The Bill

off itv for doing this what's itv said so itv's response the program was produced in compliance with the ofcom broadcasting code relevant laws and it's broadcast in the public interest all journalists were instructed to operate within this framework and did so under the supervision of the program's producers should the police get in touch we would fully cooperate because i remember i think that's what reform have done they've reported itv to the police yes So you're PC Plod in Bow Street police station or whatever and Reform turn up and say, are you busy? Could you investigate these undercover reporters? I reckon

it's fallen on the desk of a man whose favourite show was The Bill.

And you cancelled the bill and now he's thinking, right, ITV, this is time for payback.

This is retribution.

Yeah.

While Gary Gazza-Johnson would frequently play the bass line during the band's live tours, he didn't play it on the studio track.

The studio performance was actually executed on a fretless bass by guest musician Andy Pask, a member of the jazz pop band Landscape, who is also well known for co-writing the iconic theme for the British television police drama, The Bill.

PASC's fretless slides gave the song its smooth, ambient quality.

Upon its release in 1983, Christian became a breakthrough success for China Crisis.

It also made an impact in West Germany where it reached number 22 and New Zealand where it peaked at number 37.

Even the United States took notice.

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 23rd 1983 at number 88, eventually peaking at number 74 on August 13th.

This made it the band's only single to crossover and chart in the US.

All coming up on today's Read On.

Before turning his hand to crime novels, Simon Cleeve made his name as a television writer, working on some of Britain's best-known dramas, including The Bill, Silent Witness, and EastEnders.

These days, he's better known for his best-selling crime fiction, and he's an astonishingly prolific author, producing book after book for his devoted readers.

With multiple crime series under his belt, there are plenty of bodies to investigate and mysteries to unravel.

First question is how? How did you manage that?

I think what it is, is I used to write in TV.

So I used to write TV scripts for EastEnders, The Holby City, The Bill, Silent Witness, and that process is very, very fast, and the rewriting process is very, very fast, and it's very high pressured.

So you sort of churn out scripts very quickly, and I suppose I took that kind of speed of writing into novel writing, thinking that was quite normal.

Yeah, Alan Ford.

Uh, Eric Richard, longed, one of the long-serving cast members of The Bill, Michael Gough, Ian Brimble.

So yeah, not names that necessarily might mean everything to many people, but yeah, if you're familiar with sort of TV and film from, uh, Britain during the '70s and '80s in particular, then yeah, s- there's a, there was somebody cropping up on screen all the time that, uh, I recognized.

And, uh, yeah, a lot of talent on screen here.

And so that's why I went into television.

I did a cop show called The Bill.

I got every Irish actor I could [laughs] think of in to, uh, you know, as guests on it.

I mean, there was one episode I did where they said to me, "We're gonna have to subtitle this." You know, you got Welsh actors, Irish actors, Scottish actors, and, you know, nobody'll understand them.

And I had a picture of the, uh, the boy in Kes, the Ken Loach film.

Yeah.

And a picture of another boy from the Bill Douglas trilogy, 'cause Bill Douglas was a tutor of mine at the National, and I adored him, and I learned more from Bill than I did probably from anybody else.

And the little boy in his film was kind of quite extraordinary.

but.

But, you know, when it's, like, Neighbors, Home and Away, and EastEnders for me, and The Bill, the Casualty, it all kind of blended into back when there were only-

Yeah, 'cause you know when Anita Dobson recorded the song-

... five TV channels.

[upbeat music] This is Natalie Rolls, and you are listening to The Bill Podcast.

[upbeat music] Presented by Oliver Crocker.

Brought to you in association with georgefairbrother.com, shop.saturdaymorningpress.co.uk, vanguardcomics.co.uk, gibconsultancy.co.uk, mcr-seo.com, and donspallain.com. [upbeat music]

Hello, and welcome to The Bill Podcast.

It's Oliver here.

I hope you are all well.

[upbeat music] My special guest today is Nick Phillips, a prolific television director who, as well as 20 hard-hitting episodes of The Bill, his many directing credits include Brookside, Casualty, Coronation Street, EastEnders, and the sitcoms Barbara, Birds of a Feather, Desmond's, Goodnight Sweetheart, and My Family.

[upbeat music] Working in the screen trade since 1968, Nick got his drama directing debut on LWT's The Gentle Touch, the first police procedural with a leading female detective, DI Maggie Forbes, played by the late great Jill Gascoine.