Bill Stars Reunite: Unrecognizable After 16 Years!

Two of The Bill's biggest stars have reunited for a new social media snap, 16 years after the iconic police drama was axed.

The popular police procedural television series aired from August 1983 to August 2010, racking up an astonishing 2,425 episodes.

Following calls from fans for The Bill's return, stars Steven Hartley and Mark Wingett, both 65, showed they are worlds away from their on-screen counterparts as they posed for an Instagram snap together.

Steven played Supt Tom Chandler on the show from 2000 to 2002, while Mark played Jim Carver from 1983 to 2007.

Sharing the snap with his former co-star on Instagram, Steven captioned the post: 'How nice to get a surprise visit from my old dressing-room mucker and great friend.'

The post sparked a slew of comments from delighted fans, who wrote: 'Two legends in the acting world;'

'OGs! Absolute British acting legends; They need to bring The Bill back!

'Does this mean a Bill reunion?! Please!' 

The Bill followed the lives of the employees working at the fictional Sun Hill station in East London.

Following calls from fans for The Bill to return to screens, it was reported back in 2021 that two reboots were in the works.

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.

An insider told the publication that UKTV was in the early stages of developing a new version of the show, though this has since failed to materialise.

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.'

MailOnline reached out to UKTV for comment at the time.

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.

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.