PC Dave Quinnan, like many of his colleagues, had not decided to join the police force immediately but had instead trained as an electrician and worked on oil rigs in Aberdeen.[1] His family is quite large and he is a good friend but he did not join the police to be a good Samaritan. Instead he decided someone had to keep the peace and hold authority and thought it might as well be him. He chooses to defy regulations by continuing to put his electrical skills to work for extra money but he eventually worries this will be discovered. Dave initially judges people on first appearances but soon learns to be more cautious. He is a good friend, especially to PCs Tony Stamp and Steve Loxton, and is consistently backed by Sergeant Bob Cryer when his methods are seen to be somewhat unconventional. After being stabbed by a gang of youths on the Jasmine Allen estate[1] he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Following an affair with PC Polly Page and a marriage breakdown, Dave left Sun Hill, transferring to SO10.
Dave Quinnan - (married 1999-divorced 2002) unnamed fiancée (engaged 2002)
Nurse Jenny Quinnan, formerly Delaney first appeared as a nurse tending to PC Dave Quinnan after his stabbing in March 1999. Delaney caught the eye of PC George Garfield when he visited Quinnan in hospital. Delaney also stuck up for Quinnan when another patient tried giving him a hard time over preferential treatment. Best friends Garfield and Quinnan began vying for her affections without the other knowing, however Garfield got in ahead of Quinnan and proposed. Delaney, about to go on a sabbatical in South America, tells him she has to think about his proposal. When she returns, she ends up in the arms of Quinnan. Despite trying their utmost to avoid Garfield, he spots his girlfriend and best friend in a passionate clinch, and he tries to attack Quinnan. Later showing up drunk at Delaney's flat, Garfield screams the block down until police arrive. When Garfield and Quinnan are paired together and end up in a fight, Inspector Andrew Monroe is forced to separate them and demands one of them leaves, so Quinnan puts in a transfer request. When Garfield realises he can't make Quinnan and Delaney give up their jobs to avoid him, he resigns and goes off on a journey to "find himself". Delaney and Quinnan's relationship accelerates and he ends up proposing, to which she accepts. Despite horrendous organisation from PC Reg Hollis, an appearance from Garfield, a near drowning and several guests going missing en route, their marriage is completed and they go off on honeymoon to Mexico - to the same place as Garfield's next soul-searching destination! Quinnan comes close to kissing PC Polly Page on his first shift back when they are trapped in the lift of a burning block of flats on New Year's Eve. Quinnan confronts his demons by going back to the Jasmine Allen Estate, scene of his stabbing, to join the youth club against the wishes of his wife. When he uncovers a drugs ring involving the death of two teenagers and the shooting of another, he ends up abducted and missing, leaving Jenny to fear her husband is dead. Quinnan is found alive and well, but clashes with his wife when he insists on finishing the investigation. In mid-2000, Quinnan's colleague Page becomes close to a victim of stalking, however the victim becomes obsessed and assumes Page will be happy if Jenny is out of the way. As Jenny leaves a shift, the woman comes out of nowhere and hits Jenny at full speed. Surviving the impact, Quinnan becomes resentful of Page, but they end up beginning an affair at Christmas 2000. When Jenny discovers this, she soaks Quinnan and his suit with beer whilst attending a dance ball. After a blazing row, Quinnan tries to persuade Jenny to stay, but she returns to Ireland as Quinnan goes to work. Realising she is gone, Quinnan enters a deep depression and is sent on leave by Superintendent Tom Chandler. Jenny is not seen but she is mentioned in early 2002 when Quinnan reveals his divorce has been finalised, telling PC Tony Stamp that she is now engaged again, and expecting her first child.
Len Radford (father- deceased) Irene Radford (mother- deceased) Wayne Radford (brother- deceased) Karl Radford (brother)
David Radford was a series regular on The Bill during its 20th series. David took over the role as the Radford family patriarch following the death of his father Len in 1983, for shooting police officer Brian Thatcher. David slowly built a reputation as a psycho, proving to be a chip off the old block, in a sense, a reincarnation of his father. When the Radfords returned to London in 2004, David became the main target for DC Rob Thatcher, son of Brian Thatcher. David was quickly arrested by Rob in possession of counterfeit DVDs, but he was soon released thanks to doctored “evidence” from his mother. With Rob unable to ensnare the Radfords legally, he sent PC Kerry Young undercover without authorisation, and she soon fell for David. When Irene realised who Kerry was, David ordered her to be murdered, but a raid on his club rescued Kerry and her colleague, Sergeant Dale Smith. David’s brother Wayne was arrested in the raid for possession with intent to supply, and he later killed himself in prison. Kerry stole evidence to regain David’s trust, and Irene took her under her wing.
As David plotted an armed robbery, Kerry double crossed David and arrested him. When Irene delivered further doctored evidence to “prove” Kerry was an agent provocateur, David was released, and made a death threat against Kerry. When Kerry was gunned down a day later by her nemesis, PC Gabriel Kent, David was named as prime suspect. While he was cleared of that charge, he started a war with Jimmy Cross (Tim Treloar), nephew of old Radford associate Jack Gaunt (David Simeon). When Cross was murdered in a drive-by shooting, forensics identified the gun as the same one that killed Brian Thatcher, and an enhanced videotape of the 1983 robbery revealed that Irene Radford actually shot Brian, not her husband Len. When Rob learned this from Karl Radford (Sam Callis) he attacked David and lured Irene to an ambush. David found the strength to drive over there and shot Rob to rescue his mother, but Rob eloped and David was arrested for his attempted murder. Irene also went on the run, but returned weeks later, staging a robbery so she could break him out of a prison transporter undetected. However, David had become an emotional wreck inside prison and refused to go with her, so she abducted Inspector Gina Gold instead. After attempting to flee the country, Irene was murdered by Rob in a Mexican standoff, before he was gunned down by SO19.
Len Radford (husband- deceased) David Radford (son) Wayne Radford (son- deceased) Karl Radford (son)
Irene Radford was a series regular on The Bill during its 20th series. Renowned actress Lynda Bellingham, cast as a villain for the first and only time in her career, said of the character during a special episode The Bill Made Me Famous, that beneath all her evil, she was a caring mother who had a desire to make the best life possible for her sons. Irene was a widower; husband Len was killed by police in a failed robbery in 1983 that resulted in the death of DC Rob Thatcher’s father Brian. Irene returned to London in 2004 with her sons David and Wayne, with her third son Karl (Sam Callis) still living there after becoming estranged. Rob, posted to Sun Hill, was determined to get the Radfords jailed when they showed up on his patch. His determination led to reprimands, and in one case, an abduction by Irene, but he refused to give up. He sent PC Kerry Young in undercover without authorisation, and she fell for Irene’s son David. Irene was reluctant to trust Kerry, and when her cover was blown, planned a hit. A perfectly timed raid saved Kerry and her colleague, Sergeant Dale Smith, and Wayne Radford was arrested in possession of drugs. Kerry later returned to the Radfords with stolen evidence to regain David’s trust and gain Irene’s. Irene was left devastated when Wayne committed suicide in prison, having been subject to a series of beatings caused by Rob spreading false rumours that Wayne was a child killer.
Having birthed three sons, Irene established a motherly bond with Kerry, who had lost her own mother when she was four, in the wake of Wayne’s death. Irene and David were left furious when Kerry double-crossed them, getting David arrested for armed robbery, however Irene brought doctored evidence that “proved” Kerry was an agent provocateur. Kerry was arrested as a result, but was then fatally gunned down by her nemesis, PC Gabriel Kent, a day later. Irene came back into the spotlight when a turf war kicked off between the Radfords and the Cross family, with their uncle Jack Gaunt (David Simeon) an old associate of the Radfords, arrested during the 1983 robbery. When Gaunt’s nephew Jimmy (Tim Treloar) was shot dead in a drive-by, forensics proved the gun was the same that killed Brian Thatcher, and an enhanced videotape of the incident identified Irene as Brian’s actual murderer. Learning this from Irene’s estranged son Karl, who explained the incident was why he turned his back on his family, Rob assaulted David to lure Irene to an ambush. Showing up armed, Rob disarmed her but was shot by David. Wounded but determined, Rob went on the run, while David was arrested for the attempted murder of Rob.
Irene returned to London a few weeks later with a claim she had cancer, however it emerged she was back to break David out of jail and return to Spain with him and Karl in tow. As she distracted the Sun Hill team with a fake robbery, a prison transporter was ambushed en route to a mental health facility, with David having a breakdown inside the jail. As Inspector Gina Gold and DS Phil Hunter arrived on the scene, David refused to go with his mother due to his fragile emotional state, leading Irene to abduct Gina instead. As they drove to a remote cottage, Irene bonded with Gina, who had almost arrested Irene in the 80s for a jewel robbery. As they realised they were similar women, just “the good and bad side of the penny”, Gina tried to get Irene to surrender with armed police hunting her down. Escaping the cottage as the arrest team swarmed in, Irene drove to a remote airfield with Gina to make her escape from the country. As armed police caught up to them at the airfield, Gina managed to talk Irene down, only for Rob to make an appearance and shoot Irene dead. Having committed murder, Rob opted for suicide by cop and was gunned down by SO19 after aiming his gun at them.
PC Pete Ramsey is a tough, flash East End boy. His uniform is pressed and spotless, and seems to fit better than other people's; his car is a 1970s Porsche 911 in immaculate condition. Formerly a detective, he was put back into uniform and moved to Sun Hill after an allegation that he cheated other police officers in a card game. Confident, even arrogant, he often has run-ins with senior officers for insubordination and indiscipline. In one way he is not a good officer, since he breaks the rules. He would take a backhander from an unlicensed trader or do a deal over a minor offence; he does not expect to pay for a new shirt or a packet of cigarettes. In another way, however, he is a very good officer, bright, self-reliant and at ease in the inner city. He may have been a bent cop, but he is not on the side of the villains. He is on the side of Pete Ramsey.
Ramsey is shot while protecting Tosh Lines during a bank robbery. News was later received that Ramsey was pulling round and out of danger. A few days later it was confirmed that he was to be invalided out of the force, with speculation about the kind of pension he would be getting. His exact fate is never revealed on screen, although many official sources state that he died. It is likely that he died suddenly a short time afterwards, as on Dave Quinnan's first day, in December 1989, Tom Penny tells him how "the man who had your locker had some very nasty habits" and Quinnan opens the locker to find a pornographic magazine. However, Nick Reding, years later in The Bill Podcast, claimed Ramsey never died. Reding said he was unsure, however, whether Ramsey was badly crippled when being shot and ended up in a wheelchair.[2]
James Rawton (father- deceased 1979) Audrey Rawton (mother) Brenda Matthews (aunt) Cheryl Matthews (cousin)
DC/DS/later DI Liz Rawton was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her father died in a car accident when she was 13, and it inspired her to join Northumbria Police when she was a cadet of 18, revealing once that her father wanted to be a police officer when he left the army and she joined the force to follow his dream for him. In 1991, she moved to London and joined the Metropolitan Police undercover division SO10. In 1996, she joined Sun Hill as a WDC, replacing DC Alan Woods.[3] Liz had already worked alongside DS Don Beech prior to arriving at Sun Hill, and was wary of his reputation. Barely having introduced herself, Liz was dispatched to go to the aid of WDC Suzi Croft, who was having a rather dire day at court. Liz was wary of the boys' insistence that she'd like Suzi simply because she was the only other female in CID, but soon found that they were right, as the two quickly became firm friends. Equally as no-nonsense as Suzi, but much more even-tempered, Liz had a sharp wit to match her astute mind. She was immediately at home in Sun Hill CID and quickly became popular amongst her colleagues. She was often the voice of reason, both in and out of the office, when things got a little fraught. Liz was also appreciated for her sound advice and conscientious approach to her work, by CID and uniform alike. She also appeared to have a keen eye for spotting potential in younger officers, such as PC Nick Slater, who she felt, had a talent for undercover work. Nick eventually decided to transfer to SO10. She also helped WPC Rosie Fox when she was bullied out of Sun Hill by PC Eddie Santini after he attempted to sexually assault her, although she was wary of Rosie making an official complaint as it could jeopardise any future job applications. Rosie decided to drop it and transferred to AMIP, and when she returned in 1999 to investigate a fatal firebombing at a nightclub, Liz helped prove that Eddie had murdered his lover, Jess Orton. At the end of the year, she was abducted by Brian Hill, a former associate from an undercover operation with SO10. Liz was rescued and Hill committed suicide before he could be arrested.
Prior to the ordeal, Liz confided in close friend DC Duncan Lennox that she had been offered a position as a trainer for detectives at Hendon, and while he convinced her she would miss frontline policing, the ordeal made her decide to leave Sun Hill. Liz got a taste for undercover work again when DCI Frank Burnside asked her to come to Newcastle and investigate a corruption ring inside Northumbria Police in January 2000, posing as Burnside's business partner as he worked as a car dealer with a sideline in drugs. Soon after the operation, she reunited with former Sun Hill colleagues Dave Quinnan, Vicky Hagen and Rosie Fox for the murder trial of Santini. However, Fox was murdered by associates of a major drug dealer as he was due to be charged with conspiracy to murder her and Santini, and a horrified Liz discovered the body of her old friend. Another officer, DS Paul Timpney was hired to make Santini's trial collapse, and he later killed Santini after he was bailed. Soon after this, Lennox's prediction about Rawton missing frontline policing proved true, and she left Hendon for a DS position at the Organised Crime Group. When Lennox was seconded to OCG to investigate a murder in the spring of 2001, he discovered Rawton was Acting DI at the time. Later that year, Liz (now credited as a fully-fledged DI), was seconded to Sun Hill for "Operation Magenta" to investigate a series of nearly two dozen rapes, including the murder of a victim who became Liz's informant. It was later revealed their suspect, Joseph Ferdinand (Michael McKell), was working with two corrupt police officers, DI Freddie Collins (Brian Croucher) and DS Pete Cork (Tristan Gemmill), who was profiler on the case. Cork had secretly tried to rape Sun Hill DC Kate Spears, and as she tailed Cork to a meeting with Ferdinand, he was fatally stabbed by his partner in crime. When Liz and Kate went to arrest Ferdinand, he killed a detained DI Collins and abducted them, along with DC Mickey Webb. As he tried to mastermind an escape, Spears sped up in the car they were being held captive in before slamming on the brakes, and Ferdinand was killed as he flew out of the windshield. Rawton was not seen again after this.
DCI Kim Reid was perhaps the most powerful woman officer ever to work at Sun Hill in terms of personality, while she held the highest rank by a female officer until 2005, when Amanda Prosser joined as an Acting Superintendent. She moved to the station when DCI Wray was transferred because of his affair with June Ackland. CID were not expecting a woman boss and were none too pleased when she turned up. In fact she arrived in style, with a sandwich in one hand and a prisoner in the other. If Frank Burnside thought a woman boss would be an easy touch, he soon found that it didn't pay to underestimate Reid and she proceeded to win over her new charges with her resilience and humour; the lads soon began to appreciate her sharpness and toughness. Reid knew full well that her performance was being monitored by those in high places and indeed her next promotion was not long in coming. When she left to join MS15 – with an inappropriate silver tankard as a parting gift – it was clear that she was going to become a very high flier indeed. She later returned to Sun Hill as Detective Superintendent to investigate allegations of sexual assault by George Garfield.
PC Cass Rickman, a Roman Catholic[citation needed], was a fun-loving person who goes about her duties with a bubbly attitude. She was secretly in love with PC Nick Klein, whom she helped when he revealed he was a drug addict. She had an on and off relationship with Sun Hill journalist Simon Kitson, much to the disapproval of his sister, Pat Kitson, who is later revealed as the Sun Hill Serial Killer. Cass was ultimately killed by Pat, becoming her sixth and final victim. Her death shocked everyone at Sun Hill, especially her close friends PC Kerry Young and Roberta Cryer, and also shook Nick Klein, who found her dead body.
DC Paul Riley Laid back to the point of being almost comatose, Riley was a London born Irishman. He definitely looked and initially came across as a simple, good-looking, macho guy. His hobbies included the gym, martial arts and sword collecting, and it was true that he had very conventional attitudes towards gender – he seemed to really believe that men were the protectors, and that women were the fairer sex. But in fact he was not an unreconstructed lad at all. At heart he was a very gentle person and family man – part of a large, close-knit, locally based family who owned a small business. Their values, albeit somewhat simplistic, were closer to the Knights of the Round Table than Conan the Barbarian. Paul wasn't the brightest and he lacked guile or political sophistication, so he was often an easy target for McAllister's wiles. Tragically, Riley was one of the casualties of the Sun Hill fire when race riots got out of hand.
DS Ted Roach served at Sun Hill for nearly ten years. He later resigned after he punched Inspector Andrew Monroe in the face during an argument at the station. Earlier the same day, PC Dave Quinnan and PC Tony Stamp caught Ted in a fight when they were called out to a pub. This was with Mark Leonard, over one of Ted's many ex-girlfriends, Lisa Bright, a WPC from another station. Ted then became a private detective and, years later, helped out at Sun Hill by assisting Jim Carver with a murder case. He was later killed in a hit-and-run incident. DCI Jack Meadows and retired Officers Bob Cryer and Alec Peters represented the station at Ted's funeral.
PC Nate Roberts arrived at Sun Hill in October 2007. A friendly and approachable man, Nate has a roving eye for the ladies and certainly isn't lacking in self-confidence.[4] Nate is upfront about playing the field and as a result has little interest in a relationship. However, occasionally he can be over-attracted to someone and he has been known to slip up when too keen. Overall, Nate is popular and a real people person, though not much is known about his personal life. It was said he had been in the Met for seven years and had been assigned to three other stations before Sun Hill, telling Sergeant Dale Smith he got bored being at the same place too long.
Nate arrives at Sun Hill soon after PC Benjamin Gayle, with whom he became close friends, as they both replaced recently departed PCs Dan Casper and Leela Kapoor. On his first day he attended a fire at a squat, but was beaten to an arrest by PC Emma Keane. He had a soft spot for Keane that he never acted upon, and was saddened when she was killed in a bomb blast in the spring of 2008. When he was assigned to a mobile unit on the Jasmine Allen Estate, along with a handful of his colleagues, he showed a more sensitive side when he helped a boy who started fires to alleviate the stresses of caring for his nan. Nate tried training for the advanced drivers course in late 2008, but failed, however he was able to help a struggling father who attempted suicide after his daughter was injured in a hit and run.
In mid 2009, he was assigned to Deansgate School as a temporary safer schools officer, following an arson attack on its art wing. When the incident led to a fight that ended with Sergeant Dale Smith being stabbed, he volunteered to stay on, with Smith praising his "concerning" show of maturity. Having recently had an ill-fated relationship with a nurse, Nate was reluctant to pursue another relationship, however he grew closer to a teacher at the school. When she was attacked, he went out of his way to find out who was responsible, and cracked a sexual abuse case involving a pupil from the school. Despite growing close to the teacher during his spell at the school, she and Nate decided against a relationship. Nate remained a regular character until the end of the series in 2010, but made his departure four episodes before the finale, making him the only series regular in the final month of the series not to appear in the finale. It is unknown if he had left Sun Hill in August 2010, or if he was just away from the station during the final weeks of the series.
Sergeant Marc Rollins was a hard-working, no-nonsense firearms officer who harboured a secret on his arrival - he was the boyfriend of PC Lance Powell. While Rollins wasn't ashamed of his sexuality or his partner, he was secretive and didn't want to share it with his colleagues, feeling it made him look inferior. He was first seen in June 2004 helping CID and uniform raid a drug dealer's squat, before coordinating a raid on a series of tunnels where DSs Phil Hunter and Samantha Nixon were being held hostage by armed kingpin Dennis Weaver. Rollins made a number of appearances related to the sniper killings in mid to late 2004, including PC Kerry Young's murder at the hands of PC Gabriel Kent and escorting uniform around after Kent was shot at by associate Jason Hardy, the sniper who was later killed by Kent as Rollins and Sergeant Dale Smith tried to arrest Hardy. It was during the incident that led to Hardy being thrown five stories from a block of flats to his death that Rollins' team found out about his sexuality. Boyfriend Lance Powell confronted fellow PC Roger Valentine over spilling the beans, however it transpired that PC Steve Hunter was the one who let it slip to S019. Realising he was wrong to hide his feelings, Rollins proposes to Powell. As the pair prepare to marry, Christian friends of Powell abduct him in an attempt to "cure" him of his sexuality, however he is rescued in time to marry Rollins. Despite being involved in many firearms incidents, Rollins was not seen firing often, so when he did have to take a suspect down it hit him hard. Following the station siege in 2005, Rollins gunned down hostage taker Jeff Clarke without realizing his gun wasn't loaded, having opted for suicide by cop. Despite it being the wishes of Clarke, Rollins fell into a pit of despair and depression that ultimately led to him asking Powell for a break. With Powell also depressed, knowing that he didn't have to question his love of Rollins despite his partner's doubts, he became extremely drunk in a nightclub. With a gay serial killer on the loose, DS Phil Hunter received Powell's ID card just 24 hours after receiving a call from the gloating killer. When officers went round to Powell's house, he was found dead. Rollins decided after his funeral to resign from the MET and was not seen again; it was never explained what happened to him.
DCI Andrew Ross was the head of the Murder Investigation Team between 2002 and 2004. He is first assigned to Sun Hill CID to investigate the Sun Hill serial killer who murdered PC Cass Rickman. He also investigated when PC Polly Page was arrested for murder, a case that turned out to be assisted suicide, and then again when PC Des Taviner's involvement in the Sun Hill Fire came out in early 2004. He was not seen after Taviner was arrested, and his last appearance was in Episode 193 after PC Cameron Tait was held hostage by Taviner. His fate was unknown but he was succeeded by DCI Rowanne Morell, who was promoted from DI in 2005.
Billy Rowan
Billy Rowan
First appearance
Cop Killer Part 1 (5 July 2007)
Last appearance
Cop Killer Part 1 (5 July 2007)
Portrayed by
Ben Lee
In-universe information
Title
Police Constable
Occupation
Police Officer
PC Billy Rowan appeared in one episode only. He was a 22-year-old probationer out of Hendon. He was puppy-walked by Sergeant Nikki Wright and PC Emma Keane, alongside new officer PC Sally Armstrong. The four attended a false alarm by the man who stabbed Sergeant Doug Wright, husband of Nikki Wright and slashed Billy's neck, killing him.
PC Mel Ryder is upbeat, ballsy and straight-talking. If she had a mission statement, it would be 'Life's for living. Go for it!' This is a woman who lights up a room with a ready laugh and bright smile. However, she's also tough and commands respect because she won't compromise anyone. If her direct approach causes offence, it won't last – no one can stay angry with her for long – well, maybe the crims. Mel's a great team player; her courage and strength mean she's a great person to have on side. And that bright smile – it's infectious. During her time at Sun Hill, she established herself as one of the most subtle yet determined officers the station has ever seen.
Leanne Samuels was a recurring character on The Bill from late 2007 to early 2008. She played a key role in the eight-part Witness storyline which saw her daughter Carly (Marsha Leanne Crosby) gunned down in a drive-by shooting, with the plot exploring gang culture on her estate in the wake of Carly's murder.
Leanne made her first appearance in the autumn of 2007 with Sergeant Dale Smith and PC Nate Roberts looking for her daughter Carly, who was suspected of fraud by selling defunct raffle tickets. Smith had dealt with Carly a few days earlier when she witnessed an arson attack in a disused flat and a later attack on a squatter living there. Smith was stunned to discover Carly had a daughter, Brooke, and insisted Carly had to get her life back on track for the sake of Brooke. Despite this, Carly let him down again and Leanne ended up being arrested for attacking a shopkeeper. Having lost her job for constantly babysitting Brooke, Leanne tried to con the shopkeeper into thinking she had been given less change than she got, attacking him when he saw through her lie. Smith convinced the shopkeeper to drop the assault allegations, and Carly eventually lamented and got her act together.
A few months later, Carly was witness to a violent stabbing on local teenager Tito Morientes (Christian Reyno). Carly pointed them in the direction of Tito's landlord Eric Benton (Michael Sewell), but when he denied the stabbing, Carly admitted that her boyfriend Marlon Reed (Jude Owusu) was responsible. Despite finding a blood-stained hoodie and a knife, Marlon was immediately bailed after being charged with GBH. As uniform increased their presence on the Jasmine Allen Estate, Carly met up with Marlon at a skate park. Smith spoke to Carly and Marlon, but soon after he left the scene, a car pulled up and shot at Marlon and his crew, leaving Carly critically injured. Smith immediately returned to the scene and tended to Carly. Accompanying her to hospital, Smith was stunned when Carly succumbed to her injuries, just as a devastated Leanne arrived. In the wake of Carly's death, Smith was assigned to Leanne as her Family Liaison Officer. In her immediate shock, Leanne was snappy and angered by Smith's questioning. When a false witness spread lies that Carly was a prostitute and pregnant, Smith's questions led Leanne to confront Marlon about getting Carly pregnant. Devastated and furious, Marlon went after Tito and held him at gunpoint. As SO19 arrived, Marlon shot at DC Grace Dasari, who was protected by a metal pillar, and Smith tackled Marlon before arresting him for attempted murder. Marlon was also arrested on drugs charges, after the father of Carly's baby Brooke, Dwayne Fox (Syrus Lowe), gave info that he was producing crack cocaine. After telling Leanne that Marlon was going to prison, Smith tried to explain that Carly was conned into drug running and was planning to leave London to get away from Marlon but despite proof of this, Leanne threw Smith out of her house after claiming he was trying to smear Carly's name.
The following day, after Tito was bailed when he retracted a confession whilst being held at gunpoint by Marlon, Leanne went to his home and demanded he admit the truth. After leaving Brooke home alone, Dwayne blackmailed Leanne into getting Brooke for the night. Leanne casually mentioned that her psychic claimed she had a vision of Tito at a petrol station near Carly's murder site, and an investigation by PCs Reg Hollis and Beth Green proved the psychic's boyfriend was actually witness to it. When he refused to make a statement, the investigation stalling and her fear of losing Brooke to Dwayne in the wake of Carly's death led a desperate Leanne to attempting suicide. As Smith visited a recovering Leanne in hospital, her psychic told uniform she knew where one of the guns were, leading to it being found at the bottom of a local canal. The second turned up at Carly's funeral, with Tito causing a near-riot by showing up, with the gun being fired during the chaos and thrown under the hearse. With a trainer print found at the scene traced to a limited edition pair of shoes, Smith mentioned this to Leanne, who dropped the bombshell that Carly bought a pair for Dwayne at Christmas. Asking Dwayne at the wake if she could go into his bedroom for some peace from revelers, she got access so Smith could search for the trainers. A key break came in the investigation came when Carly's best friend and Tito's girlfriend Alisha Danniels (Amandla Crichlow) left the funeral service before it ended, and she was brought into custody after being seen rowing with Dwayne outside the church. As news reached Sun Hill of Dwayne's involvement, DI Samantha Nixon and DC Jo Masters convinced Alisha to make a statement about Dwayne and Tito's involvement. Leanne was thrilled when Smith told her that a raid was being arranged.
A midnight raid on Tito's flat proved successful, however Dwayne was nowhere to be seen when his flat was raided. As he hatched an escape plan, Dwayne asked his boss to pick up Brooke from a day care centre, unaware he was committing abduction. Arranging a sting as Dwayne tried to pick up Brooke, Smith arrested Dwayne for murder and conspiracy to kidnap. As phone records were checked, Alisha was placed at the scene, and her statement led to the revelation that she was one of four people in the car, meaning one suspect was still at large. As Alisha made a new statement, Tito and Dwayne were charged; when Smith told Leanne this, he admitted Alisha was their witness, and Leanne went to confront an apologetic Alisha for not admitting the truth. With Alisha back on the estate under police escort, Leanne, Smith and Alisha's dad Oscar were mortified as a sports car flew at Alisha and knocked her down. As Alisha was rushed to hospital, a pursuit of the car was cut short as it disappeared down railway lines, however fast thinking by PCs Nate Roberts and Emma Keane led to the car being found on fire but quickly extinguished. As a teenage boy, Danny Pearce confessed, his brother and appropriate adult Joel (Richard James Harris) fled the station after discovering the car was not destroyed in the fire. Taking a mugshot to Alisha, she identified Joel as the driver of the car involved in Carly's shooting. Securing an arrest, despite Joel being assaulted by Alisha's father Oscar, he agreed to testify against his accomplices to reduce his own sentence.
When the trial occurred, Joel fell apart on the witness stand, causing Smith to beg of Alisha to testify. After convincing Alisha to come into court, she was ambushed as Smith drove her to court alongside her father Oscar, causing the IRV Smith was driving to crash and roll over. Having radioed for urgent assistance before the crash, Smith was rescued quickly alongside Alisha and Oscar. Unfazed, Alisha determined to make it to court but soon found herself verbally attacked repeatedly by Tito and Dwayne's lawyer Sunil Davdra (Ace Bhatti). As a riot kicked off on the Jasmine Allen Estate, Smith left court during an adjournment to arrest key figures, including the man who ran him off the road. In interview, one of the gang members arrested during the riot said Dwayne was carrying the gun that killed Carly, not Tito. They realised in the wake of this revelation that Tito was there to kill Marlon and missed, while Dwayne was trying to kill Carly. The revelation of a letter Carly sent Dwayne saying he'd never see Brooke again gave them the crucial piece of evidence, and the overwhelming evidence led Dwayne to change his plea to guilty. Leanne was left emotional but grateful to Smith in the wake of the trial, thanking him for getting the closure she needed, but lamented that she missed Carly dearly.
A year later, Smith's investigation into the assault of a cab driver led him to the Jasmine Allen Community Centre, where he discovered Leanne was working there. It was revealed they hadn't met since the trial, despite agreeing to stay in touch. Realising the cabbie's last fare was a young girl that reminded Leanne of Carly, she ended up clashing with Smith. When Leanne's car is stolen by the girl, she gets a reality check, and agrees to help the girl open up. After accusing the cabbie of rape, he was cleared by the discovery he'd been assaulted before picking her up and collapsed onto her after losing consciousness, and the girl was cleared after discovering her retaliation attack came after the cabbie had passed out. As the case wrapped up, Leanne made her peace with Smith and told him she was engaged to her boyfriend Brian, inviting Smith to their wedding three months from then.
PC Eddie Santini arrives at Sun Hill after being denied a position in CID with the crime squad, being deemed untrustworthy by his superiors.[5] Although his tendency to disregard the rules continues at Sun Hill, his sense of humour makes him relatively popular with the relief and his Italian looks are especially popular with female officers.
Eddie's popularity declines somewhat after being placed on an undercover operation with PC Rosie Fox. His persistent advances towards her lead to him almost raping her. Following this, he ultimately forces Rosie to transfer from Sun Hill, spreading lies, makes malicious phone calls and constantly humiliates her in front of her colleagues.[5] His bullying does not stop there, however, and he is soon recognised as a problem at the station. He decides to look for a transfer and contacts an old friend in the Drugs Squad, DS Paul Timpney. They set out to nail a drug lord called Ferguson, and Santini goes undercover with a nightclub owner, Jess Orton. Posing as her husband Steve, Santini and Orton buy drugs from Ferguson, but he finds out Santini is a cop and has him filmed.
When the Orton's club is later firebombed and Steve is killed, Fox returns as a DS with AMIP to investigate. Ferguson demands Santini gets Orton to confess so that his drug empire isn't exposed as part of the murder investigation. Santini convinces Orton to confess to the firebombing, but his leading of Orton in interview leads Fox to tear the confession apart. Orton is bailed and Fox tries to get Orton to tell all on Santini, but she refuses, however Fox goads Santini into believing Orton spoke out. Santini ends up arguing with Orton and pushes her down the stairs, killing her. Fox investigates Santini's involvement in the death while her colleagues at AMIP look elsewhere. When she tails Santini to a meeting with Ferguson, she tails Ferguson and ends up being abducted. Santini's cover is blown and Timpney is forced into a raid, rescuing Santini and Fox. Despite this, Fox persists on looking for evidence for Orton's murder, and it is supplied by none other than Santini's girlfriend Vicky Hagen. Santini is jailed for murder and remanded, but when Ferguson is cleared of drugs charges, he has Fox murdered while Santini's trial falls apart. Timpney is ambushed by Ferguson's henchmen and brought in to silence witnesses, rather than being killed for being one. When Santini is cleared at trial and bailed, he is confronted by former friend Timpney, who shoots Santini dead on orders from Ferguson.
Kristen Shaw was a series regular on The Bill from the summer of 2006 to the beginning of 2007. She was involved in a long-running storyline involving DC Zain Nadir going undercover as a corrupt police officer. Kristen owned a series of local properties, including Bar Morocco, where she was primarily based. When Zain arrested a drugs supplier, he accused Kristen Shaw of turning informant so she could lose the competition. Zain paired with DS Phil Hunter to mount surveillance, and when Zain discovered an old informant of his, Chez Williams (Justin Pickett), was involved with her, he asked him to give him an introduction. Zain offered his services, posing as a corrupt officer, offering info on a beat-sweep, and retrieving a vehicle containing the proceeds of drug dealing. Zain ended up receiving a reprimand when he gave info on a drugs sting involving Kristen’s main partner, Paul Haskew (Gary Webster), causing undercover officers DI Neil Manson and DC Terry Perkins to be ambushed and robbed of cash & narcotics. Phil told Zain he couldn’t do any more favours for Kristen, and when Haskew told Zain he was no longer needed, he arrested one of their drug runners to get back on side. When Kristen and Paul were due to conduct a drug deal, Zain blew another CID operation to stop them being arrested. Days later, a rival dealer assaulted Kristen, causing Zain to savagely attack him and rupture his spleen. Kristen bailed him out, but DI Manson warned Zain he needed to be wary in future that his actions have consequences.
A few weeks later, Zain had fallen for Kristen and they were in a full blown relationship. He got brought back down to earth when Haskew asked him to get a suspected prostitute, Eva Garcia (Beatriz Romilly), released from custody. When Eva was found badly beaten, Zain discovered she was actually a Colombian drugs mule. Superintendent John Heaton and DCI Jack Meadows decided to relay a false message that Eva died of her injuries, which allowed Zain to meet their smuggler, Jose Alvarez (Andy Lucas). Zain was taken off at gunpoint by Alvarez, but when he returned Eva’s drugs to him, he let Zain go, earning him Haskew’s trust. A CID OBBO was arranged to arrest Haskew and Alvarez, but it was then interrupted by the Serious and Organized Crime Agency due to an upcoming deal worth up £6 million between Alvarez, Haskew and Shaw. Zain and Kristen went on holiday to Spain for a few weeks while they waited for the deal, while Zain gave them the wrong date so they could go ahead uninterrupted. However, SOCA’s Officer Marcus Swift (Silas Carson) found out the real date, so Zain, Kristen and Paul had to think fast and decided to use Chez Williams to give a false location; while Chez was reluctant to do so, Zain admitted he had been undercover all along. Chez furious, but he agreed to play along so the deal could go ahead uninterrupted.
In the days leading up to the deal, Zain was adamant about talking Kristen out of going ahead with the deal, but she refused to. When Eva Garcia was released from hospital and placed in a safehouse, her cover was blown when she called her brother Santi (Joseph Balderrama), who broke into the safehouse. As Santi went after Alvarez, he was savagely assaulted, losing his phone to Alvarez and his associates. When Eva was lured out of the safehouse, she was tracked down by her minder, PC Honey Harman, but both women were ambushed by Alvarez and abducted. As Zain was called to Bar Morocco and taken to an abandoned warehouse, Alvarez shot Eva and held a gun at Honey, demanding Zain admit he was undercover. After admitting this, Haskew attacked Zain and told Kristen he never cared for her. Taken to the deal as a hostage instead of an associate, Zain tried to convince Kristen he was still on her side, but found himself tied up when he tried to stop Haskew shooting Honey. Kristen was then swayed when Zain admitted he turned his back on his family for her, including his sister who died of an overdose when he was a teenager. Freeing Zain, Kristen went to steal the cash for the drug deal while Zain freed Honey. As Kristen and Zain went to escape, an arrest team arrived. Honey protested their plan to elope and went to stop them, but as she tried to arrest Kristen, her gun went off and fatally wounded Honey. Zain was left in shock, and when he reunited with Kristen in the aftermath of the deal, he broke the news that Haskew was shot dead by armed police. In the wake of Honey’s death, they planned to escape the country, but when Alvarez hinted at Honey’s death, Superintendent Heaton and DCI Meadows took it as a death threat, placing Zain in a safehouse. When he was released, Kristen told him their escape plan was almost finalised, but the recovery of Honey’s body after a tipoff from Alvarez led to Zain being arrested. After bluffing an interview with MIT, Zain convinced DCI Meadows to let him go home, however he was put under surveillance by DS Phil Hunter. Zain was convinced by Phil that he was the only person following him, however he joined DI Manson to follow him instead. As forensics proved Zain was at the scene, Phil and Neil went to arrest Zain, only to discover he had slipped surveillance. Meeting with Kristen, they prepared to flee the country together, however Zain’s mood soon changed when he discovered Kristen still had the gun that killed Honey. As they reached a dock, an arrest team swarmed in, and Zain told Kristen they had to give up. As she went to shoot him, she learned Zain had already removed the bullets, and both were arrested. Kristen was sent to jail for murder, while Zain was sent down for perverting the course of justice after confessing to disposing of Honey’s body.
PC Nick Shaw, a burly northerner, was not a guy to mess with. He arrived at Sun Hill with a laissez-faire attitude towards his work, but when 'one of his own' was in trouble he was always the first to lend a helping hand; the relief found him to be a loyal and reliable friend. Shaw was also a bit of a practical joker, known for his black sense of humour, which he often used to help a shift pass more quickly. He saw women as the fairer sex and would do anything to avoid paperwork – he was a master at appearing 'busy' when his senior officers were about. Although he did have a caring side, Shaw was at his happiest in the pub swapping tales of bravado with his mates. He was a good, conscientious officer and displayed his frustration at being wrongly accused of pocketing fines by losing his temper with his CIB interrogators. It was not a shrewd career move and he left Sun Hill shortly afterwards.
DC Eva Sharpe quickly makes her mark at the station by being feisty and instinctively good. Instantly amongst all her colleagues, she is warm, loud, funny and quick-tempered. Initially she gets on poorly with her direct superior Debbie McAllister but after Debbie falls pregnant to Superintendent Tom Chandler, the two find a mutual respect for each other and become friends. Eva and her husband Paul, an Environmental Health Officer, have two young children. A straightforward working class girl, Eva does not worry about all that 'having it all' and 'work versus family' nonsense. She just gets on with things. She has always been aware that her colour is an advantage within the force. She knows full well that it got her into CID, and tells anyone who cares to listen. One of the main reasons Eva joined the police was because she was savvy enough to realise which way the wind would blow, and she reckoned, rightly, that she could benefit. The flipside is the racism she encounters from both colleagues and public alike. Eva handles this with characteristic directness, she does not let anybody get away with anything. While she is a lively addition to CID, she is popular with uniform too, and knows the valuable contacts they can provide her with. Cut from the same cloth as DCI Meadows, she does not suffer fools gladly. She likes order, so she likes law, and is determined to make her mark at Sun Hill. Unfortunately she clashes with new DI, Neil Manson. The two never quite see eye to eye on matters, policing or personal. His attempts to have her transferred are tempered by DCI Meadows who arranges for Eva to join MIT. After leaving Sun Hill, Eva is assigned to one of the Metropolitan Police's Murder Investigation Teams. Her new boss, DI Trevor Hands is initially suspicious as to why Eva was transferred to his team, thinking she had been sent to spy on him by his superiors who he thinks do not trust him to run the team. Eva is welcomed onto the team by DS Rosie MacManus, who tells Trevor to cut her some slack. Eva eventually proves herself to DI Hands who grudgingly admits to Rosie that Eva is a good officer.
DS Vik Singh was boyish, cocky, talented, charming, and too bright for his own good. He rarely did what he was told or played by the rules, but usually managed to get away with it. There was a touch of Webb about him – and Webb loathed him for the way in which he drew attention to himself by stealing Webb's thunder. Despite his effervescent manner, Singh was more substantial than he appeared. He was great in a crisis, when he stopped messing about and focused. He was heavily into IT and gifted at the technological side of intelligence-based policing. Coming from Barton Street, he had built up an eclectic and sizeable portfolio of contacts with the local youth and ethnic community, on which Meadows often depended. When racial taunts became too much for Singh, he hospitalised a white supremacist suspect. Confronted with the truth, Meadows suspended him pending an investigation from CIB, but rather than face up to the consequences of his actions he resigned with immediate effect. He became a taxi driver.
DC Suzie Sim arrives at Sun Hill in September 2004, and she soon makes an impression upon her new colleagues. Very ambitious and confident, Suzie is an unsympathising woman who is cut from the same cloth as DI Neil Manson. Coincidentally enough, she had worked with Neil at her previous station, and it is immediately clear upon her arrival, that she and the DI are on the same wavelength. As a former Child Protection Team officer, her experience makes her an asset to the Community Safety Unit. Intimidating and manipulative, she is never the most popular of officers at Sun Hill, and never got on very well with DC Gary Best; at one point, he accuses her of bullying, and planned to pursue the complaint until his sudden transfer to Manchester. Wanting to get as far as she can in the least possible time, she applies for promotion to the rank of Detective Sergeant, and following a vacancy caused by the transfer of DS Ramani DeCosta, she almost succeeds. At the last minute, however, DCI Jack Meadows offers the job to DC Stuart Turner, who seizes it with both hands. Initially disappointed at having missed out on the job, she applies for a position with the Kidnap Squad and once again finds herself competing with Stuart for the job. This time however, she is successful, and she leaves Sun Hill behind to take up the posting.
Jeff Simpson was a series regular on The Bill during its 18th series. A far-right racist, Simpson is most famous for murdering Chief Inspector Derel Conway and sparking a full-scale race riot in Canley. Simpson first appeared as a man in the pub, talking to a friend about race conspiracies, loudly saying that most racist assaults are against whites, in front of Asian DS Vik Singh. When Simpson’s friend, Ian Burrows (Danny Nussbaum), spat in Vik’s pint, Vik confronted Simpson outside and savagely attacked him with a piece of wood, witnessed by DC Danny Glaze. The following day, Vik and Danny are tasked with interviewing Simpson, who warns that “The police need teaching a lesson, and classes start as of today”. Vik soon received a package containing a bloodstained teddy bear in a cardboard coffin with a note attached reading “You next!” As race riots escalated between racists and the Asian community, a petrol bomb meant for Vik narrowly missed PC Tony Stamp. Things only got worse when Simpson’s associates arranged a Neo-Nazi march through the Jasmine Allen Estate, primarily occupied by Asian residents.
When Superintendent Tom Chandler arranged a rendezvous with DC Kate Spears, he sent Chief Inspector Derek Conway in his place to a meeting with Asian community leaders. While the meeting went well, Conway was ambushed whilst leaving and his panda car was firebombed, causing it to explode and kill him. In the wake of Conway’s death, Simpson was one of several suspects brought in for questioning. When a key figure in the Asian community said Simpson was out for revenge after being attacked by two black coppers, DC Mickey Webb and DC Spears discovered it was Vik and Danny who investigated the attack. While neither confessed to it, Mickey, Kate, and DCI Jack Meadows found Vik interviewing Simpson. When Vik assaulted Simpson once again, meaning he had to be bailed, with the relief almost certain he was Conway’s killer. Meadows blasted Vik for being weak and told him he would be suspended, but Vik cowardly resigned to avoid prosecution. Despite Vik’s resignation, Simpson promised DC Webb and DCI Meadows that their campaign was not over, and when Sun Hill was firebombed after a riot, Simpson was named as prime suspect. PC Des Taviner, the actual culprit, teamed up with Danny to frame Simpson to avoid detection; Des proceeded to plant evidence and concocted a false confession that led to Simpson being charged with Conway’s murder, as well as the murder of the six officers killed in the station fire.
After his incarceration, Simpson sent Des a visiting order and told him he had to retract his statement, telling him he knew he was framed as a self-preservation tactic. After sending Des various warnings, he had his associates abduct PC Reg Hollis, who was best friends with Des. As Reg plotted an escape, a series of raids failed, but a clue in a note led them to Reg’s location. When a call to the kidnappers was linked to Simpson’s lawyer’s phone, Simpson was arrested for conspiracy to kidnap and changed his plea to guilty. While Des initially got away with it, Simpson recruited ex-Sun Hill DI Sally Johnson as a private investigator in the autumn of 2003, 18 months after Simpson went to prison, to prove Danny and Des framed him for the fire. With Danny swiftly resigning, Des eventually confessed to his girlfriend, Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy, then went on the run after his faking his death. Des was later captured and beaten to death, but Simpson’s admission of murdering Conway and arranging the abduction of Hollis likely meant he remained in jail; however, this was not confirmed.
DC Rod Skase was the definition of suave. The trouble was that he knew it only too well. His arrogance was supplemented by a sarcasm that could be withering and he rarely shied away from an opportunity to score points off another officer. Rod not only saw himself as superior to those in uniform, but superior to most of his CID colleagues as well, regardless of rank. Rod also liked to think of himself as a ladies' man; however his chauvinistic tendencies meant that he rarely impressed any of them, least of all his female co-workers. He seemed happiest working alongside those in CID, such as DS John Boulton, who preferred action to words and didn't stick rigidly to the rules. Boulton was perhaps the closest thing to a friend Rod made amongst his colleagues, who generally considered Rod likeable despite his arrogance, but not completely reliable. Rod also appeared to be genuinely troubled by Jim Carver's descent into alcoholism although this did not stop him from offering Carver a Whisky to win a bet. Rod had a somewhat tempestuous working relationship with his fellow DC, the diminutive yet feisty Suzi Croft. At best, they gently bickered with each other. At worst, they practically came to blows. Although it gradually became apparent that there was something deliberate in his provocation towards her, it took Suzi's sudden decision to leave Sun Hill for it to be strongly implied that Rod actually cared about her a good deal more than he let on. Despite his intelligence and quick thinking, Rod never quite seemed to grasp the old adage that pride comes before a fall and on more than one occasion he found himself looking like a prat, or worse, berated by Deakin or Meadows. Whilst he did get results, there were instances when he teetered on the brink in order to do so, and perhaps it was only a matter of time before he went over the edge. His biggest screw-up turned out to be his last. Attempting to crack the case of a missing child, Rod made the fatal error of trying to force facts to fit the evidence by getting a witness to lie. When the child was found dead, Meadows threatened to have Rod charged with perverting the course of justice. Devastated by the child's death and knowing that his job was seriously on the line, Rod resigned.
PC Nick Slater first appeared at Sun Hill as a probationer along with PC Debbie Keane and was initially regarded as one with blatant disregard for authority.[6] Nevertheless, he still found it difficult not to respect those at the station with experience. PC Tony Stamp was responsible for supervising Slater's probationary period and often worried about his apparent lack of thought when entering unknown situations.[6] Despite the fact that he was not the brightest at the station, Slater was somewhat popular with the relief. After several successful undercover operations, Slater left Sun Hill to pursue further challenges with SO10.[6] He had a girlfriend called Tonicha.
Police Constable, later Sergeant, and later Inspector Dale Smith (nicknamed Smithy) first arrived at Sun Hill police station as a police constable, having served with the Queen's Royal Fusiliers. He served at Sun Hill for two years as a PC, before transferring to SO19, due to his belief that the many new rules that Superintendent Tom Chandler was introducing prevented him from enforcing the law. When Sergeant Bob Cryer, who had also served with the Fusiliers, encouraged him to pursue his ambition to become an armed police officer and gave him the highest possible grading, Smithy submitted his application to join SO19. Meanwhile, Smithy and PC Nick Klein were frequently called out to the home of Frank Kennedy, an elderly man whose house was continually being vandalized by youths. Kennedy accused the police of doing nothing about it and threatened to tackle the youths himself. To Nick's surprise, Smithy showed sympathy towards Kennedy, as he suspected property developers were paying youths to harass residents that were refusing to move, like Kennedy. On one such call-out, Smithy and Klein found that Kennedy had shot a young intruder dead. Klein's report to Chandler led to an allegation that Smithy had encouraged Kennedy to take the law into his own hands. Believing he had lost his chance to get into SO19, Smithy assaulted Nick, accusing him of being a grass and showing no loyalty. Consequently, Smithy was suspended from duty. While the Kennedy shooting was under investigation, Smithy, although suspended, went under cover and, with the help of Cryer, managed to expose the conspiracy between the developers and the youths. Cryer researched Kennedy's past and discovered that he had a criminal record for dealing in firearms. This was enough for Cryer to persuade Kennedy's lawyer to drop the allegation against Smith. Upon Smithy's return to duty after being cleared, Chandler approved his application to join SO19. On Smithy's first day with SO19 after completing his training, a man called Chris Finnessey, who had been refused access to his son, had taken Cryer and school teacher Rachel Bonnigton hostage and was demanding to see his son. In an attempt to avoid fatalities, Chandler handed the boy over to his father in exchange for Bonnigton. When Finnessey tried to escape in a getaway car with his son and a handcuffed Cryer, he was attacked by his enraged wife, who was trying to retrieve her son. Smithy opened fire on Finnessey when he saw him trying to stab his wife, but at the same time Cryer jumped in the way, trying to separate Finnessy and his wife, and Smith's shot hit Cryer.[7] As a result of his injury, Cryer was forced to retire on grounds of ill health. Cryer bore no malice, and he encouraged his other colleges to take the same view. Smithy's superiors agreed that Cryer's shooting was not a result of any incompetence, and Smith was allowed to continue his work with SO19.
When Smithy returned to Sun Hill in 2003 as a Sergeant, he began a relationship with PC Kerry Young, until she was murdered by PC Gabriel Kent, who later killed himself after being exposed as her killer (and as having raped her). In 2005, Smithy started an affair with Louise Larson, wife of gangster Pete Larson. When Pete found out about the affair, he murdered his wife and framed Smithy, who was imprisoned for three months before being proved innocent. Smithy was later promoted to Inspector by Superintendent Meadows following the departure of Rachel Weston in 2009.
Tony 'Yorkie' Smith
Tony 'Yorkie' Smith
First appearance
Funny Ol' Business – Cops & Robbers (16 October 1984)
PC Tony 'Yorkie' Smith was Yorkshire-born, Yorkshire-bred; a big, strapping lad who wasn't afraid of physical confrontation. He had his fair share of scrapes and bruises in the line of duty, but was used to the rough and tumble – it came with rugby playing he did every weekend. Yorkie also had a sensitive side – he always took things to heart and was often upset by the occasionally moral grey areas in which he found himself working. Barely recovered from being slashed whilst infiltrating a gang of soccer hooligans, Yorkie stumbled across a seemingly routine road traffic accident – but with fatalities, two feuding drivers and no back-up, he rapidly lost control of the situation. Admitting that he had struggled to cope, this once dependable officer decided to leave the Force and go into the security business. However he became restless and rejoined the police, and by 1991 had risen to become a DC in his homeland of South Yorkshire.
PC Ron Smollett was one of Sun Hill's finest officers. Honest, hard working, a team player, and best of all, a results man. Striving to end every case with criminal proceedings, Ron sometimes punched too far above his weight – and often angered members of CID when pushing them to get a result on a case. Never downhearted, Ron pushed on with every case that came onto his desk. He decided to leave Sun Hill in March 1993.
DC Kate Spears was youthful, feminine, pretty, and unorthodox. She was an 'outsider', drafted in from west London, with a couple of years experience of the job. Initially people wondered how she got away with it on any level: a dedicated clubber, a party girl, Spears came across at first like an airhead who should have been working in a club. But she was far from innocent, ingenuous, or a soft touch. Spears was bold, confident, passionate and quick to dissipate the girly image when expressing her commitment to the job. Of course, her looks and style got in the way sometimes, generating unwelcome assumptions. But Spears herself was uncompromising, and ultimately a rebel. There was a grittiness behind the smile, which derived from a difficult and violent family background. Perhaps that was why she and Webb came to develop an understanding. Her and Chandler embarked on a dangerous affair before Spears died in hospital following the petrol bomb attack on Sun Hill.
PC Tony Stamp has always been a fundamentally decent person. When his father's care becomes too much of a financial burden for him to bear with a policeman's salary alone, Tony takes on a second job as a taxicab driver to fund his father's care. After accidentally killing a pedestrian in a car chase, Tony goes on trial for causing death by dangerous driving. he was found not guilty, however he was found guilty of driving without due care and attention and is forced to face a police disciplinary hearing, but manages to keep both his job and his position as driver of Sun Hill's area car. Later, Tony is the subject of an accusation of sexual abuse from a young lad called Lee Dwyer. The allegations are false, but the longevity of the investigation, and the public's reaction to the possibility leaves him reeling. It also damages his hitherto unbroken friendship with Jim Carver. When PC Yvonne Hemmingway is under suspension of police brutality, and facing a manslaughter trial for killing a thug with her ASP, Tony hesitates before using his own ASP when confronted by some youths and in that split second they launch a vicious assault on him that leaves him fighting for his life. Yvonne is later acquitted. Tony has been happy as a PC for over twenty years, preferring what he considers the real work of directly catching criminals. He is strong, so other officers are happy to have him watching their backs. Later on, Tony's position is threatened by his new Superintendent John Heaton. He assigns Tony and Reg Hollis to investigate a case concerning a missing dog. Tony and Reg, however, prove their worth when they uncover a murder that had previously been undetected and arrest the culprit. Tony departs from Sun Hill in November 2009. Tony tells Smithy that he has accepted another job at Hendon as an Advanced Driving Police Instructor and he leaves Sun Hill.[8] Graham Cole first appeared in several episodes throughout series 1-3 as an uncredited PC, before credited as PC Tony Stamp in series 3, before becoming a full time cast member in series 4.[9]
DS Claire Stanton arrives at Sun Hill as a Detective Sergeant to great intrigue by her new colleagues, a fast-track go-getter still young enough to go anywhere; why would such an aspiring young officer settle for divisional CID? Claire told her colleagues her mother lived in Canley and needed extensive care. It was revealed almost a year after her arrival the reason for her secrecy was she was actually working undercover for the CIB under the command of Detective Superintendent Steve Hodges to investigate corruption in CID, primarily the methods of DS Don Beech, who had been operating outside the law to get results and for personal gain since joining the Sun Hill team in 1995. Beech was once under suspicion by colleague and nemesis DS Geoff Daly, who almost exposed him in January 1999, however it was never confirmed if Daly had any involvement in CIB investigating Beech. Claire fell for fellow DS John Boulton after her investigation into a crime family led to her being involved in a near-death experience, Claire flipping her car after being run off the road. John doted on Claire, smoothing the tough guy's rough edges. When Stanton suspected that Beech had rumbled the affair, she cut it off, leaving her and Boulton both devastated.
When Det. Supt. Hodges worked out she had been involved with Boulton, who happened to be Beech's best friend, Hodges demanded Stanton resume the affair. As Claire and John investigated a serious assault on club dancer Rachel Booker, Claire suggested resuming their relationship. While initially reluctant, John then proposed to a stunned Claire, who accepted despite fear of her undercover status being revealed. When Booker died, a crazed stalker named Warren Askew was arrested, but Claire was surprised when Beech's number showed up in Booker's contacts. While she and John agreed to cover it up, the discovery of a vital piece of evidence against Askew after Beech attended the scene left Claire suspicious. When Booker died and Askew committed suicide in custody, DI Chris Deakin demanded the murder inquiry be shut down, but Claire convinced her boss to let her investigate a series of suspicious numbers in a journal. Linking the scam to local businessman Howard Fallon, Claire discovered Beech was in cahoots with Fallon and his associate Ray Bazzini, who unbeknownst to Claire at the time was Booker's real murderer. When Booker's best friend, partner in crime and colleague Lynette Hobbs came forward, she named Bazzini as the killer, but Beech discovered the location of her safehouse and she was chased off by Fallon's thugs. Beech arranged to meet Boulton, Lynette's contact in CID, and admitted his involvement with Fallon before asking for Lynette's location. Boulton refused, and as Beech attacked him, the pair became involved in a brawl that ended with Beech beating Boulton to death. Claire was left devastated by her beau's death, and she became suspicious of Beech when he denied meeting John the night of his death (despite hearing John take the call from Beech saying he would meet him). When Fallon double-crossed Beech to the Area Major Incident Pool team investigating John's death, Beech had to cancel his plans to elope with girlfriend Maggie Lyons (Linda Lusardi), and instead went to confront Claire. He asked her to bypass AMIP after working out she was with CIB, so she took him to Det. Supt. Hodges. However, Claire was furious when Beech offered up Fallon, Bazzini and two corrupts Drugs Squad officers, DI Tasker and DS Garrard in exchange for a full confession and temporary release from AMIP's investigation. Beech attended John's funeral with Claire after meeting Tasker and Garrard under the guise of betraying Fallon, Hodges concocting false letters for the pair to attend CIB for questioning. Claire discovered Beech had arranged for Tasker and Garrard to be armed, but while Hodges was furious that Beech omitted that fact, he falsely offered the Drugs Squad DCI to convince Hodges to continue. Claire protested, but Hodges was giddy at the thought of bringing down such a high-ranking officer. The meet went ahead, and after Beech managed to discretely rob Fallon of his cash for Maggie to collect, he was caught out when Fallon revealed he had sold him out to AMIP. Before Fallon could kill Beech, Tasker & Garrard intervened and ambushed Fallon's crew, tying them up. However, Beech then turned on his rescuers and shot off a tracking device on his ankle to escape via the River Thames. Claire was furious that Beech escaped, and Hodges spoke to his Commander and has the entire CID team suspended. DC Duncan Lennox, who had become close friends with Claire, was devastated to discover she was a CIB mole and soon spread the word amongst his disgraced colleagues. Borough Commander Guy Mannion pressured Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow to resign amidst the CID suspension, and then demanded DI Deakin and DS Daly transferred out, with DC Kerry Holmes volunteering to transfer after being furious at the accusation of being aware and involved with Beech's illegal activities. Beech eventually fled the country, despite Maggie leaving him to go alone, and while Claire was quick to say "I told you so" to Hodges, he sanctioned her promotion to DI.
In the autumn of 2001, almost a year after Beech escaped for murdering Boulton, Claire went to Sydney, Australia to meet the local police after a sighting of Beech. The ex-cop had become a major criminal Down Under, linking with Vietnamese criminal Frankie Nguyen, and they soon became lovers. Claire discovered through the locals that Beech had become involved with disgraced local cop Bill Mayle, allowing him to avoid the bulk of the law. However, they soon realised Mayle was working for drug smuggler Keith Drury and recruited Beech to bring drugs into Australia. When Claire discovered Beech would be arrested on drugs charges, she tracked down Frankie and warned her off, but Frankie revealed Beech was about to be ambushed by Triad leader Joey Tranh for betraying him. As Claire and a local officer who was assisting her found Beech's boat at a dockyard, shots rang out, but they found Tranh dead on entry after he was shot by Beech. As Beech attacked Claire's partner, he made an escape. However, Claire found Tranh's gun and began firing at Beech's boat, sparking a pair of petrol cannisters that exploded and blew Beech's boat up. Claire was devastated that Beech would not be brought to justice, returning to U.K. and resigning from the police force. However, in her first major job for a private security firm, Claire discovered one of the fugitives for a multi-million pound robbery that included the deposit box of her client was Frankie Nguyen, Beech's girlfriend. Claire began to suspect Beech faked his death and was the ringleader, along with local jewel fencer Tommy Goldman. However, Tommy was murdered by Frankie (unbeknownst to Beech and Claire) in a fit of rage. When an anonymous tip led Claire to Beech, she was abducted by her former colleague. Frankie began to turn against Beech and tried to aid Claire's escape, but Beech sent Frankie on errands while he stayed with Claire. As Claire managed to contact the police through a CB radio, Beech discovered this, and plotted an escape before the police could arrive, blowing up his secret bunker hideaway and leaving Claire for dead. As Claire recovered in hospital, Beech tried to track down Frankie and his money man, both of whom had gone missing. However heist member Giorgio then took Beech at gunpoint, and they tracked Frankie and his accountant down. When Giorgio made a harsh comment about Tommy, after the revelation that Frankie killed him, Beech attacked Giorgio and beat him to death, however his gun went off in the struggle and killed Frankie, wounded Beech and seriously injured his accountant. Beech then sought help from Tommy's niece Rachel, unaware that she was working with her imprisoned boyfriend Mal Lockye, whose safety deposit box was robbed by Beech and his crew. Rachel feigned helping Beech out of the country, and the pair were soon tracked down by a fully recovered Claire. After detaining both on a rooftop, Beech begged Claire to shoot him, but she told him he would go to prison. Beech got life at trial, and gloated that Claire's life was over now that she had accomplished her mission of bringing him down. Claire was not seen again after Beech's trial, however Beech would only serve 2 and a half years of his sentence before linking up with ex-girlfriend Maggie and escaping prison during an escort to a new prison in 2004.
Sergeant Ray Steele transferred to Sun Hill from Barton Street, that notorious neighbouring nick, in 1993. He already knew most of the officers at Sun Hill, and they knew him, although they weren't sure if he was in Chief Inspector Cato's pocket. He soon proved that he wasn't. In fact he had more run-ins with that tough nut than anyone else. On one occasion he quoted Cato in the minutes of a meeting to say that officers who complain of being assaulted on the streets were wimps. Cato was incensed and told Steele: 'You're dead.' Old for his years, Steel was an unsmiling man – grumpy even. He looked after his troops, sometimes at the expense of the higher ranks. He was the Federation rep for the sergeants, and he took his responsibilities seriously. Straight-laced and hard-working, he was prone to the occasional display of human sympathy. Like most of the officers he talked only rarely of his life at home. But Steele had a partner. She was pregnant but miscarried, and he took it hard. Perhaps that was the cause of his grumpiness. Steele had a snarling presence that caused some of his colleagues to question how far he would go if riled. These doubts multiplied when an old lag died in the cells at Sun Hill and the finger of suspicion was pointed at Steele. He was exonerated after it transpired that the victim had died from a heart attack but the episode had made him realise who his friends were – and they were so few as to be considered an endangered species.
Sergeant Callum Stone arrived at Sun Hill in August 2007, as a replacement for Sergeant June Ackland.[10] When Stone was sixteen, he left home after his father was accused of rape. Stone's father was an inspector in the force and was accused of raping probationer Kelly Ryan. Stone believed Ryan's allegation, but his mother chose to believe his father, so Stone asked his mother to choose between them. She chose his father, and Stone felt he had to leave home. He then joined the police force "to punish him". Shortly after Stone's arrival at Sun Hill, he allowed a man to commit suicide in front of him and PC Will Fletcher. Fletcher felt guilty, believing he could have saved the man's life, while Stone believed he had acted appropriately as the man was a violent criminal. Furthermore, when PC Sally Armstrong crashed her car whilst drunk, she went to Stone who arranged an alibi for Sally.[11] With some help from PC Ben Gayle, Sally was able to escape being charged for drink-driving. Stone then used the situation to his advantage, using his power over people like Sally to get them to do things they might not normally do.[12]
Stone is badly beaten when he steps into an argument between Clarinda Blake and another man. Questioned by Inspector Smith and Sergeant Masters, Blake tells them that someone was trying to steal her bag, but she does not wish to pursue any complaint. Back at home, Stone finds himself unable to grip his kettle because of his injuries. In a fit of rage, he smashes the kettle by throwing it to the floor. From the photo ID, Stone picks out a "James Cook", but investigations later reveal the person Stone picked out to be imprisoned. Looking at the photo, Sergeant Masters realises that the image is identical to Tim Hardacre, a person to whom she had recently spoken at Clarinda's pub. They find that James Cook has convictions for Grievous bodily harm but it is then confirmed that he is currently in prison. Tim Hardacre is subsequently arrested and it is found out that he is a drug dealer selling drugs through Clarinda's child and this is why she was beaten up.
In August 2010, Stone's father dies, and Stone turns up uninvited to the funeral. His mother makes it clear that she does not want him there, but Stone insists on staying saying, "When he goes into the ground, I want to be there, so I'm sure". At his father's graveside Stone attempts to speak to his mother, but she makes it clear she has not forgiven him for believing Ryan over his own father. Looking for some answers, Stone requests the details on the case from the police force and goes to visit Ryan. When Ryan admits to him that she was raped, she gives Stone a letter of apology addressed to her from his father, blaming alcohol for the attack. Stone takes this along with photographic evidence to his mother's house and attempts to show it to her, but she rips up the letter without reading it. Stone is then thrown out of the house by mourners and told by his mother never to return. Later, Stone goes to his father's graveside where he notices flowers from his mother. In front of the card left in the flowers, Stone places the ripped up letter of apology.
PC Barry Stringer first appeared in 1990. He replaced PC Ken Melvin who was killed when a car bomb exploded. In contrast to the then somewhat maverick Dave Quinnan, Stringer was a liberal minded Police Officer. Not that much was revealed about his background. He is from Birmingham and it is presumed that this is where he transferred from. In one instance Stringer falls for an attractive lady who has been burgled, although it is later revealed that she set up the robbery with her brother. Although only at Sun Hill for three years, Stringer has an eventful stint at the station. In 1991 he is nearly killed after being left dangling over the edge of a warehouse, after he chases a suspect later revealed to have stabbed Sgt Alec Peters. The following year he is mugged on his way to work. Stringer takes over as Police federation representative from PC Reg Hollis, much to the latter's annoyance. Following a row with Chief Inspector Cato he resigns from the post. He is not actually shown leaving Sun Hill, although DC Carver later reveals that he has transferred, when his name is mentioned in conjunction with a case that DI Johnson is looking into.
Chief Inspector Paul Stritch, a fast track university graduate aged just 29, was abrasive and not afraid of being confrontational with those in the station. He was Phillip Cato's replacement at Sun Hill, transferring from New Scotland Yard where he lectured senior officers on the issue of public order. A man of discipline, he always stuck rigidly to the rules and kept a tight rein on his officers. He also had a faultless knowledge of police procedure and could sometimes lack tact when telling older, more experienced officers, what to do. Stritch lived in the Section House for a while, and supervised the interviews of officers involved in a brawl there one evening. He also introduced a new exercise whilst at the station to monitor response times, however he quickly came under fire when a suspect PC Steve Loxton was pursuing fell to his death through an unstable door in a disused factory. When Stritch's initiative proved Loxton's innocence, the relief developed a grudging respect for their Chief Inspector. After a seven-month stint, Stritch left Sun Hill in the wake of DS Jo Morgan's death, following a failed targeted shooting of WPC June Ackland. Stritch had unintentionally revealed the location of Ackland's safehouse in front of a witness, who later turned out to be the woman who arranged the hit on Ackland; with the Borough Commander keen to make an example of Sun Hill for Morgan's death, it is possible Stritch was transferred or terminated as a result of his leaking of sensitive information; however, this was not confirmed on-screen, so his exit remains unexplained.
PC Cameron Tait arrived at Sun Hill when he moved to the UK from Australia. PC Kerry Young first met him when his neighbour complained about him flashing at his window. He managed to keep her quiet, although she told her husband Luke Ashton, who was paired with Tait for his first shift at Sun Hill. The pair became close friends and Tait was forced to admit he was having issues with his ex-girlfriend Kim, and introduced Ashton to his daughter Emily. Ashton then told Tait he was gay, hence why his relationship with Young broke down. When Young outed Ashton to the entire relief and slept with returning Sergeant Dale Smith, Ashton flipped out and tried to get an armed robber to shoot him. When the gun backfired, Ashton decided to leave Sun Hill, with Tait consoling Young after making her realise she still loved Ashton. Tait’s issues with ex Kim continued when she began a relationship with a criminal, Mark Davies. When Davies was killed in a hit and run, Tait helped Kin nail the loan shark responsible, and the pair came to an agreement for the sake of Emily.
When babysitting for Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy, Cameron was stunned when he found her daughter Niamh unresponsive, and she tragically died. Murphy initially blamed Tait, but the post mortem revealed Niamh had a hole in her heart. When her father, ex-PC and cop killer Des Taviner returned, his friend Reg Hollis revealed Tait was present when Niamh died. Kidnapping Tait and Murphy, Taviner was intent on killing Tait, however he let him go after a heart to heart. Young comforted Tait in the aftermath of Niamh’s death and his subsequent kidnapping, but their close bond was shattered when Smith told Tait that Young had slept with half the relief. Sleeping with Smith whilst drunk, Young was manipulated by PC Gabriel Kent into accusing Smith of date rape. When Young was tasked with chaperoning a bank manager tied down by a bomb, Tait took the opportunity to get the truth from Young. During their argument, Young took her eye of the bank manager, who was blown up in his panic. Tait announced to DS Samantha Nixon in the debrief that Young had been raped, who was forced to go public. When she decided against filing charges against Smith, Tait ended their relationship.
In his final weeks at Sun Hill, Tait decided to restart his relationship with Young and she accepted a sudden proposal. However, when Gabriel Kent accused Young of leading him on, violently raping her. When she refused to report it, Tait broke their engagement off. Tait became close to PC Honey Harman when they dealt with a tragic call, two kids drowning when a car they were in rolled into the River Thames. Harman told Young that she didn’t want Tait, and the pair tried to tell DI Neil Manson that Kent raped Young, however Kent manipulated Young into keeping quiet. Goading Tait into assaulting him, Kent ended his career by insisting on pressing charges. Tait decided to return to Australia, and after failing to convince Young to join him, he persuaded Kim to head over with him and Emily. Young later tried to persuade Tait to stay, but he lamented he couldn’t stay, stating that being around her hurt too much. Tait’s last mention came at Kerry’s funeral, when Inspector Gina Gold said he couldn’t make it
SRO Julian Tavell arrived at the station following the death of SRO Marilyn Chambers in the Sun Hill fire set by PSCO Colin Fairfax. In his first week, Tavell messed up by sending an innocent woman round to the home of a rapist to collect her handbag. When he attacked her, Tavell was criticised by Nixon and Perkins. Tavell left Sun Hill in January 2006 to pursue a life in the sun with his spouse, Michael. His decision to leave was somewhat based on the death of PC Lance Powell.
PC Des Taviner was a former Robbery squad officer, and is initially very good at his Sun Hill job. He is friendly with Reg Hollis, Ben Hayward, Sam Harker, and Nick Klein with whom, at times very successfully, he plays good cop. After the death of Chief Inspector Derek Conway, Des is determined to make the largest donation to a collection going around the station. When apprehending a teenage suspect he finds to be in possession of a large sum of money, Des steals the money and contributes it to the collection for Chief Inspector Conway. After finding out that the notes are counterfeit, Des panics and decides to destroy the notes under cover of the commotion caused by race riots occurring outside the station. In perhaps his most famous scene, Des throws a petrol bomb into Inspector Andrew Monroe's office, where the notes are being kept. At this time, Sun Hill is in the middle of redevelopment, and there are some highly inflammable items in the building. Des's petrol bomb causes the famous Sun Hill fire, leading to the deaths of six police officers. After working to conceal his role in the fire, Des frames an extremist and then goes on leave in an attempt to put the events behind him. Upon returning to Sun Hill, Des risks his own life to save a victim trapped in a burning car. While being treated for his injuries, Des confesses his crimes to Reg, and after becoming convinced his colleague will turn him in, he contemplates suicide. When Reg tells him he thought he had suffered enough, Des decides he will just have to put the whole thing behind him the best he can. Not long afterward, he starts falling for Sheelagh Murphy, and upon getting her pregnant, he is prepares to settle down and raise a family with her. His past comes back to haunt him however, when he confesses his role in the Sun Hill fire to her, and she demands he confess to Superintendent Adam Okaro. Once more believing his time is up, Des drives himself and Reg into a burning building. Reg is rescued, however nothing more than the remains of Des's radio are recovered. Unknown to the officers at Sun Hill, Des faked his own death to go on the run. While on the run, Des meets up with Sheelagh and asks her to join him with the baby. She refuses and reveals to him that the baby had died, and that it had happened while PC Cameron Tait had been babysitting. Des immediately takes Cameron hostage, however he soon comes to realise that he actually blames himself, and he is just using Cameron to compensate. He releases Cameron unharmed. Regardless, he once more asks Sheelagh to join him on the run and this time she agrees. But Des does not know that she is working undercover for MIT to bring him to justice. The MIT plans fail, and Des is forced back into hiding. He surfaces one more time to apologise to Reg for all the grief he put him through, however Inspector Gold had suspected he would attempt to contact his best friend again and had been watching him. Des is arrested for the murder of his colleagues and taken into custody. While awaiting trial, Des is beaten unconscious by a manic depressive and was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Hugh's Hospital.
PC Leon Taylor is damaged: the all-consuming love of his life, Natalie was killed in an RTA – now all he has left is the job he's been in for six years. He hasn't got over his partner's death; he doesn't really want to. Though somewhat brooding and serious-minded, Leon also has a dry-wit and charming manner which makes him popular with the relief. However, when pushed his personality has a tendency to give way to contempt and aggression. Leon is a reliable officer and not a rule breaker. He doesn't want to lose the job that keeps him sane – although he'd happily kill the driver involved in Natalie's death without batting an eyelid.
DC Rob Thatcher was full-of-himself, mouthy, sexist and opinionated with an innate ability to wind people up. He joined the force in his mid-twenties after his father's shooting at the hands of the notorious Radford family. He also realised that his race would open doors and give him an easy ride. He was a ducker and diver, using his colour to make sure he didn't do anything he didn't want to do. He wasn't interested in sympathising with victims; he just wanted to nick the bad guys. Rob made Detective Sergeant by the age of 32 and this was where he planned to stay. DS gave him enough power to boss people around and pick the best cases, but not enough to mean any real responsibility. However, Rob was then demoted to DC after he and some colleagues stopped in at a pub for a quick drink during work hours. Things got a bit rowdy and there was an incident in which a DC got into trouble. As his DS, Rob was held responsible. All Rob's worst nightmares came true when he discovered he was being transferred to Sun Hill to work under Samantha Nixon. Rob was Samantha's boss for a while when she was a DC but she rose quickly through the ranks to overtake him. Rob wasn't stupid and strongly suspected his transfer to Sun Hill to work under a black Superintendent was no coincidence. He knew he had to be more careful about playing the race card with Adam around. Although he shied away from race-related cases, out on the street Rob was at his most effective when dealing with cases involving black culture and he surprised his colleagues by dropping into the street patois where necessary. Rob had a very high opinion of himself when it came to women. Despite his vociferous chauvinism, he never seemed to have any trouble getting women into bed. But he'd never had a relationship that lasted longer than a few months and although he was perfectly happy, his fortieth birthday was approaching and there came a time when he started to crave a more permanent companionship. When the Radford family re-emerged in Sun Hill, Rob became more desperate than ever to nail them for his father's death. Realising that he could do nothing through official channels, Rob went AWOL, before re-emerging with a gun in a stand off between him, Irene Radford and armed police officers. Irene died first and then Rob, in turn, was shot dead by the SO19 officers present. He was good friends with DC Ken Drummond and DC Terry Perkins.
DS Paul Timpney first arrives to Sun Hill as a mysterious friend of PC Eddie Santini. Santini's partner PC Vicky Hagen followed Santini to several meetings with Timpney, and ended up disrupting one of them. With Hagen constantly trying to get an answer from Santini, he admitted Timpney was a DS with the Drugs Squad, and that he was trying to secure a transfer away from Sun Hill. Timpney's prime target was a drug supplier called Ferguson, and Santini grew close to club owner Jess Orton, posing as her husband Steve to buy drugs from Ferguson. When Ferguson had Santini filmed buying the drugs and discovered he was a cop, Santini tried to get Timpney to help him out of the situation, and they worked out a plan to catch Ferguson out. Ferguson also applied pressure, and when Steve Orton was killed in a fire at his nightclub, Ferguson demanded Santini frame Jess for the fire and the drugs rap. Santini was horrified when DS Rosie Fox attended from the Area Major Incident Pool to investigate the blaze, Santini and Fox rivals after he tried to rape her when she was a PC assigned to Sun Hill. Fox picked apart Orton's confession in interview, and tried to get her to implicate Santini in the drugs scam. After being goaded by Fox, Santini confronted Orton in her home after she was bailed, but Orton was accidentally pushed down the stairs by Santini and killed. Fox was highly suspicious that Santini was responsible, and compromises his deal with Timpney to nail Ferguson, leading Ferguson to abduct Fox and Santini. Timpney showed at Sun Hill to coordinate the raid along with AMIP, rescuing Fox and Santini. When Hagen and Fox worked out Santini killed Jess Orton, Fox arrests him for murder. Whilst Santini was remanded, Ferguson's charges for drugs were dropped, and he set about silencing witnesses. Timpney was confronted by two of Ferguson's accomplices, with their first act the murder of Fox, which was made to look like she drowned in a hotel bathtub. When Santini was cleared of the murder of Jess Orton, he was released. As he settled in at home, Timpney confronted Santini along with Ferguson's accomplices. Sent to silence Santini to stop him testifying against Ferguson, Timpney began to struggle with executing his old friend. Santini then demanded it by saying "Well if you're going to do it..." and was shot by Timpney before he could finish. Timpney was not seen again after leaving Santini's body behind; it is unknown if Ferguson's henchmen had him killed as another witness or if they allowed him to escape.
DS Stuart Turner first arrives in Sun Hill as a DC from West End Central but is offered the position of DS at Sun Hill by DCI Jack Meadows over DC Suzie Sim, the only other officer clearly interested in the position. Stuart is a replacement for DS Ramani DeCosta. Stuart is a deeply competitive and highly ambitious detective, but is unpopular with many of his colleagues in Sun Hill CID, particularly DS Phil Hunter, as he is deeply resentful of his relationship with then DS Samantha Nixon. Stuart Turner is confident, up-front and intelligent. He joined the Sun Hill team after a spell at a West End nick. After graduating from university, he initially went into teaching, but the curriculum, day-to-day routine and endless rounds of disciplining unruly kids became tedious. He longed for more of a challenge and when his friend told him he was joining the Met, Stuart signed up too. Deeply competitive, Stuart went on to surpass his mate at Hendon and got his first choice of borough posting. Stuart has worked his way up the ranks quite swiftly. He joined the job and instantly knew that uniform wasn't for him. His strengths always lay in detection and interviewing suspects. He loves nothing more than lulling a suspect into a false sense of security in an interview then delivering the killer question that pulls the rug from under them. Stuart's a natural leader with apparent integrity, and takes an intellectual approach to his work. He always keeps abreast of the latest theories and can quote from psychology journals. However, he doesn't like getting his hands dirty and is happy to leave the arrests to uniform or his DCs – they can break the rules for a collar but shouldn't expect his back-up if it goes pear shaped. Stuart has only had one mentionable relationship since joining Sun Hill, with Samantha Nixon. They quickly become serious, and move in together. When Sam discovers she is pregnant, Stuart is worried about his future, and is relieved when she has a miscarriage, which is the main cause for Stuart left Sun Hill with Superintendent John Heaton, after Heaton asked him, DC Walker, and Inspector Weston to join him at his new station.
PC Richard Turnham was one of the first graduate officers to join Sun Hill, transferring from Bow Street in 1989. Immediately upon his arrival at the station, he was selected for a tricky undercover operation for CID in which he marked himself out as a highly skilled and committed officer. A graduate of Cambridge University where he read archaeology, anthropology and modern history, Turnham spent a year teaching before joining the Met. His father was a senior civil servant and his mother a GP. As well as being academically able, Turnham enjoyed the physical aspects of the job; he was a good hockey player and also enjoyed the occasional game of tennis which came from his university days. His fellow officers found him a bit dull, and were uncomfortably aware that he was exactly the kind of police officer who was approved by the hierarchy these days. In many ways, Sun Hill was merely a lowly rung on Turnham's ladder to the top. They viewed him slightly differently when Quinnan revealed that he had an affair with a senior officer's wife whilst at their old nick. Such a scandal might have damaged most careers but with Turnham's connections even that could not prevent a successful application to join Special Branch.
PC Roger Valentine first arrives in Sun Hill after a thirteen-year absence from the force. Roger is faithful in the fight to uphold law and order, but he also firmly believes the Met has become too soft and politically correct. His views are usually dismissed by most of his colleagues, but occasionally frowned upon by some. Roger is present amongst many other uniformed officers in policing a gig at the Bombastic night club due to the tensions between Sun Hill police and the black community. Fights break out between the police and clubgoers outside, prompting the decision of Acting Sergeant Yvonne Hemmingway to allow people inside the club. Due to severe overcrowding, an overhead balcony collapses, and several people are crushed to death trying to escape. As Roger and his colleague PC Lewis Hardy stay behind to help firefighters and paramedics with the injured, an overhead lighting rig suddenly breaks loose and falls. Roger manages to push Lewis aside but is knocked to the ground by the scaffolding. Although he physically recovers, Roger is severely traumatised by the event. Eventually he is diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder and is sent on indefinite leave. He spends several months wishing he was dead but is never able to commit suicide. Eventually he is discovered in hospital after a drinking binge. After being discharged, he visits an off-licence, which is under-siege. Roger seizes on the opportunity to die and bars the robber's exit, taunting him to shoot him. The robber complies with his wishes; however the gun malfunctions and backfires on the robber. Roger later breaks down after realising he did not want to die. He is slowly on the road to rehabilitation. Roger has been accused of being a racist a few times by the public. Lewis Hardy's cousin, Dominic, who as a criminal suspect has been interviewed by Roger, tells Lewis he believes Roger is a racist. Lewis then starts to pick up on little things Roger says and threatens him with official complaints on several occasions. After the Bombastic night club incident, when Roger saves Lewis's life by pushing him out of the way of the light rig, Lewis does not follow up on the racism issue. Although he seems to get on with Roger thenceforth, their professional relationship is nevertheless, strained. Roger had a short affair with June Ackland which also leads to hate from Jim Carver. Roger stayed until the final episode.[13]
DC Kezia Walker has a passion in life – nicking villains. She is a natural thief taker and a gutsy, working-class girl. She was adopted and brought up in a care home. Kezia arrives at Sun Hill fresh out of uniform, and still on her trainee period. Having grown tired of passing cases onto CID and never seeing the end result, Kezia decided to become a detective herself in order to hopefully see more results. Upon arriving at Sun Hill she immediately rushes into a rape case, and becomes obsessed with catching the man responsible. Kezia told Mickey Webb of how she could become a fully fledged DC even if DI Manson doesn't notice she's there. Kezia recently provided information about another rape case but was excluded from the case by Manson, who told her the suspect may have recognised her; really he was thinking she'd blow the case like she'd done several times before – but she didn't, instead helping to nick the culprit behind the rape attacks. Kezia was promoted to a fully fledged Detective Constable in Autumn 2008. Kezia transferred to a new station in July 2009 along with Supt. John Heaton, Insp. Rachel Weston and DS Stuart Turner.
Abigail Nixon (ex-fiancee) Unnamed daughter (born 2005) Samantha Nixon (ex-girlfriend)
Dr. Hugh Wallis was introduced in June 2004 as a criminal profiler who assisted the Sun Hill team with the investigation into a serial rapist. Hugh attended the same criminal profiling course as DS Samantha Nixon before she joined the Met, Nixon eventually breaking up with him due to her issues establishing long-term relationships, having unknowingly fallen for a convicted child killer and conceived a child with him. Things didn't help that Nixon missed out on a post with the Met's profiling team to Hugh and a former nemesis, DS David Chiu (Benedict Wong), feeling that she discriminated against due to her gender. Despite this, Hugh was pleased to be working with Nixon, who had asked DCI Jack Meadows and DI Neil Manson to recruit Hugh, due to his work cracking a serial rape case at neighbouring station Barton Street.
Hugh worked out a pattern surrounding the rapist, suspecting they were specially trained, local to the area, above average intelligence and had an issue with women. The case took them to Alan Kennedy (James Clyde), a former Naval officer who worked in the city before being fired for sexual harassment, who had a troubled upbringing due his mother being a prostitute. Fitting the profile to a tee, Kennedy was subject to an arrest warrant and was eventually found trying to commit suicide at a bird sanctuary he frequented. Nixon tried to crack Kennedy in interview, and Hugh accompanied an arrest team to his mother's house after digging around at Kennedy's old school. As Hugh found the knife Kennedy used on his victims, Nixon secured a confession.
A few weeks later, when Nixon's daughter Abigail went missing, she called Hugh for help tracking Abigail down. Hugh was on hand to help crack clues and get inside the head of an abduction suspect, and they ended up growing closer. Nixon linked the case to a serial killer she nailed a few years earlier, and her search led her to the grave of a suspect who committed suicide, despite being innocent. Nixon was horrified when a series of roses showed up at the station, with the condition of each rose deteriorating each time. The notes led to a website, and it showed webcam footage of Abigail inside a shipping container, along with a timer saying how long she would last before the oxygen ran out. Nixon suspected former serial killer suspect Peter Baxter (Hywel Bennett) may have been responsible, but as he was grilled in interview, Nixon realised it had been Hugh all along. Confronting him at his home, Hugh said Nixon had to know what it felt like "To love someone, and then lose them". As time ran out, the shipping yard was located, and Nixon was reunited with her daughter. When Abigail came round in hospital, she didn't give much info, then stunned Nixon by going home with Hugh.
In January 2005, following a siege at St. Hugh's hospital, Nixon met Abigail for the first time in over a month. Abigail dropped the bombshell that she was pregnant with Hugh's baby. Nixon went round to see them both, but was immediately infuriated by Hugh's controlling nature of Abigail, while they revealed they had gotten engaged. Nixon decided enough was enough and had DS Phil Hunter lure Hugh to a pub so that she could take Abigail, breaking into his house and discovering Hugh had drugged Abigail. Nixon hid out at Peter Baxter's flat, as he had been falsely incarcerated for abducting Abigail. Hugh tried to turn the screw by reporting Nixon and Hunter to DCI Meadows, and when he tracked Nixon down, chased her and Abigail to a remote area. As an arrest team swarmed in to arrest Nixon, and while Abigail initially chose Hugh, she then turned on Hugh and he was arrested for abduction and rape. In interview, Hugh denied all charges, and Abigail's admission that she staged the initial abduction threw cold water on the case. However, just as it seemed all was lost, Nixon found a safety deposit box where Hugh stored a written confession. With the evidence all wrapped up, Hugh was sent to jail. In the summer of 2005, Abigail gave birth to Hugh's daughter, however Hugh was not seen again after his arrest.
Dennis Weaver (husband- deceased) Madison Weaver (daughter)
Christine Weaver was a recurring a character on The Bill from 2002 to 2005. Christine was married to boxing promoter Dennis, who was an informant of DS Phil Hunter at Stafford Row, prior to his arrival at Sun Hill. While Dennis supplied Phil with key info to arrest a match fixer in the local boxing scene, Phil betrayed him by sleeping with Christine, who gave birth to a baby girl called Madison in December 2001. Phil claimed he and Christine agreed to cut contact and pretend Dennis was the father, and several months later Phil secured a transfer out of Stafford Row to Sun Hill.
Christine is first seen in December 2002 when PC Nick Klein goes to visit her, keen to get dirt on Phil, who had CCTV footage of Nick using cocaine during an undercover operation. Having determined to get Phil off his back, Nick went to Stafford Row and spoke to a DS who worked with Phil on the boxing ring investigation, and she told him about Phil’s alleged affair with Christine. When Dennis returned, Nick feigned being a caterer Dennis was expecting, but had to hide in baby Madison’s room when the real caterer arrived. Christine was adamant that Phil wasn’t the father, but Nick took a photo and baby bottle to Phil to threaten him, thus removing his hold over Nick.
Almost a year later, when Nick’s cocaine addiction had spiraled to the point of crack and he had been in rehab for a number of months, he came across Dennis during an out of ring fight at a boxing club. Phil later spotted Dennis threatening Nick, and when Madison was abducted, Phil suspected Nick had told him about Madison not being his biological daughter. While this proved to not be the case, Nick’s anger and Phil stealing the credit for Maddison’s safe return and an arrest secured by DC Eva Sharpe, Nick told Phil’s wife Cindy of his illegitimate daughter. When they secured a paternity test behind the backs of Phil and Christine, Cindy was mortified that Nick’s claims were true, proceeding to throw Phil out of their marital home. She then went to the Weavers and told Dennis, who threw Christine out and made threats to kill Phil. While Cindy considered a reunion, Nick told her to go to her home while Phil was babysitting Madison, causing Cindy to return the following day and attack Christine, who had moved in with Phil. Nick and Cindy hatched a mischievous plan to get the ultimate revenge on Phil when Nick arrested both women for the fight; Cindy convinced Phil to dump Christine and resurrect their relationship, but as soon as Phil dumped Christine, Cindy turned the screw and dumped Phil, leaving him alone.
Several months after the break-up, Nick ended up in witness protection after testifying against Dennis for arranging a fatal shooting on one of his employees, as a failed hit on Nick resulted in Dennis abducting Phil. While Phil escaped, Dennis swore revenge, and ended up abducting Madison after attacking Christine. When she was freed, he lured Phil to a remote location and shot him. Hiding in a series of abandoned Tube tunnels with DS Samantha Nixon, Dennis caught up with Phil and Samantha, however Phil was able to fatally shoot Dennis when he dropped his gun, having attempted to attack Samantha. In the weeks and months that followed Dennis being killed, Phil established a relationship with Maddison, but in spring of 2005, Christine shattered Phil by telling him she was moving to Australia with Madison in tow. Phil considered legal and illegal methods to stop Christine, but after a talking to by his mother, decided to let Christine go. After an emotional goodbye with Madison, Phil decided to commit to his pregnant fiancé Kate, determined not to lose a second chance at being a parent.
Dennis Weaver was a recurring character in The Bill between 2002 and 2004. Dennis was an informant of DS Phil Hunter at Stafford Row, prior to his arrival at Sun Hill. While Dennis supplied Phil with key info to arrest a rival match fixer in the local boxing scene, Phil betrayed him by sleeping with Christine, who gave birth to a baby girl called Madison in December 2001. Phil claimed he and Christine agreed to cut contact and pretend Dennis was the father, and several months later Phil secured a transfer out of Stafford Row to Sun Hill.
Dennis made his first appearance in December 2002 when he found PC Nick Klein with his wife Christine; Nick was keen to get dirt on Phil, who had CCTV footage of Nick using cocaine during an undercover operation. Having determined to get Phil off his back, Nick went to Stafford Row and spoke to a DS who worked with Phil on the boxing ring investigation, and she told him about Phil’s alleged affair with Christine. Nick feigned being a caterer Dennis was expecting to avoid suspicion, but had to hide in baby Madison’s room when the real caterer arrived. Christine was adamant that Phil wasn’t the father, but Nick took a photo and baby bottle to Phil to threaten him, thus removing his hold over Nick.
Almost a year later, when Nick’s cocaine addiction had spiraled to the point of crack and he had been in rehab for a number of months, he came across Dennis during an out of ring fight at a boxing club. Phil later spotted Dennis threatening Nick, and when Madison was abducted, Phil suspected Nick had told him about Madison not being his biological daughter. While this proved to not be the case, Nick’s anger and Phil stealing the credit for Maddison’s safe return and an arrest secured by DC Eva Sharpe, Nick told Phil’s wife Cindy of his illegitimate daughter. When they secured a paternity test behind the backs of Phil and Christine, Cindy was mortified that Nick’s claims were true, proceeding to throw Phil out of their marital home. She then went to the Weavers and told Dennis, who threw Christine out and made threats to kill Phil.
Several months after the break-up, whilst investigating the fatal shooting of a convicted child killer that was witnessed by Nick, Phil discovered the victim’s young girlfriend was the goddaughter of Dennis. Phil discovered the victim was working for Dennis before his death, and tried blackmailing him to get money so he could elope with his girlfriend. Phil showed Nick photos of criminals Dennis associated with, and Nick identified the killer. As Dennis demanded info from Phil, he let slip that Nick was a reformed drug addict, leading Dennis to have associates kidnap Nick and pump him full of heroin. Despite this, Nick pressed on and went into witness protection. When Dennis demanded Nick’s location, Phil went to Superintendent Adam Okaro and DCI Jack Meadows to set up a fake hit, however Dennis caught on to the ruse and took Phil hostage. While Phil escaped, Dennis swore revenge, and attacked ex-wife Christine a few weeks later to abduct Madison. Phil was determined to catch Dennis, but when he released Madison, Phil calmed down, only to be lured to a remote location for Dennis to shoot him. Having been wounded, Phil’s colleague DS Samantha Nixon dragged him into a series of abandoned Tube tunnels. When Dennis found them, Samantha attacked Dennis to disarm him, and as he went to attack her, Phil grabbed the gun Dennis had now dropped and fatally shot him. With the shooting justified and Phil returning to work after his recovery, he was able to establish a proper relationship with Maddison.
DC Mickey Webb Mickey transferred to Sun Hill from Porter's Avenue police station near Dagenham as a cocky and ambitious 25-year-old. While good at his job he was more interested in getting results than in making friends and often rubbed his colleagues up the wrong way. On his first night shift at Sun Hill he single-handedly went after a dangerous con-man spotted in the area and clashed with June Ackland over his methods. Following the Don Beech Scandal, Mickey was one of the four surviving CID officers and he felt some resentment towards DCI Jack Meadows for surviving the ordeal. Mickey was immediately attracted to new colleague DC Kate Spears, and they had a one-night stand, after which Kate made it clear that she wasn't interested in a relationship. One of Mickey's biggest cases was going undercover with a gang of football hooligans to expose a man called 'The Napp' by his friends. This case involved people to back Mickey up when undercover; Debbie McAllister, posed as his girlfriend;and Dave Quinnan and Paul Riley, both posed as his employees. Debbie, however, endangered Mickey when she came to the pub and caused 'The Napp' to doubt whether she was who she said she was. 'The Napp' subsequently beat Mickey up. During this undercover operation Mickey formed a close bond with one of the gang members, Gary Hughes, and told him a childhood story about his father's violence towards him and his mother, which he insisted was true even after it was revealed that he was a police officer. Gary ended up being killed by 'The Napp' when he was being arrested. Gary left behind a son who was just recovering from leukaemia. Mickey blamed Superintendent Tom Chandler for Gary's death, and hated him even more when he discovered he was having an affair with Kate. Mickey was present when Derek Conway was killed by a petrol bomb, and was very shaken by this, as well as angry that the bomb had been intended for Chandler who was in bed with Kate at the time. Mickey was devastated when Kate was killed in the Sun Hill fire. he, Des, and Jack banded together to bring Chandler down once and for all. Together, they uncovered his role in the rape of a girl back in his Hendon days. Jack tried to stop Mickey from uncovering Chandler but once Debbie, who had been the reason that Jack hadn't wanted to do anything, married Chandler and was consequently raped by him; even though she was 7 months pregnant, only then did Chandler take his own life.
Mickey and Jack became very close after the Chandler affair and Jack often turned to Mickey when he needed an officer who was willing to break the rules for him. When Mickey's mother Rita Marshall was killed in a hit-and-run, Jack attended the funeral with Mickey. When Mickey discovered that Jack was having a relationship with prostitute Rachel Heath, he became obsessed with breaking them up and Jack was angry at Mickey's interference, especially after Mickey inadvertently let slip that Jack's estranged wife Laura had been raped. Jack lashed out at Mickey verbally telling him that he wasn't his father and his personal life was none of Mickey's business. Trying to make amends with Jack, Mickey arrested Martin Delaney, a punter who was giving Rachel hassle. Delaney was accidentally released and attacked Rachel, putting her in hospital. Jack blamed Mickey for this. Mickey then went after Delaney himself, but after luring him into a warehouse Delaney overpowered Mickey, tied him up and raped him. Mickey was discovered by his friend Sergeant Dale 'Smithy' Smith, who was sworn to secrecy. After seeing Smithy talking to sexual offences specialist DS Ramani DeCosta, Mickey wrongly assumed that he had told her about him and they had a fight which was broken up by Jack. Mickey then went missing for a few hours while Smithy told Jack what had happened with Delaney. Jack then found Mickey at his mother's grave, where Mickey told him what had happened, and broke down in Jack's arms. Mickey then conducted his own investigation into Delaney and discovered that Delaney had been raped himself in prison. By following Delaney's rapist Mickey tracked Delaney down, beat him up and arrested him, but Delaney then humiliated Mickey by confessing to the rape in front of Mickey's colleagues. After this Mickey finally made an official statement to Jack about the assault but was unable to face the rest of his colleagues and got a transfer to the Murder Investigation Team after a recommendation from Jack.
When Martin Delaney escaped from prison, Jack tracked down Mickey and sought his assistance in helping to re-capture him. It was thought that Delaney had broken out to take revenge on Mickey, however it turned out that he was looking to move the body of his old cellmate who had watched him being raped whilst in prison the first time. Mickey managed to get Delaney arrested for murder, however for not having informed NCS that he was working at Sun Hill while on leave, he was reprimanded and demoted back to his old rank of DC. Unable to return to NCS, Mickey accepted Jack's offer of his old job back at Sun Hill. After returning to Sun Hill, Mickey built up a strong working relationship with his CID colleagues and especially DC Zain Nadir, whom he assisted in proving the innocence of Smithy when he was framed for murder. He also began dating press officer Mia Perry. However, Mickey continued to struggle with his rape ordeal of three years earlier and he began drinking heavily and having many one-night stands. After one drunken encounter led to Mickey being accused of rape he began to clean up his act. He also resumed his relationship with Mia, but they ultimately split after Mia slept with Mickey's boss Superintendent John Heaton. In 2009 Mickey and DS Max Carter went on an undercover operation where they were forced to take cocaine to maintain their cover. Max became an addict and when Mickey found out he was determined to expose Max to their superiors. Mickey and Max also clashed over Max's treatment of teenage gang member Jasmine Harris. Mickey formed a friendship with Jasmine and promised to find her somewhere safe to live, but instead she was sent to a young offenders' institution. After being released Jasmine was witness to a murder carried out by her boyfriend and was taken into custody, but then released. She was then gang-raped by her boyfriend and his friends as punishment for talking to the police. Drawing on his own experience as a rape victim, Mickey persuaded Jasmine to testify against her attackers.
Sergeant later Inspector Rachel Weston arrived to replace Nikki Wright, joining Callum Stone and Dale Smith as a third uniformed sergeant. Rachel may act like top girl, but she's got a mischievous side and Sun Hill felt the full force of her arrival. Rachel was promoted to Inspector by SuperintendentJohn Heaton to replace InspectorGina Gold after her unexpected departure from Sun Hill. John Heaton's reason for choosing her was that Callum Stone wanted to remain on the front line with the troops, and that Dale Smith was Acting Inspector once before and did not take to the position. Rachel left Sun Hill to join Superintendent John Heaton at his new station. Sergeant Dale Smith replaced her as Inspector.
DC Alan Woods, a high-flyer from Glasgow, had seen most things in over twenty years in the force, and nothing put him off his stroke. Woods had an unblemished reputation for honesty and stability. He was married for the second time, to an English woman, although he kept his family, like his feelings on most things, close to his chest. More comfortable in a male working environment, he was quietly pleased when Chris Deakin took over as CID's boss from Sally Johnson. Alan was quite content at Sun Hill, zooming around in the Astra, bashing down doors and frog-marching suspects to the cells. He provided an island of calm in the stormy seas of CID before his transfer in 1996.
PC Di Worrell was a people person. She loved a gossip and a laugh and settled easily into the male banter, whilst still remaining very much one of the girls. Few could resist her impish humour and it was not unknown for her to mischievously stir up some gossip to make a shift pass more quickly. Though she could sometimes push things a little too far, Di was a favourite among the relief. As a police officer, she was intuitive and good at her job – she usually managed to talk her way out of any confrontation before violence erupted, but if cornered she was tougher than she looked and was more than capable of looking after herself. Born and brought up in east London, the last thing Di wanted when she joined the police was to bump into old friends on the beat so she made sure her first posting was on the other side of London. However, she grew in confidence and felt able to move a little closer to 'home'. In many ways Di was coasting and was never really challenged; as far as she was concerned life was for living not working. She was a single parent with a young son, Josh, and for most of the time kept on top of the demands of parenting combined with her busy job. Di was one of the casualties of the Sun Hill fire when race riots got out of hand.
DCI Gordon Wray was born in Windsor in 1947. University-educated, Wray joined the force in 1971, serving five years in his home town before joining the Met. Married to a senior social worker, he arrived at Sun Hill with a glowing reputation and a mandate to clamp down on the errant Frank Burnside. He had worked with Sun Hill detectives on two previous occasions; on one enquiry when he was a DI with the Drugs Squad, putting Burnside under scrutiny. The two didn't see eye to eye and Burnside was furious when Wray turned up at the station, promoted, and having to take orders from him. Ironically Burnside quickly saw off his nemesis as Wray proved more human and flawed than anyone had imagined, falling for the hitherto hidden charms of June Ackland. When their affair became the main item of station gossip, Wray was hastily transferred and his hopes of future promotion wrecked.
Sergeant Doug Wright is the husband of Sun Hill Sergeant Nikki Wright, first introduced in the final episode of series 22. It was revealed by DAC Georgia Hobbs that Nikki wanted to separate work and home life by transferring to Sun Hill from Barton Street Station, where both were stationed. Doug first appeared when he was seconded to Sun Hill; Wright assists PC Roger Valentine in the case of the body of a teenage boy missing for over a year being found on the Aldbourne Estate, with Doug the FLO for the father, Rick Harris, on the original missing person's case. Without realizing he was married to Nikki, Roger referred to her as a Barton Street castoff and "front office material", which Doug shared with his wife before joining the Sun Hill team for a drink after the shift. The following day, Wright is called back to Sun Hill when Rick Harris abducts a young boy, but establishes that he simply wanted to bond with the boy who he once coached in a youth football team. A few months later Wright was again seconded to Sun Hill to assist when a prisoner absconded in Canley, meaning Barton Street officers were needed to cover the workload. When a local football derby led to Wright and more of his colleagues assisting Sun Hill, he joined a group of officers in a carrier in raiding a pub as a riot kicked off. During the commotion, Wright was headbutted by a suspect for importing alcohol before being stabbed by a mystery assailant. When a letter was delivered to a recovering Wright captioned "Today I was unlucky, tomorrow I'll finish the job", a list of villains he arrested are searched through by DI Samantha Nixon and DC Terry Perkins. It was revealed Wright was not the primary target when wife Nikki and probationary PC Billy Rowan were ambushed investigating a disturbance at a factory, leading to Rowan being fatally stabbed. Doug persuaded Nikki to falsely ID their suspect in order to secure a conviction, but she decided against it in the quest for justice. When she is abducted by suspect Greg Farnham, she escapes his clutches then tries to stop him from committing suicide. Doug attends the scene after leaving hospital in an attempt to stop Nikki risking her life, however she persists and saves Farnham after he slit his wrists, and evidence secured whilst Nikki was being held nails Farnham for murder, attempted murder and abduction. It is unknown if Doug went back to work after being stabbed; he was last seen escorting Nikki home after leaving hospital, however he was mentioned repeatedly until she resigned from the service in summer 2008.
Sergeant Nikki Wright used to work in her mother's hair salon, but joined the police in order to pursue a more exciting career. Nikki is married to a fellow Sergeant, Doug Wright and has two children as well as two stepchildren. Nikki made a distinct impression on the relief at Sun Hill after she helped them deal with an armed robbery on Sun Hill's patch. Nikki eventually transferred from neighbouring station Barton Street because her husband Doug was also a Sergeant there and it was difficult working together. Superintendent John Heaton employed her only reluctantly on the recommendation of corrupt DAC Hobbs despite wishing to promote PC Yvonne Hemmingway. In July 2007, Nikki's husband Doug was stabbed but survived the stabbing. Shortly after the incident, two new recruits Constables Sally Armstrong and Billy Rowan arrived in Sun Hill, with Nikki and PC Emma Keane assigned to "puppy walk" them. Near the end of a shift, the four attended a shout involving kids throwing stones at a disused cheese factory, where Billy volunteered to enter the building with Nikki. It turned out to be a trap laid by Greg Farnham, the man responsible for Doug's stabbing, who trapped Billy behind a metal sliding door, separating Billy from contact and assistance from Nikki on the other side, Farnham wrestled Billy to the ground and slit his throat. A distraught Nikki tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him, and eventually had to be pulled off the body by DC Terry Perkins, blaming herself for his death. The unsuccessful attempts of Nikki to radio for assistance when she discovered Billy's body after running around the long way to gain access to the room she was locked out of, was down to her Personal Radio failing, as she couldn't get a signal to use it as she was in a building. In Nikki's first appearance it was revealed that she had completed her police training in 1978, the same day as June Ackland. In 2008 whilst on the Antrim Green Estate, Nikki and PC Will Fletcher discover a man with a scaffolding pole in his stomach. After a long day of looking after the victim, Leslie Downie, who later died, Nikki makes a bond, whilst PC Will Fletcher investigates, Nikki is saddened following the death, and recent family problems, result in Nikki deciding to leave. And following this PC Will Fletcher is promoted to DC.
PC Kerry Young was described as a sparky, down to earth and upbeat woman with confidence. She was brought up single-handedly by her father George because her mother died when she was four years old. Gregarious and friendly, Kerry always enjoyed a group situation, thriving on the approval of others. A career in the police force offered her a team atmosphere and ordered structure that she craved from the services, so she signed herself up straight from school. Kerry first appeared as a woman who PC Nick Klein met in a nightclub and they went on to have a one-night stand. Much to Nick's embarrassment, she turned up the following morning as the new recruit at Sun Hill. A young woman who lived life to the full, she was a great believer in fate and had an optimistic sense of "everything will work out for the best". Unfortunately this attitude sometimes led Kerry into trouble when she didn't weigh up the consequences against actions. She frustrated the older members of the relief with her occasional bursts of rashness brought on by frustration. Always leaping before she looked, on the whole Kerry tended to land on her feet – or her natural charm enlisted someone else to help her extricate herself from most of her scrapes. On the rare occasion that her charm didn't work, or if someone decided they didn't like her, she'd become petulant.
Shortly after arriving at Sun Hill, Kerry fell for PC Luke Ashton and the two began a relationship that very quickly led to an engagement. Kerry and Luke were married soon afterwards but unbeknownst to Kerry, Luke was gay and had a one-night stand with Sergeant Craig Gilmore on his stag night. It wasn't until Kerry announced she was expecting a baby that she discovered the truth about Luke and that he had been unfaithful to her. Heartbroken, Kerry decided to have an abortion but was persuaded by Luke not to go through with it. Despite listening to him, Kerry told Luke that their marriage was over and left him. Sadly, she had a miscarriage shortly afterwards. Several months later when a new Sergeant arrived at Sun Hill, Luke was surprised to see an old face return – Dale Smith. Kerry fell for him immediately and had a light-hearted flirtation with him, resulting in them kissing on his first day back at Sun Hill. A relationship developed between the two, much to the dismay of Luke. Luke later left Sun Hill and Kerry was heartbroken, having begged him to move away with her and vowed that she would never let a man treat her like that again. Some time later, Smithy built up the courage to ask Kerry out on a date, which she accepted, but he later backed out when he decided that an intimate relationship between a Sergeant and a PC would not work and denied that he was attracted to her. But Kerry knew Smithy couldn't resist his chances with her and seduced him in the back of his car during an obbo, only to be interrupted by PC Des Taviner. Smithy thereafter made it clear to Kerry that their relationship was strictly professional, but later regretted pushing her away.
Following a drunken night of passion, Kerry began a relationship with PC Cameron Tait. However, what she didn't realise was that she was caught up in a love triangle with both Cameron and Smithy, as both men were pining for her affections. Smithy's jealousy of Cameron led him to warning Cameron about Kerry's so-called 'reputation' and Cameron stormed off after a row with Kerry on the subject. Kerry grew ever more irate with Smithy's jealous behaviour and accused him of trying to ruin her relationship with Cameron. After a heavy drinking session, Kerry and Smithy slept together. However, Kerry had no recollection of her night of passion with Smithy and felt guilty for cheating on Cameron. But unfortunately, corrupt officer PC Gabriel Kent took advantage and manipulated her into believing that Smithy had raped her, persuading her to make an official allegation. Kerry did not realise that Gabriel was in fact using her to get one over Smithy out of his hatred for the Sergeant, but then decided not to press charges against Smithy. But Gabriel wouldn't let it rest and deliberately damaged Smithy's reputation with the relief by spreading word of the allegation around the whole station and telling Cameron against Kerry's will. To make matters worse, when Smithy was acting duty officer at an armed robbery at a bank where the manager had a bomb strapped to his waist, Kerry offered to chaperone the manager and Cameron chose then to confront her about the rape allegation against Smithy. Kerry was momentarily distracted by Cameron's demand for answers that she deserted her post for a split second and the bomb went off, killing the manager and nearly Kerry herself. In the aftermath of the explosion, the rumour that Smithy was a rapist had become the talk of the whole station and Kerry and Cameron lied about neglecting their duties when Cameron admitted to talking to Kerry before the bomb went off, but Gabriel stole the CCTV footage that showed Kerry deserting her post just before the explosion. Things then got even more out of hand when PC Andrea Dunbar, an undercover journalist, leaked the story of the rape allegation to the press. Now that word of the allegation was in print, Kerry was forced to decide whether or not she would make the allegation official and press charges against Smithy. The allegation resulted in the station being divided over whose side everyone was on and when Smithy was asked to put in for a voluntary transfer, Kerry realised that even though he had taken advantage, he hadn't raped her. Realising that Smithy was incapable of rape, Kerry dropped the allegation completely and insisted for him to stay at Sun Hill. Despite Kerry's affair with Smithy, she and Cameron decided to give their disastrous relationship another try.
Kerry began to question Gabriel's friendship when he kissed her while out on call. Cameron later surprised her with a marriage proposal, which she at first rejected. But she inadvertently let news of the proposal slip to Gabriel when he kept discussing the kiss with her and she tried to explain that they were just friends and nothing more. After inadvertently blurting out to Gabriel that she had accepted the proposal, she rushed to Cameron and agreed to marry him. But the new engagement enraged the increasingly menacing Gabriel even further and when Kerry pushed him away one final time, he accused her of 'winding him up' and 'leading him on' and took out all his anger and jealousy on her by violently raping her. Shocked and traumatised by the vicious attack, Kerry confided in Cameron but Gabriel convinced him that Kerry slept with him willingly and was just the girl who cried rape when she was unfaithful, for he knew that no one would believe her after the allegations against Smithy. Kerry was distraught when Cameron didn't believe her and ended their relationship. Knowing she couldn't report him, Gabriel mentally taunted Kerry and played sick mind games with her, before later admitting to Cameron that he did indeed rape her. Cameron convinced Kerry to report the rape, but Gabriel made sure Kerry kept quiet by blackmailing her with the CCTV footage from the armed robbery at the bank he had stolen and threatened to end her career with the evidence proving she had neglected her duty that resulted in a man's death if she reported the rape. Kerry was left with no choice but to remain silent about everything and Gabriel then played his last sick game with her when he deliberately goaded Cameron into assaulting him in the station canteen. Cameron's career was put on the line after his attack on Gabriel and he left Sun Hill the next day and returned to Australia without Kerry. Kerry went completely off the rails when she realised she couldn't tell the truth that her life was destroyed and she gave up completely. No longer happy-go-lucky, Kerry turned into a very different person, alienated herself from her friends and colleagues and was guided by a darker force.
Her self-destructive behaviour led her to helping DC Rob Thatcher to expose the highly criminal family, the Radfords by going unofficially undercover and even starting a relationship with David Radford. Smithy had become alarmed by Kerry's self-destructive behaviour and when he learned of her undercover mission with the Radfords, he sussed her out but then organised a raid when she reported what she had discovered. However, Irene, David and Wayne Radford discovered Smithy and he and Kerry were exposed as police officers, resulting in the two nearly getting killed in the fallout. But despite the attempted murder, Kerry continued to consort with David and when later exposed, Inspector Gina Gold warned her that her career at Sun Hill was on the line. However, Kerry soon realised where her priorities lay when she caught David with another woman. When David held an armed robbery, Kerry sabotaged the operation and arrested him. But when it seemed that David Radford would finally be put away, Irene Radford presented evidence proving that Kerry had helped plan the robbery and persuaded David to go through with it in the first place, acting as an agent provocateur. This resulted in Kerry being arrested and suspended from the Met. The day after her suspension, Kerry's father was hospitalised after having a stroke. Kerry knew just how ruined her life was after her rape and how she had only made things worse with her foolish actions with the Radfords. When Smithy discovered her whereabouts, he dashed to her side to ensure her safety. Wrecked with shame at how she had disgraced the Force, Kerry relived all the folly of her life and poured out the error and foolishness of her mistakes. Smithy was completely sympathetic towards her and comforted her, but he realised that he had to tell her how much she really meant to him. It was at that moment that he finally declared his love for her.
Kerry finally discovered the true depths of her feelings for Smithy, realising that she was in love with him and always had been all along. He helped her to realise that there was still something good in her life and that there was still hope for her. Kerry finally began to see the light once again. Kerry had discovered that Gabriel was working with the Force under a false identity and Andrea's role an undercover journalist. Kerry decided to reveal all the secrets she knew before resigning from the Force, prompting her to declare her love for Smithy. But just moments after Kerry told Smithy she loved him too, their life together was cruelly cut short when Gabriel, determined to stop Kerry from exposing him, took aim from the rooftop of a nearby building with a sniper rifle and shot her. Gabriel later realised that Kerry was carrying his baby son from the rape. Smithy cradled her as she was left fighting for her life, remaining at her side when she was rushed to hospital. Upon arrival, Smithy watched helplessly as the doctors tried to resuscitate Kerry. But they lost their battle to save her and Smithy broke down when Kerry died. Devastated and heartbroken, Smithy went mad with grief and swore that he would find whoever killed her and avenge her death.
Phil Young
Phil Young
First appearance
"Chinese Whispers" (21 December 1989)
Last appearance
"The Square Peg" (31 October 1991)
Portrayed by
Colin Alldridge
In-universe information
Title
Police Constable
Occupation
Police Officer
PC Phil Young never really fitted in at Sun Hill. He was too sensitive for the rough and tumble of station life, and couldn't really join in the comic badinage that helps keep officers going in tough times. When he arrived at the station he was Sun Hill's youngest Constable, and lack of experience didn't help in his work there. Phil began to crack up when he found the body of a fifteen-year-old who had killed himself. He reached out for help from WPC Norika Datta, but when she refused to go out with him he attacked her. Later he found another suicide, and that was the end for Phil. He took his own life, feeding exhaust fumes into his car.
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