatal casualties, and the way in which they were killed off. In fact, in the show's 23 years on the air, 71 British police officers were killed in real life, making Sun Hill ridiculously dangerous by comparison.

* HotScientist: Completely averted with Eddie, who is obese (and happily so).