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He soared to fame as P.C Will Fletcher in the Noughties.
And Gary Lucy reprised his famous role this week as he slipped back into a policeman’s uniform for an Instagram post on Thursday.
The actor, 42, sent fans wild as he adopted the role of a rank and file officer policing the streets of London in a short video clip, that saw him make the decision to jump ship and head overseas – with the lure of better weather and better pay prompting him to sign up to a new life in Perth.
While ITV axed The Bill in 2010, following reports of a reboot, fans were quick to ask if the police drama would be returning in an Australian setting.
They penned: ‘Australian the bill maybe’; ‘Is this a hint that The Bill is coming back or am I reading too much into this’; ‘I bloody hope so!!’; ‘Haven’t seen Gary in a Police uniform for at least 15 years’; ‘Oooh, seeing Gary Lucy in a policeman’s uniform.’
Gary Lucy sends fans wild as he hinted at an Australian reboot of The Bill with an Instagram post on Thursday 14 years after it was axed in the UK
Gary soared to fame as P.C Will Fletcher in the Noughties, a role he played for five years until 2010
Yet unfortunately for fans, all wasn’t as it seemed, as the actor revealed he had forces with the Western Australia Police Force as part of their plan to recruit more British bobbies.
Gary captioned the clip: ‘New role for a new police force… who fancies heading Down Under?
‘If it works for the real UK coppers leaving for better weather and better pay, I can see why this copper’s tempted! @wa_police anything he should pack?’
The real-life campaign from the Western Australia Police Force has seen more than 1,900 international applications to join their police force – the vast majority of which are UK coppers, tempted by the lure of a life in the sun.
While that may be good news for any British policemen who want to emigrate, it wasn’t the update The Bill fans have been hoping for.
In 2022 it was reported that The Bill was on track for a mammoth return to television screens over a decade since it last aired.
The popular ITV police procedural television series aired from August 1983 to August 2010, racking up an astonishing 2,425 episodes.
The show followed the lives of the employees working at the fictional Sun Hill station in East London.
Fans of the highly-acclaimed show have been waiting for a double whammy, after The Sun claimed there were not one, but two reboots in the pipeline.
The actor, 42, sent fans wild as he adopted the role of a rank and file officer policing the streets of London in a short video clip, that saw him make the decision to jump ship and head overseas
While ITV axed The Bill in 2010, following reports of a reboot, fans were quick to ask if the police drama would be returning in an Australian setting
Yet unfortunately for fans, all wasn’t as it seemed, as the actor revealed he had forces with the Western Australia Police Force as part of their plan to recruit more British bobbies
In July 2021, it was understood that cast members from the original show, Graham Cole, Trudie Goodwin and Mark Wingett, were approached by writer Simon Sansome who had allegedly acquired the rights to the original series.
Mark, 63, played DC Jim Carver while Graham, 72, was PC Tony Stamp on the show and Trudie, 72, had the role of Sgt June Ackland.
An insider has since told the publication that UKTV was in the early stages of developing a new version of the show.
They said: ‘In the minds of many producers and execs, The Bill is a drama which is just sitting, waiting, to be rebooted.
‘It’s a simple format but one which attracted a loyal army of followers who would be delighted to see it return.
‘No doubt any new incarnation would be tweaked to make it attract a whole new generation to the show.’
Throughout its 26-year run, The Bill also saw a host of famous faces guest star with many appearing on the series before their big Hollywood breaks.
Among those who have appeared on the show are Emma Bunton, James McAvoy, Russell Brand and Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt.
In April 2020, Trudie, Mark and Graham joined Eric Richard and Chris Ellison on a virtual reunion from COVID-19 lockdown.
In 2022 it was reported that The Bill was on track for a mammoth return to television screens over a decade since it last aired(L-R Ben Roberts as Chief Inspector Conway, Jane Wall as PC Worrell and Colin Tarrant as Inspector Monroe in 1999)
The cast started the call ‘in the slammer’ with prison bars as their backgrounds before changing to pictures of Sun Hill and images of themselves from back in the day as they reminisced.
Chris, who played DI Frank Burnside, recalled shooting car scenes ‘with our trousers off, not because we were too hot, just bored,’ while Mark remembered the ‘belly laughing’.
Graham joked that Keira Knightley ‘never phoned’ after he worked with her on one of her first-ever TV episodes.
She appeared on the show in 1995 when she was just 10 years old.
THE CAST OF THE BILL: WHAT THEY DID NEXT
Graham Cole – Tony Stamp
Stalwart star Graham played PC Stamp for over 20 years.
He was written out the year before the show was axed, when he became a driving instructor instead.
He was written out because The Bill was being regenerated with a younger cast. This, however, led to its downfall.
Graham did return to acting, however, and was seen in the likes of Law & Order: UK, Doctors and Holby City.
He was also awarded an OBE for his continuing work with charities.
Mark Wingett – Jim Carver
Mark appeared as Carver 720 of The Bill’s 2425 episodes of The Bill.
He was already a known actor, featuring in the likes of Quadrophenia and The Professionals.
He had a two-year hiatus from The Bill but returned for the final episodes when the show ended in 2010.
He has since cropped up in the likes of Doctors and Hollyoaks and appeared in 2015’s big screen adaptation of Far From The Madding Crowd, opposite Carey Mulligan, Juno Temple and Michael Sheen.
Chris Ellison – Frank Burnside
Chris played the volatile Burnside for 15 years on The Bill and proved so popular that he got a spin-off in 2000.
Titled Burnside, it saw him work for the National Crime Squad.
It only ran for one season, and aired six episodes.
He has since appeared in EastEnders, an audio play for Doctor Who, as a contestant on Pointless Celebrities and found himself on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015 alongside Janice Dickinson, Jenna Jameson and Daniel Baldwin.
Jeff Stewart – Reg Hollis
Jeff is best known for his role as PC Reg Hollis in The Bill. The actor played the much-loved character for 24 years before the character was axed in 2008
Jeff ‘felt badly let down’ by the shock axing and later tried to take his own life.
But he overcame his mental health problems and has continued to act in roles in Crossroads, Doctor Who and Hi-De-Hi! He also appeared in killer crocodile sequel Lake Placid: The Final Chapter.
Trudie Goodwin – June Ackland
Ackland was the longest -standing female character on The Bill with Trudie fronting the role for 24 years from its 1983 pilot to 2007.
The character left the series when her relationship with Jim Carver came to an end.
From 2011 to 2015, she starred in Emmerdale as Georgia.
She also made headlines when it was revealed her daughter is the pop star La Roux.
Eric Richard – Bob Cryer
Appearing in 670 of The Bill’s episodes, Eric eventually said goodbye to the cop drama in 2004.
He appeared in Holby City afterwards and even cropped up in 2017’s Christopher Nolan epic Dunkirk, which starred the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy.
Off-screen, he suffered personal tragedy when his grandson Charlie was revealed to have been the youngest victim of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.
Diane Parish – Eva Sharpe
Diane played DC Eva Sharpe – the extrovert, out-spoken constable who was beloved by many and irritated by some.
She left The Bill after a short stint and joined the cast of EastEnders in 2006, where she has been a mainstay ever since, playing tough cookie Denise Fox.
She took time off the soap after having a baby but returned 18 months later.
She won the Royal Television Society award for Best Actress in 2001.
Roberta Taylor – Gina Gold
The character of Gold featured between 2002 and 2008, deciding to resign from the force after another character was held hostage. Before landing a role on The Bill, Roberta Taylor had roles on shows such as Inspector Morse, Minder, and The Knock, to name a few.
Prior to this, she was a regular face on EastEnders, playing Irene Raymond from 1997–2000. She went on to appear in Father Brown and Casualty, and cropped up in Luther last year.
