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Season guide

The Bill: Season 15

87 episodes Premiered Jan 7, 1999 Updated Sep 28, 2026

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

Previously on The Bill

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).

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Season 15 Episodes

Episode Guide

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Season 15 Progress Shield

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Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 15: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

16%
84%
Mytharc (14): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (73): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (0): Standalone / filler
S15·E1 Mytharc

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

S15·E2 Core

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

S15·E3 Mytharc

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

S15·E4 Core

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

S15·E5 Core

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

S15·E6 Core

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

S15·E7 Core

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

S15·E8 Mytharc

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

S15·E9 Core

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

S15·E10 Mytharc

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

S15·E11 Core

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

S15·E12 Core

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

S15·E13 Core

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

S15·E14 Core

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

S15·E15 Core

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

S15·E16 Core

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

S15·E17 Core

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

S15·E18 Core

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

S15·E19 Mytharc

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

S15·E20 Core

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

S15·E21 Core

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

S15·E22 Core

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

S15·E23 Core

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

S15·E24 Core

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,

S15·E25 Core

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

S15·E26 Core

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

S15·E27 Core

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'

S15·E28 Mytharc

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

S15·E29 Core

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

S15·E30 Core

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

S15·E31 Core

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

S15·E32 Core

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

S15·E33 Core

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

S15·E34 Core

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

S15·E35 Core

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

S15·E36 Core

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

S15·E37 Mytharc

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

S15·E38 Core

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

S15·E39 Core

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

S15·E40 Core

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

S15·E41 Core

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

S15·E42 Core

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

S15·E43 Core

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

S15·E44 Core

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

S15·E45 Core

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

S15·E46 Core

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

S15·E47 Core

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

S15·E48 Mytharc

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

S15·E49 Core

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

S15·E50 Core

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

S15·E51 Mytharc

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

S15·E52 Core

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

S15·E53 Mytharc

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

S15·E54 Core

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

S15·E55 Core

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

S15·E56 Core

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

S15·E57 Core

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

S15·E58 Core

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

S15·E59 Core

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

S15·E60 Core

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

S15·E61 Core

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

S15·E62 Core

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

S15·E63 Core

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

S15·E64 Core

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

S15·E65 Core

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

S15·E66 Core

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

S15·E67 Core

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

S15·E68 Core

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.

S15·E69 Core

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

S15·E70 Core

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,

S15·E71 Core

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

S15·E72 Core

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

S15·E73 Core

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

S15·E74 Core

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

S15·E75 Core

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

S15·E76 Core

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

S15·E77 Core

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

S15·E78 Core

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

S15·E79 Core

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

S15·E80 Core

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

S15·E81 Core

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

S15·E82 Core

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

S15·E83 Mytharc

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

S15·E84 Mytharc

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

S15·E85 Core

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

S15·E86 Mytharc

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

S15·E87 Mytharc

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

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