The Bill: Season 15
The fifteenth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 87 episodes, broadcast between 7 January and 31 December 1999. The series saw a notable change as female officers were no longer introduced by the W acronym in ranking, with the last mention of this when Liz Rawton was introduced as a WDC in Follow Through. By the following episode, Walking on Water, female characters were simply introduced as
Season 15 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of The Bill Season 14.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Season overview
The fifteenth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 87 episodes, broadcast between 7 January and 31 December 1999. The series saw a notable change as female officers were no longer introduced by the W acronym in ranking, with the last mention of this when Liz Rawton was introduced as a WDC in Follow Through. By the following episode, Walking on Water, female characters were simply introduced as PC/DC etc. On 5 June 2013, The Bill Series 15 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 15 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released (in Australia).
Episode Guide
Season 15 Progress Shield
Long Term Investment
Jan 7, 1999
Deakin's surveillance on convicted kidnapper Frank Tully's release from custody is immediately blown out when Tully spots them, revealing his already released partner in crime told
Chasing Shadows
Jan 14, 1999
Boyden recruits an SO10 officer to go undercover in order to expose an illegal poker ring running out of a local Turkish café. However, when they raid fails, the officer goes missi
Follow Through
Jan 21, 1999
Daly and Rawton are seconded to a women's prison run by a friend of Brownlow's after an inmate is savagely assaulted, and things soon escalate when doctors reveal she isn't expecte
Walking On Water
Jan 26, 1999
Meadows is furious when a joint operation with Area Drugs to arrest local dealer Danny Rickman is blown out. Stamp and Quinnan attend a library where the attendant has discovered a
The Wrong Horse
Jan 28, 1999
Garfield and Hagen volunteer to protect a jockey due to give evidence against a crooked bookmaker. On offer is a weekend away at the races and a stay in a posh country hotel. While
No Love Lost
Feb 2, 1999
Boyden, Ashton and Santini head out for a night in a club, and Boyden bets his PCs that he can pull any girl in the club. Approaching an attractive young blonde, he ends up taking
Pond Life
Feb 4, 1999
Meadows recruits Quinnan and Rawton to receive a notorious sex offender, Ray Ballantyne, from another division. However, the DCI's hopes of keeping the Ballantyne's identity a secr
Murder, What Murder?
Feb 9, 1999
Garfield assists the River Police when a decapitated body is pulled out of the Thames. As he clears the scene, he recognises a member of the local press as a journalist he worked w
Age Of Chivalry
Feb 11, 1999
Burnside is seconded to Sun Hill to catch a pair of serial rapists operating in the area. As Burnside tracks down a known sex offender, he grills him for his whereabouts, but a cal
Slinging Mud
Feb 18, 1999
Deakin is approached by a station cleaner who claims to have found £5000 in used notes under Proctor's desk. Proctor refutes knowledge of it, but timing couldn't be worse, as he is
Under Duress
Feb 23, 1999
Boulton and Rawton attend the scene of a house fire, and not only does the chief identify the building as a brothel, he points at evidence that the girls were held hostage by the b
Sleeping With The Enemy
Feb 25, 1999
Skase and Lennox enlist the help of Burnside as they investigate a series of robberies at local business conventions. Burnside is reluctant to admit why but he identifies their sus
Badlands
Mar 2, 1999
DS John Boulton is determined to catch a pair of brutal thieves, and he is certain that local crook Mick Glover is one of them. Ignoring protests from Uniform, who already have Glo
Eyes Everywhere
Mar 4, 1999
With PC Quinnan in a critical condition in St Hugh's Hospital, the police descend on the Jasmine Allen estate, determined to catch those responsible. PC Garfield manages to identif
Yesterday's Hero
Mar 18, 1999
Tension between DS Boulton and PC Garfield over Dave Quinnan's stabbing reaches boiling point on an obbo with PC Hollis. Garfield explodes when pushed too far, and he headbutts Bou
On Air
Mar 23, 1999
Hagen and Santini find a shaken woman her home after an abandoned 999 call. Holmes spearheads the investigation when the victim reports a violent prowler tormented her about commit
To Catch A Cobra
Mar 25, 1999
Burnside's failure to inform Sun Hill of a Crime OCCU stakeout on a local museum leads to Page and Harker blowing their cover. The group arrest three of the four robbers, but one i
Weekends Are For Wimps
Mar 30, 1999
Conway is furious when Meadows asks him to cover for Brownlow due to a bout of flu. Determined to make it to Stamford Bridge for a game between Chelsea and West Ham, he is fuming w
Piggy In The Middle
Apr 1, 1999
Ashton intervenes as a pair of masked men try to set fire to a house. Burnside is seconded from Crime OCCU to investigate, due to another arson with the same MO occurring on Staffo
Sex Lies & Videotape
Apr 6, 1999
Brownlow has agreed for a fly-on-the-wall documentary crew to film in the station. Boulton and Carver soon become the subject of their attentions, as they film a raid on a drug dea
Out & About
Apr 8, 1999
Quinnan returns to work after his stabbing. Questions are raised about his capabilities, and when he manhandles a suspect, Stamp thinks he's losing it. However he goes from overboa
Kiss Chase
Apr 13, 1999
While PC Page is assisting Ruth Watts in filing assault charges against her husband, Ken Watts, Luke Ashton is having romantic problems with the woman's daughter, 16 year-old Abby
On The Road
Apr 15, 1999
Lennox and Rawton go to Salisbury to bring in a con-man, George Riordian, for questioning, but he proves to be a slippery customer when he first gives them the slip at a service st
Pressure Point
Apr 20, 1999
Proctor and Lennox find themselves at the cutting edge of forensic science when they try to solve a burglary case, where the burglar has left an 'earprint' at the scene. Meanwhile,
Look Away Now
Apr 22, 1999
Monroe notifies uniform of a private investigation group conducting surveillance on local criminal family, the Drakes, who have already received a flurry of complaints from their n
A Question Of Trust: Part I
Apr 27, 1999
Boulton and Skase get a major lead from an informant on local armed robber Anthony Payne, who has been off the radar for a number of years. Boulton is determined to nail him, but t
A Question Of Trust: Part II
Apr 29, 1999
Boulton prepares to face an inquest for the death in custody of notorious armed robber Anthony Payne. Payne's brother Stephen continues to rile the media as he vows to end Boulton'
True Lies
May 4, 1999
Boyden tasks Garfield and Ashton with setting up an observation on a parade of shops where a gang of young dealers have been operating. When they catch a youngster taking a package
Back To Basics
May 6, 1999
Carver is devastated when his final transfer appeal is turned down, ending his hopes of remaining a DC and avoiding tenure. The news that the system is due to be scrapped is even m
Makeover
May 11, 1999
It's Jim Carver's first day back in uniform, and he puts up with some good-natured ribbing from his new colleagues. Paired with P.C. Luke Ashton, they are called to the Canley Arms
Tinderbox
May 18, 1999
Tension, drama and comical mishaps abound as Brownlow, Meadows and Conway head to the Yorkshire Moors for an orientation course alongside the top brass from Barton Street. The tens
Set Up
May 25, 1999
A young girl, Emma Finney, is attacked in the street and DC Kerry Holmes suspects a racial motive, as Emma and her family are gypsies living on a nearby waste ground. Holmes and an
Lone Ranger
Jun 1, 1999
PC Eddie Santini tries to convince his lover, Jess Orton, to set him up with some drug dealers - he wants out of Sun Hill, and DS Timpney, his friend in Area Drugs, has promised hi
Old Flame
Jun 8, 1999
As he and PC Quinnan investigate a burglar alarm, PC Eddie Santini sees Jessica Orton meeting covertly with Ferguson. Making excuses, Santini borrows the panda car and races to the
Push It
Jun 15, 1999
Jessica Orton is brought in for questioning, but is released without charge. When she returns home, PC Santini is waiting for her, desperate to know if she grassed him up. They fig
Kiss Off
Jun 22, 1999
Vicki Hagen finds Eddie Santini's tickets to Amsterdam, and questions him about them, but he is evasive. DCI Pallister takes DS Fox off the Jessica Orton case after her accusations
Foreign Body
Jun 24, 1999
A suspected armed robber dies after his car crashes during a chase with police. He is identified as Alain Savoie, a French national, and the body of an English woman is found in th
Borderline
Jun 29, 1999
A CID raid nets a gun which DS Beech believes could have been used in a recent shooting. New PC Cass Rickman is entrusted with the task of taking the gun to the lab for forensic te
Confessions Of A Zookeeper
Jul 1, 1999
Ch. Insp. Derek Conway organises a charity 'lock-up' in the Sun Hill cells - the prisoners for the night being himself, Insp. Monroe, famous boxer Dion Barrie and his manager Max W
Pillow Talk
Jul 6, 1999
Worrell and Harker attend a deliberate hit and run. Quinnan and Garfield are tasked with tracking down the driver, Oliver Beaumann, who has allegedly run over his wife. When they t
Heavy Plant Crossing
Jul 8, 1999
Sgt. Matt Boyden organises a simple obbo to catch a gang stealing an excavator from a building site. The situation is made more complicated when another gang turn up carrying guns
Good Relations
Jul 13, 1999
Rising crime levels on the council estates sees Ch. Supt. Brownlow with two additional problems: a gang of over-zealous security guards patrolling the Copthorne Estate, and a ""mob
Big Fish
Jul 15, 1999
Skase is skeptical when an informant tells him a small-time dealer is in cahoots with a South American dealer. However, when his informant mentions a major contact, Skase gets his
Taxed
Jul 20, 1999
PC Luke Ashton and PC Dale Smith chase a stabbing suspect onto an estate, but are separated and Ashton is paralysed with fear when confronted by the knife-wielding youth. Smithy is
Cracked Up
Jul 22, 1999
Ashton reels after being accused of cowardice by new boy Smithy. The team attend a group counselling session over Smithy's attack, but tensions only rise further between the unifor
Wedded Bliss
Jul 27, 1999
PC Smith and PC Rickman deal with a disturbance at a registry office, and DC Proctor and DC Holmes discover an ingenious immigration scam in which British lookalikes of Romanian il
Lucky Jim
Jul 29, 1999
Worrell and Garfield fail to catch a stolen 4x4 in pursuit, the latest in a long line of such vehicles being stolen, but luckily the vehicle is abandoned for them to analyse. Meanw
Screwdriver
Aug 3, 1999
Holmes and Proctor investigate the rape of a woman inside a mental health facility. After discovering a separate attack occurred at another facility six months earlier, DS Acton fr
Inside Out
Aug 5, 1999
Beech and Glaze are sent to Shadwell Prison to investigate allegations that three prison officers are responsible for the assaults of two prisoners. With the prison on lockdown, th
Critical Mass
Aug 10, 1999
Insp. Monroe is skeptical but cautious when a young woman, Emma Crawford, rings Sun Hill and says she thinks her boyfriend may have hidden a bomb in the station. At Emma's flat, Ac
Ring A Ring O Roses
Aug 12, 1999
June and Cass are called to the flat of a prostitute named Allie after tracing malicious calls made from her phone, only to find her lying unconscious on the floor from a vicious a
The Only Way Is Up
Aug 17, 1999
Meadows is approached by DCI Calder of Barton Street, who was a DC of Meadows at AMIP. Calder admits while he is on the verge of promotion to Superintendent, an armed robbery that
Rock Bottom
Aug 24, 1999
Harker is disappointed when he fails to save the life of an overdosing man, so when Conway offers him the role of Youth Diversions Officer, he takes it. Meanwhile, Boyden is tasked
Sunhill Boulevard
Aug 31, 1999
PC Cass Rickman calls in sick after over-indulging at a barbecque for the relief the previous night. PC Harker and PC Stamp are called to the Sun Hill Lido swimming pool, where a y
Lola
Sep 1, 1999
DI Deakin leads CID and Uniform on a series of disasterous raids to catch alleged DSS fraudsters, while PC Polly Page is given the boring task of serving a court order. As she does
Integrity: Part I
Sep 16, 1999
Sun Hill efforts to protect the organisers of a community festival are in vain when the convoy is attacked. New PC Nick Klein is friends with the organiser, Anil Indrani, but the b
Integrity: Part II
Sep 19, 1999
With DS Vickers blackmailing him over his use of cannabis, Klein is more determined than ever to bring the corrupt officer down. Brownlow asks Worrell to join the case, but she acc
Cold Calling
Sep 21, 1999
Rawton is furious when Meadows pulls her OBBO on convicted rapist David Trigg, due to budgetary reasons. She is quickly put on a series of robberies, then onto the case of a missin
Millennium
Sep 23, 1999
DCI Jack Meadows introduces new DS Claire Stanton to the rest of the CID team, who are jealous when she manages to land an eco-terrorism case on her first day. Someone has been inj
The Three Sergeants
Sep 28, 1999
Sgt. Matt Boyden is not looking forward to another night shift in Custody, but a noisy prisoner demanding food turns out to be the least of his worries. Sgt. June Ackland and PC Da
Trade Off
Sep 30, 1999
Deakin is furious when Carver and Rickman blow an OBBO to arrest a major dealer. Furious at constant put-downs by his former CID colleagues, Carver decides enough is enough and acc
Treading Water
Oct 5, 1999
PCs Jim Carver and Cass Rickman wander through a CID obbo, allowing suspect Micky Harris to go free. Trying to make amends, Carver tries to contact a former snout from his CID days
Look Again
Oct 7, 1999
PC Reg Hollis turns up late for parade, and an angry Sgt. Boyden assigns him to an eviction followed by traffic duty on Malpitt Road. The evictee is Colin Boswell, a notorious raci
Love & War: Part I
Oct 12, 1999
PC George Garfield is in quite a state - his girlfriend Jenny Delaney has just returned from South America and he is eager to know if she has considered his marriage proposal. Unkn
Love & War: Part II
Oct 14, 1999
Back at the section house, George Garfield confronts Dave Quinnan about his relationship with Jenny, and then storms off. Polly Page and Tony Stamp go looking for him, while Quinna
Hot Money
Oct 19, 1999
Hollis and Hagen are laughed off by CID when they provide a tipoff on an upcoming armed robbery at a casino, provided by former getaway driver Jerry Mulligan, after he is arrested
Crash Landing
Oct 21, 1999
Daly makes a daring rescue as he and Holmes witness a light aircraft crash outside a local stadium. He identifies the passenger as ex-DS Janet Campion, his boss at Child Protection
Father's Day
Oct 28, 1999
Boyden is surprised when his estranged daughter Amy shows up at the station, offering third-hand info that her boyfriend, Phillip Cooper, witnessed two drug dealers killing a man.
Sweet Sixteen
Nov 2, 1999
Deakin mounts an OBBO to catch a girl gang who have been robbing punters in nightclubs and casinos. Sending Skase undercover to pick up one of the girls, he finds himself ambushed
Denial
Nov 4, 1999
Leaving a pub, a drunken Jim Carver is approached by Alec Facer, a former DI who he met while in CID. Facer offers him a job at Marlowe's, a prestigious private investigation firm,
Walking The Line
Nov 9, 1999
A Polish shopkeeper tells police he was attacked by three black youths, and DC Duncan Lennox and DC Tom Proctor arrest the main suspect, Davy Rawlings. After an attempted escape, R
Cover Stories
Nov 16, 1999
Burnside recruits a team of Sun Hill officers as he goes undercover with Stanton, posing as his wife, to track down a group of property scammers. Carver is assigned to the team, wh
Security
Nov 18, 1999
Stamp and Page attend a break at the home of Barton Street PC Steve Bennett, who returns after a night out with Quinnan to find his daughter's bedroom has been vandalised. He enlis
Up In Smoke: Part I
Nov 23, 1999
DCI Meadows and DC Skase are furious when PC Jim Carver turns up drunk to give evidence in a court case - evidence which is so unreliable the judge throws the case out of court. As
Up In Smoke: Part II
Nov 25, 1999
DCI Scanlon from Kent Constabulary arrives to investigate the attack on the Home Office convoy. PC Jim Carver pays Vernon Liggett a visit, but he denies any involvment. Scanlon and
Homework
Nov 30, 1999
On a romantic night with her new boyfriend Steve, Ackland's neighbour interrupts after revealing she has found a gun in her tenant's room. Beech is determined to set up an OBBO at
Knowing You
Dec 2, 1999
Daly leads a raid on the home of a violent pimp who has been recruiting teenage girls. However, the prime suspect vanishes after attacking Proctor during the raid, with Holmes dist
Consumers
Dec 7, 1999
Carver is assaulted before his shift and mugged, and as he wanders the streets dazed and confused, he befriends a group of homeless drunks. When they point Carver in the direction
Lock In
Dec 9, 1999
Jim Carver wakes up to find himself in bed lying next to the dead body of Clare Sullivan, an aged prostitute. He is utterly distraught, and, not knowing what to do, he takes JohnJ
Money For Nothing
Dec 14, 1999
Boyden leads a dog racing syndicate with Klein, Stamp, Rickman and Quinnan. He is keen to keep it secret from fiancee Jenny, however she ends up finding out, and joins in to help b
A Night To Forget
Dec 15, 1999
As Dave Quinnan's stag night begins, an old friend turns up - Steve Loxton. A newly sober Jim Carver faces temptation and ridicule from his colleagues as the night wears on. Jenny
A Day To Remember
Dec 16, 1999
Dave Quinnan wakes up on the day of his wedding with a splitting headache and bleached eyebrows. Despite the incompetence of his best man, Reg Hollis, the actual wedding goes ahead
Judgement Day
Dec 21, 1999
DC Liz Rawton arrives at the station to find an envelope on her desk containing cut-up lingerie and rose petals. After the action-packed arrest of Joseph Anderson, a man suspected
Haunted
Dec 23, 1999
DS Stanton, DC Lennox and DC Proctor are on an obbo at a spooky old building called the Old Pumping Station, which is supposed to be haunted. The trio tell each other ghost stories
When The Snow Lay All Around
Dec 24, 1999
A young runaway waiting for his foster parents, a bickering Russian barbershop quartet and a drunk and disorderly elf from the North Pole are all part of the job for the Sun Hill n
Blowing It All Away
Dec 30, 1999
On a night out with her friend Lynn, Cass Rickman meets two men, Jamie and Ben, who offer her some dope which she refuses. To her horror, Ben is arrested the next day by DS Boulton
All Change
Dec 31, 1999
It's New Year's Eve 2000, all police leave has been cancelled and even CID officers are back in uniform for the night. Chief Insp Conway and DCI Meadows just want to enjoy a drink