The Bill - Soap or Drama?

[fred31]

Why has The hit BBC TV show, the Bill, slowly but surely become more soap opera than police drama? I used to enjoy it, but now there is very little police action or good plot lines as opposed to affairs and broken relationships. Where's our drama?

[jenstar]

Just to clear up one point, The Bill is an ITV show and always has been.

[mikewith]

Seems a bit pedantic to me, but the makers of The Bill - or was it ITV, who broadcast it? - have always been very specific that the show is a drama and *not* a soap. Perhaps it means they can tell their parents that theey're involved in something more serious and qualituy than 'Stenders? So anyway, that's what they call it. But I think your question is far more telling as to its true nature. Yes it's a soap -and the reason, I would suggest, is that someone somewhere thinks that soaps are more profitable and/ or easier to produce and/or appeal to a wider demographic...

[andy hughes]

I'm not a consistant viewer of 'The Bill' but I would conclude that it retains enough of its 'drama' credentials, although it has developed 'soap' overtones (!) in recent years. To my way of thinking, soaps revolve around a set location, including various generations, centered on home life, with consistent swapping and changing of the personel in the houses / pub / shop(s) in which most of the action takes place. 'The Bill' only appears to conform with the first of these criteria - a static location, but otherwise, it possesses none of the remaining ingredients. I think that the more 'in-depth' aspects of the characters' lives is a rounding-out process which is available to the writers thanks to the additional air-time - remember the programme began as a half-hour slot once a week. If you want police action and good plot-lines, switch to Channel 4 and dream of the return of 'NYPD Blue' which Ravenhair and I await with rising anticipation.