The Bill - Series 4?

[NathanC]

Hi everyone, what do you think of this?

Amazon.co.uk: The Bill - Series 4 - Complete: The Bill: DVD

According to Amazon, the complete series 4 of The Bill is scheduled for release later this year.

But really? Let's look at the facts.

Fans of the Bill will probably know that Series 4 marked the debut of the half-hour episodes as opposed to 50 minutes. There were 48 episodes in Series 4, so this makes a combined total of 1440 minutes of action. Hopefully someone could tell us how many discs this set would require (I know nothing about DVD specifics and how many minutes can go on each disc) but I would imagine that it would have to be a fairly decent-sized set. And for £12.98? Someone must be feeling pretty generous!

Don't get me wrong, I love The Bill and am a huge fan of DI Burnside (Series 4 marked his debut as a regular as opposed to a guest star so obviously I would love to get hold of DVDs of him in action) but could this possibly be hoping for a bit too much?

Your thoughts will be most welcome.

[Arthur Linden-Jones]

Originally Posted by NathanC Amazon.co.uk: The Bill - Series 4 - Complete: The Bill: DVD According to Amazon, the complete series 4 of The Bill is scheduled for release later this year.

"Series 4"???

This is getting all very confusing, considering a wallet of series 4-5 has been out for some time.
Amazon.co.uk: The Bill (The Complete Series 4-5) (Collector's Ed Wallet) (12 DVD Set) (Region 4): Christopher Ellison,Graham Cole,Nula Conwell,Larry Dann,Trudie Goodwin,Eric Richard,Tony Scannell,Jeff Stewart,Eamonn Walker,Mark Wingett: DVD

"This title will be released on May 19, 2008."?? If it is, as you say, the start of the half-hour series, then that period of production has been out on release in Australia for quite some months now, released as "Collection 4" here - episodes 97 (A Quiet Life, UK bdcst 20/6/89 Aus bdcst 31/8/89) to episode 144 (Gone Fishing, UK bdcst 30/11/89 Aus bdcst 12/4/90.

Our (Aus) next release is in April (I think), "Collection 5", episodes 144 - 192
(by my calculations, Early Bird, UK 5/12/89 Aus 19/4/90 to Rites, UK 24/5/90 Aus 27/10/90)

(Note Rites is Part 2 of a 2 part episode which started with Trojan Horse, which saw the demise of PC Ken Melvin following a bomb blast at Sunhill.)

[NathanC]

Thanks for replying Arthur. Do you know where I can find a list of all the episodes included in this collector's wallet?

[Arthur Linden-Jones]

Billfans.com - Discussion Forums - Viewing topic #4045 - The Bill Collection 4 DVDs out November

*DING* (Light's just on ... I should read things more carefully) The Amazon reference for "Series 4-5" is actually the Australain set known as "Collection 4" - see references to Region 4. It has nothing to do with UK release known as Series 4. What episodes UK Series 4 contains is anyone's guess ....?

[NathanC]

I was talking to another Bill fan from Australia who said the collection doing the rounds over there as "The Complete Series 4-5" is actually Season 4 in its entirety. If so, I sincerely hope that the Amazon link in question is going to be a UK issue of the same set.

[Arthur Linden-Jones]

Not "Season 4" - a question of semantics. Note the use of "Series" and "Collection" - the UK advertised "Series 4-5" is "Collection 4" in Australia.

[Rennie]

Anyone know if any DVD's exists of 'The Bill' episodes which followed PC Jim Carter's decline into alchoholism, including the episode of him waking up in bed with a dead woman? Great stuff; such a shame to see such a great series end up as it today........crap cast: puerile plots; in short, totally unwatchable.

[NathanC]

Originally Posted by Rennie Anyone know if any DVD's exists of 'The Bill' episodes which followed PC Jim Carter's decline into alchoholism, including the episode of him waking up in bed with a dead woman? Great stuff; such a shame to see such a great series end up as it today........crap cast: puerile plots; in short, totally unwatchable.

I'm afraid I can't help you as far as Carver's descent into alcoholism goes, but as far as his darkest days are concerned (like when he is briefly incarcerated on suspicion of murder) these episodes can be viewed on YouTube. I could find the links for you if you're interested.