The Bill: Series 8
The eighth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 105 episodes, broadcast between 2 January – 31 December 1992. The series was released on DVD for the first time on 6 June 2012, in Australia. It features the above artwork, which features images of PC Steve Loxton and DC Mike Dashwood.
Season 8 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 7.
- 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 eighth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 105 episodes, broadcast between 2 January – 31 December 1992. The series was released on DVD for the first time on 6 June 2012, in Australia. It features the above artwork, which features images of PC Steve Loxton and DC Mike Dashwood.
Episode Guide
Season 8 Progress Shield
The Best Policy
Jan 2, 1992 · 22 min
D.C.I. Reid's influence in high places suddenly makes D.I. Burnside look vulnerable to criticism. CID investigate an armed robbery.
A Friend In Need
Jan 7, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Quinnan is the subject of a civil complaint. P.C.s Stamp and Stringer follow up on a fire at a home for ex-psychiatric patients, but find little care in the community.
Whose Side Are You On?
Jan 9, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Lines investigates a mugging, and tries to get the victim charged with the murder of his assailant.
Lip Service
Jan 14, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Lines is enjoying an off-duty pint in his local pub and becomes involved in a bar brawl.
Illegals
Jan 16, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Lines investigates when a cellarful of illegal immigrants is discovered. He enlists the help of Sgt. Boyden, who takes a fancy to one of the females. Lines warns him off.
Fair Play
Jan 21, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Quinnan investigates the illegal sale of steroids. P.C. Garfield is put on the spot when his old sparring partner is arrested.
Dinosaur
Jan 23, 1992 · 22 min
D.I. Burnside's unorthodox policing methods, which include flushing an informant's head down a toilet, set him on a collision course with D.C.I. Reid, who has already received seve
Joyride
Jan 28, 1992 · 22 min
A girl is seriously injured in a joyriding incident. Ch. Supt. Brownlow must decide whether he is prepared to risk a riot by sending officers into an estate to round up the culprit
Not Waving
Jan 30, 1992 · 22 min
A student nurse is sexually assaulted. D.I. Burnside arrests the obvious suspect, but he escapes from police custody.
Mates
Feb 4, 1992 · 22 min
Sgt. Cryer is finding being non-operational tedious. He goes undercover as a punter in a brothel, but his presence on the operation antagonises Sgt. Peters. Cryer goes to sees Ch.
Lost Boy
Feb 6, 1992 · 22 min
D.S. Greig is led to a vice ring when searching for a missing thirteen-year-old boy. D.C. Dashwood and W.P.C. Ackland are brought into an operation against ponces running rent boys
Chicken
Feb 11, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Stringer tries to stop some children from playing 'chicken' on the railway line, but one of them is run down by a train. Sgt. Peters transfers upstairs to the post of duty ser
Somebody Special
Feb 13, 1992 · 22 min
Acting D.I. Greig tries to recruit a hardened female thief as a snout, but finds her more than a match for him. D.C.I. Reid is promoted out of Sun Hill to MS15.
Previous Convictions
Feb 18, 1992 · 22 min
Investigating an apparent accident in which a man's hand is crushed in a car-breaker's yard, Sgt. Maitland uncovers years of animosity, neglect and revenge.
Beggar My Neighbour
Feb 20, 1992 · 22 min
A tramp is attacked, leading the police into a web of crime.
It's A Small World
Feb 25, 1992 · 22 min
Thinking of leaving the force, D.C. Dashwood is tempted by a lucrative business opportunity with a firm of security consultants.
Licence
Feb 27, 1992 · 22 min
A man convicted of strangling his wife has been released on licence, but the probation service fails to notify Sun Hill. His presence comes to light when his son causes a disturban
Comeback
Mar 3, 1992 · 22 min
The community police station run by P.C. Smollett is fire-bombed. The area car is stolen from P.C. Loxton and W.P.C. Datta, and it is written off in an RTA.
Fireproof
Mar 5, 1992 · 22 min
D.I. Burnside leads an investigation into the firebombing of the community police station.
The Paddy Factor
Mar 10, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Carver and W.D.C. Martella have a car thief under observation, and see him shot as he gets into a car. The Anti-Terrorist Squad is called in, and the IRA is suspected.
The Wild Rover
Mar 12, 1992 · 22 min
D.S. Roach ignores the Anti-Terrorist Squad, and investigates a possible IRA cell.
Coincidence
Mar 17, 1992 · 22 min
A small boy known for lying claims to have been the subject of an attempted abduction in an adventure playground.
Going Soft
Mar 19, 1992 · 22 min
A routine trip to a magistrate for a warrant turns into a nightmare for D.C. Dashwood when he is taken prisoner by two hooded burglars.
Re-Hab
Mar 24, 1992 · 22 min
Jack Meadows arrives to take charge of Sun Hill CID. He becomes involved with a father suspected of murdering his drug addict son.
Acting Detective
Mar 26, 1992 · 22 min
A woman who collapsed at an airport is found to be a mule, smuggling drugs in her stomach. D.I. Burnside, with only limited time to mount an operation, gets W.P.C. French to take t
Stopover
Mar 31, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Smollett tries to offer a follow-up service to victims of crime. A woman whose husband is in prison, and who runs a guesthouse, keeps reporting an intruder on the premises. Sm
Suspects
Apr 2, 1992 · 22 min
D.S. Greig arrests a suspect for an armed robbery, but is proved wrong.
All The King's Horses
Apr 7, 1992 · 22 min
A lorry overturns and sheds its load outside a school, burying a boy and girl and putting P.C. Loxton to the test.
Party Politics
Apr 9, 1992 · 22 min
W.D.C. Martella celebrates her birthday. D.I. Burnside and D.S. Roach go to a party attended by a crooked businessman, who makes Burnside an offer he can't refuse.
Trials & Tribulations
Apr 14, 1992 · 22 min
W.P.C. Marshall becomes a vital witness in a murder trial, and soon realises that someone is trying to intimidate her.
A Can Of Worms
Apr 16, 1992 · 22 min
A traffic accident draws attention to a minicab firm.
Timing
Apr 21, 1992 · 22 min
D.C.I. Meadows tries to find the link between three arson attacks. D.S. Roach and D.C. Dashwood track down an escaped prisoner, but Roach seems more interested in his beautiful wif
A Nice Little Line In Plastic
Apr 23, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Quinnan and W.P.C. Datta arrest a girl using stolen credit cards and uncover a major racket.
Trial & Error
Apr 24, 1992 · 22 min
An armed robber who put an innocent bystander in an wheelchair has his house firebombed by the victim's son. D.I. Burnside is determined to see justice done.
Owning Up
Apr 30, 1992 · 22 min
P.C.s Loxton and Stringer follow up on a mugging but their case is nearly ruined when it collides with an investigation by D.S. Greig and D.C.I. Meadows. Can W.P.C. Ackland crack t
Up Behind
May 5, 1992 · 22 min
It's Saturday night, but CID are at work trailing a known criminal believed to be responsible for a series of artifice burglaries involving pensioners.
Appearances
May 7, 1992 · 22 min
Following an argument with a drunken pub customer, a young barmaid is hit by a car and later dies. P.C.s Quinnan and Stringer have their suspicions about the customer. Could it be
Principled Negotiation
May 12, 1992 · 22 min
D.I. Burnside and D.S. Roach look favourably on an ex-villain with a loan-shark problem, but they expect favours in return.
Sign Of Our Times
May 14, 1992 · 22 min
An armed robber admits to D.C. Lines that redundancy and the repossession of his house made him take to crime to solve his problems.
Priorities
May 19, 1992 · 22 min
P.C.s Stringer and Loxton attend to a theft at an old people's home and begin to suspect that the ex-policeman who runs the home is ill-treating residents.
Users
May 21, 1992 · 22 min
W.D.C. Martella arrests a woman for drug dealing. D.I. Burnside suspects that she is using teenage girls as couriers by offering them free holidays in Spain, but she is being explo
Man Of The People
May 26, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Stringer wins the election for the post of Federation Rep, beating the incumbent P.C. Hollis by fifty-eight votes to two. Ch. Supt. Brownlow decides to eat in the canteen with
Runaway
May 28, 1992 · 22 min
D.S Roach investigates the beating of a teenage girl, and tries to establish if his suspect is also responsible for a number of murders being investigated by AMIP.
Exposures
Jun 2, 1992 · 22 min
A young model claims that she was sexually assaulted during a photographic session. W.D.C. Martella discovers that every picture tells a story.
Better The Devil
Jun 4, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Stringer gets involved with a bizarre household, and discovers a horrifying case of parental cruelty in the attic. W.P.C. Marshall goes on attachment to the Domestic Violence
Prisoners
Jun 9, 1992 · 22 min
Sgt. Boyden and P.C. Hollis are hoping for a quiet night in the custody suite at Sun Hill, but that's not how it turns out.
World To Rights
Jun 11, 1992 · 22 min
W.P.C. Marshall, on attachment to the Domestic Violence Unit at Stafford Row, makes an error of judgement and is attacked by a woman's husband.
Do The Right Thing
Jun 16, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Stringer is mugged by a gang, and determines to get his own back. P.C. Quinnan and W.P.C. Datta follow a cheque card fraudster.
Hiding To Nothing
Jun 18, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Stamp is ambushed by a gang of youths on a local estate. In trying to assist him, W.P.C. Ackland crashes the Area car, much to P.C. Loxton's delight.
Punching Judy
Jun 23, 1992 · 22 min
A woman lies critically injured in hospital, beaten up by her husband. D.S. Greig and D.C.I. Meadows interview the husband. W.P.C. Marshall decides to quit the Domestic Violence Un
Vicious Circles
Jun 25, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Hollis arrests a woman for being drunk in charge of a baby, and finds himself drawn into a complicated family set-up.
Up All Night
Jun 30, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Garfield pursues a burglar and is beaten up. Sgt. Boyden's inaction brings hostility from the relief and trouble for D.S. Roach.
Part Of The Furniture
Jul 2, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Dashwood is to be transferred to the Art and Antiques Squad. D.S. Roach hands him a burglary at an infants' school as a wind-up, but it develops into a case that allows Dashwo
Snakes & Ladders
Jul 7, 1992 · 22 min
It's P.C. Garfield's first day back after the attack. The relief place bets on the likelihood of Garfield punching Sgt. Boyden, but Garfield eventually takes his revenge.
Street Cleaning
Jul 9, 1992 · 22 min
Sgt. Cryer gets the relief to put the Garfield-Boyden conflict behind them and get back to work, to sort out the takeover of genuine beggars' pitches by violent professional thieve
Hands Up
Jul 14, 1992 · 22 min
Conway decides he needs to get back on the beat, and arrests a drunk for criminal damage.
A Scandalous Act
Jul 16, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Garfield brings in a teenaged girl arrested at a drugs party, and she accuses him of sexually assaulting her.
Raiders
Jul 21, 1992 · 22 min
A ram-raid ends in tragedy when a boy is killed. But what was his part in the affair?
Talk Out
Jul 23, 1992 · 22 min
A middle-aged couple arrive at the front desk and report their neighbour missing, but W.P.C. Ackland isn't sure that they are telling the whole truth.
True Confessions
Jul 28, 1992 · 22 min
D.S. Roach is put under pressure when a suspect retracts a confession and accuses the police of oppression.
Private Enterprise
Jul 30, 1992 · 22 min
D.C.I. Meadows tackles CID about passing intelligence to the collator; but D.S. Roach is reluctant to share information relating to his current operation.
Getting Through
Aug 4, 1992 · 22 min
The night shift is saddled with a feud between two men who come to the front desk with allegations of GBH against each other.
Last Night Of Freedom
Aug 6, 1992 · 22 min
Someone is stabbed on a stag night, but the likely suspect can't remember a thing about it.
Cutting Loose
Aug 11, 1992 · 22 min
Burnside and Lines are returning a chief suspect to prison when they are ambushed by a gang of masked men, who spring him.
Soft Targer
Aug 13, 1992 · 22 min
P.C. Smollett discovers that a local villain is driving people out of their flats and reletting them to squatters. At Sun Hill, a civilian typist is discovered to be having an affa
I've Never Been To Harrogate
Aug 18, 1992 · 22 min
D.S. Greig and D.C. Woods investigate the mysterious collapse of an old lady who has been burgled.
Human Resources
Aug 20, 1992 · 22 min
Two con men are preying on women through the small ads in the local paper. Lack of personnel for D.S. Roach's operation places W.D.C. Martella in danger.
Exit
Aug 25, 1992 · 22 min
A loan shark is attacked. D.S. Greig has a vital witness who is young, blonde and pretty, but she keeps stringing him along, and then disappears.
Loyalties
Aug 27, 1992 · 22 min
Acting on information from a snout, D.I. Burnside mounts a raid on crack-houses. When details of the raid are leaked, D.C.I. Meadows challenges Burnside over the trustworthiness of
Snapshot
Sep 1, 1992 · 22 min
A complaint over loud music quickly escalates into an armed siege, as a man waves a gun at P.C.s Stamp and Quinnan.
Letting Go
Sep 3, 1992 · 22 min
Reg is playing with a train set before going out. He is looking for a place to live as he is moving out of the section house but ends up moving to a different corridor instead.
Travelling Light
Sep 8, 1992 · 22 min
Viv helps Donna dress up for a reconstruction of a murder case. They find a man who spoke to the dead woman and gives them a new lead. The ex-boyfriend of the murder victim asks
Radio Waves
Sep 10, 1992 · 22 min
Monroe talks to Conway about a problem with a car chase. Tony and Dave were chasing joy riders with Ron in the back. Norika and George help catch the children who were joy riding
A Blind Eye
Sep 15, 1992 · 22 min
Viv brings in an elderly mugging victim who helps make an identikit picture. Boyden gets spoken to by Monroe about working with the relief. Tony assists George with a disturban
Sympathy For the Devil
Sep 17, 1992 · 22 min
Tosh is at the building society waiting for an armed robber. Dave and Barry assist CID and they catch an old age pensioner. Steve goes to a disturbance behind a pub. He finds a
Force Is Part of the Service
Sep 22, 1992 · 22 min
Brownlow and Conway have a meeting with councillors about the changes in the police force. Conway gives them a tour of the station. Steve brings in a man suspected of street rob
On the Record, Off the Record
Sep 24, 1992 · 22 min
CID investigates a break-in at a warehouse which resulted in the theft of personal CD players. Steve spots the van used in the robbery. After talking to a worker with form, finge
Stoning the Glasshouse
Sep 29, 1992 · 22 min
Bob visits a friend who is the head of a neighbourhood watch. His son is stealing to support his drug habit. Bob's friend thinks the police are turning a blind eye towards the Co
Tip-Off
Oct 1, 1992 · 22 min
Tosh is asked for by a burglar whom he put inside. He gives Tosh information that there might be a bank robbery. CID catches the robbers after the job but when Tosh tries to arra
Open to Offers
Oct 6, 1992 · 22 min
Monroe and the relief go to a pub where some men are damaging it. One of the men tries to blackmail Dave over some moonlighting Dave did to get off the charge. Monroe thinks the
Playing God
Oct 8, 1992 · 22 min
CID are tied up with a court case. A burglary suspect of Ted's may have to be released as he is at court. Tony brings in an old lady who has been abusive in the street. Dave a
Crack of Doom
Oct 13, 1992 · 22 min
There is a search of people looking for crack. A man has a scuffle with another man and claims a piece of crack was planted on him. Tony discovers the man, an ex-boxer, lives ove
Spit and Polish
Oct 15, 1992 · 22 min
Steve is late for shift. Just as Steve is about to arrest a fine defaulter Dave is nearly run over by a speeding BMW. Steve really wants to arrest the fine defaulter, who has alr
Overdue
Oct 20, 1992 · 22 min
Burnside talks to a snout in a bus queue about a delivery. Woods and Carver observe the delivery and CID raid the premises. The cartons contain bricks and motor parts instead of
We Should Be Talking
Oct 22, 1992 · 22 min
George is following a silver car that might have been involved in a ramraid. While checking in with the station, his radio goes dead. Sgt. Cryer discovers the radio link is down.
Reasonable Grounds
Oct 27, 1992 · 22 min
Norika goes to see a man about a missing child. Barry has to tell a man his brother is dead after complaining of having to let a suspected burglar go with a caution. the man tak
Discipline
Oct 29, 1992 · 22 min
An obbo on a club nearly goes wrong when a fight starts outside it. The man who started the fight turns out to be a D. S. suspended from the Drug Squad.
Minefield
Nov 3, 1992 · 22 min
Sgt. Maitland finds himself in the wrong when he discovers a serious procedural error meant that a dangerous and possibly psychopathic man has been arrested twice for the same offe
Gamers
Nov 5, 1992 · 22 min
Tosh investigates a fire bombing of an Asian shop. Dave and Cathy investigates an Asian lady accused of shoplifting. Cathy thinks there is something going on. Her husband is ga
Occupational Hazard
Nov 10, 1992 · 22 min
When sex appeal doesn't get him what he wants, Harry Osborne turns vicious. W.D.C. Martella has to pick up the pieces.
Just Send Some Flowers
Nov 12, 1992 · 22 min
W.D.C. Martella investigates a burglary that occurred during a funeral. D.C. Carver links it to previous burglaries and an employee with a criminal record who claims to be innocent
Waifs and Strays
Nov 17, 1992 · 22 min
A missing girl's blood-stained book leads D.C. Lines to uncover the family's dark secrets and come up with an unexpected result. P.C. Hollis has to deal with a lost dog. P.C. Lox
Happy Families
Nov 19, 1992 · 22 min
What's a smart girl like Sharon doing with a villain like Daniel Batt? D.I. Burnside thinks it's all to do with female hormones, but W.D.C. Martella isn't so sure.
Well Out of Order
Nov 24, 1992 · 22 min
Meadows and Burnside want to go in force to the Tankeray estate to root out the criminal element, but Brownlow is committed to a softer approach. P.C. Smollett proves more effectiv
Into The Mire
Nov 26, 1992 · 22 min
CID receive information that leads to the arrest of a prolific handler of stolen goods.
Master Of The House
Dec 1, 1992 · 22 min
The body of a respectable family man is found on a notorious patch of wasteland.
Fireworks
Dec 3, 1992 · 22 min
Stamp uses some old-fashioned policing methods to tackle the problem of children playing with railway detonators.
Cold Shoulder
Dec 8, 1992 · 22 min
A local youth with form is stabbed in the centre of a densely populated housing development. D.C.I. Meadows investigates when no witnesses come forward.
Safety First
Dec 10, 1992 · 22 min
D.I. Burnside investigates when a pawnbroker is shot in the leg with a legally-acquired shotgun during a robbery at his shop.
Counting the Cost
Dec 15, 1992 · 22 min
A local hero who prevented a robbery, and was severely injured in the process, but received no compensation, is being harassed by a scrap dealer until W.P.C. Ackland turns the tabl
Compassion
Dec 17, 1992 · 22 min
A probation officer seems eager to assist D.I. Burnside over the murder of a prostitute, but how close is she to the murderer?
Finders Keepers
Dec 22, 1992 · 22 min
D.C. Carver finds a buried treasure and the glory should be his. D.C. Dashwood, now with the Art and Antiques Squad, takes the case away and gets a result.
Return Match
Dec 24, 1992 · 22 min
When a collection of valuable dolls is stolen, D.C. Dashwood from the Art and Antiques Squad turns up, wrong-foots D.C. Lines and gets a result.
High Places
Dec 29, 1992 · 22 min
An ex-criminal who used to be part of a circus high-wire act is found dead, apparently from a fall, but the pathologist says he died elsewhere.
When Push Comes To Shove
Dec 31, 1992 · 22 min
Sun Hill officers are drinking after shift when some troublemakers arrive at the pub. W.P.C. Ackland tries to calm the situation, but P.C.s Quinnan and Loxton decide that she needs