The Bill

1984 • TMDB 6.8 • 26 seasons • 2,373 episodes • Crime, Drama • ITV1

Where to Watch

In the US, The Bill is not currently available to stream. JustWatch lists a DVD edition via Amazon as of October 29, 2026.

Overview

For twenty-six years, the fictional Sun Hill police station in London was one of British television’s most familiar workplaces. The Bill follows uniformed officers and detectives through the daily grind of policing: burglary calls and domestic disputes sit alongside murder investigations, drug raids, and the paperwork, politics, and personal fallout that follow every case. What set the series apart was its refusal to treat its characters as heroes in a neat procedural. Officers made mistakes, carried grudges, fell in and out of love, and sometimes crossed lines they could not uncross. The cast changed constantly across more than two thousand episodes, yet the station itself became the star — a place where new recruits learned the job and veterans learned how much it could cost them. Gritty, grounded, and often surprisingly warm, The Bill built its drama from small moments as much as big crimes, making ordinary police work feel urgent, human, and endlessly watchable.

Creator and Main Cast

The main cast includes:

• Simon Rouse as Jack Meadows (2089 episodes)
• Tom Butcher as Steve Loxton (2002 episodes)
• Louise Harrison as Donna Harris (1898 episodes)
• Lisa Geoghan as Polly Page (1880 episodes)
• Andrew Paul as Dave Quinnan (1650 episodes)
• Tony O’Callaghan as Matt Boyden (1547 episodes)
• Jane Wall as Di Worrell (1315 episodes)

Seasons Snapshot

• Series 1 — 11 episodes (1984)
• Series 4 — 48 episodes (1988)
• Series 9 — 155 episodes (1993)
• Series 26 — 32 episodes (2010)

The Bill ran for 26 series from 1984 to 2010, with a further 9 Specials episodes listed on TMDB.

Why Watch The Bill?

• A landmark of British television that ran for 26 years and shaped the police procedural.
• Sun Hill feels like a real workplace, with friendships, rivalries, and romances unfolding over decades.
• The mix of routine calls and major investigations keeps every episode grounded and unpredictable.
• Long-running characters reward patient viewing, as loyalties and reputations shift over time.
• It is a time capsule of London from the 1980s to 2010, told through the people policing its streets.

Trailer

No official trailer available.