The Bill series 4

*The Bill*
The Bill
Season 4
	Series 4 (Australian DVD Cover)
No. of episodes	48
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	19 July –; ; 29 December 1988
Series chronology
	← Previous; Series 3 Next →; Series 5
	List of episodes

The fourth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of forty-eight episodes, broadcast between 19 July – 29 December 1988. This series was the first to adopt a half-hour format, and the theme tune had its first of several updates. The series was first released on DVD on 4 December 2006 in Australia, incorrectly packaged as Seasons 4 & 5, when in fact the set only contained the entire series four. The series was later issued in four separate volumes in the United Kingdom, available on 30 June 2008, 2 March 2009, 11 May 2009 and 15 March 2010. It was later reissued in Australia on 31 August 2011. The above DVD artwork is taken from the most recent Australian release. It features an image of DS Ted Roach. The British volume artwork features a variety of collage images featuring characters from across the season. The original Australian box set features a sole image of DI Frank Burnside.

Cast changes

Arrivals

Episodes

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Episode notes	Guest stars	Original air date
1	"Light Duties"	Derek Lister	Geoff McQueen	First appearances of Insp Christine Frazer and PC Malcolm Haynes, PC Jim Carver becomes DC, PC Tony Stamp becomes full time cast member.	Eric Francis and Andy Secombe	19 July 1988 (1988-07-19)
2	"The Three Wise Monkeys"	Bill Brayne	Geoff McQueen	First appearance of Ch Insp Derek Conway	Nick Brimble and Tom Owen	21 July 1988 (1988-07-21)
3	"Good Will Visit"	William Brayne	Barry Appleton	First appearance of PC Pete Ramsey	Malcolm Kaye and Osaze Ehibor	26 July 1988 (1988-07-26)
4	"Home Sweet Home"	Gareth Davies	Nicholas McInerny	TBA	Christian Rodska and John Bowe	28 July 1988 (1988-07-28)
5	"All In Good Faith"	Gareth Davies	Barry Appleton	TBA	Leslie Schofield	2 August 1988 (1988-08-02)
6	"Just Call Me Guvnor"	Brian Parker	Geoff McQueen	First appearance of Frank Burnside as a DI	Chris Chering and Russell Lewis	4 August 1988 (1988-08-04)
7	"Caught Red Handed"	Derek Lister	Barry Appleton	TBA	Chrissie Cotterill	9 August 1988 (1988-08-09)
8	"Homes and Gardens"	Derek Lister	Christopher Russell	TBA	Mark Monero, Brian Peck, Desmond Cullum-Jones and Aidan Murphy	11 August 1988 (1988-08-11)
9	"Country Cousin"	Sharon Miller	Barry Appleton	TBA	Richard Henry	16 August 1988 (1988-08-16)
10	"Alarms and Embarrassments"	Sharon Miller	Christopher Russell	TBA	Jeff Rawle and Alison Bettles (credited as Alison Beetles)	18 August 1988 (1988-08-18)
11	"Stealing Cars and Nursery Rhymes"	Paul Harrison	Julian Jones	TBA	Tom Cotcher and Patsy Smart	23 August 1988 (1988-08-23)
12	"Hold Fire"	Paul Harrison	Barry Appleton	TBA	Walter Sparrow	25 August 1988 (1988-08-25)
13	"Bad Faith"	Frank Smith	Julian Jones	TBA	TBA	30 August 1988 (1988-08-30)
14	"Requiem"	Sharon Miller	Peter J. Hammond	This is the first episode to not feature the Sun Hill Police Station within the episode.	Richard Beale and Ronald Leigh-Hunt	1 September 1988 (1988-09-01)
15	"Trespasses"	Brian Parker	Christopher Russell	First appearance of PC Claire Brind	Alex McAvoy, Terence Beesley and Christopher Whittingham	6 September 1988 (1988-09-06)
16	"Save the Last Dance For Me"	Brian Farnham	Barry Appleton	TBA	TBA	8 September 1988 (1988-09-08)
17	"Runaround"	Derek Lister	Al Hunter	PC Suzanne Ford becomes full time cast member.	John Challis, Linda Robson and Eve Karpf	13 September 1988 (1988-09-13)
18	"The Trap"	Brian Farnham	Jonathan Rich	TBA	TBA	15 September 1988 (1988-09-15)
19	"Community Relations"	Frank Smith	Christopher Russell	TBA	Jim Findley, Shirley Dixon and Paul Anil	20 September 1988 (1988-09-20)
20	"A Dog's Life"	Brian Parker	Graeme Curry	TBA	TBA	22 September 1988 (1988-09-22)
21	"Trouble and Strife"	Brian Parker	Julian Jones	TBA	Brian Capron	27 September 1988 (1988-09-27)
22	"Running Late"	Sharon Miller	John Milne	TBA	Melissa Wilks	29 September 1988 (1988-09-29)
23	"They Say We're Rough"	Frank W. Smith	Douglas Watkinson	TBA	TBA	4 October 1988 (1988-10-04)
24	"Blue For A Boy"	Paul Harrison	John Foster	TBA	Gerry Cowper and Robert Glenister	6 October 1988 (1988-10-06)
25	"Chasing the Dragon"	Frank W. Smith	Brendan J. Cassin	TBA	Terry Sue-Patt	11 October 1988 (1988-10-11)
26	"The Coop"	Graham Theakston	Garry Lyons	TBA	John Rees	13 October 1988 (1988-10-13)
27	"The Quick and the Dead"	Philip Casson	Christopher Russell	TBA	John Rolfe and George Ballantine	18 October 1988 (1988-10-18)
28	"Witness"	Graham Theakston	Christopher Russell	TBA	Bill Moody	20 October 1988 (1988-10-20)
29	"Here We Go Loopy Lou"	Brian Farnham	Julian Jones	TBA	TBA	25 October 1988 (1988-10-25)
30	"Stop And Search"	Terry Marcel	Geoff McQueen	First appearance of DC Tosh Lines	TBA	27 October 1988 (1988-10-27)
31	"Spook Stuff"	Terry Marcel	Geoff McQueen	TBA	Andrew McCulloch and Daniel Peacock	1 November 1988 (1988-11-01)
32	"Evacuation"	Terry Green	Edwin Peace	TBA	Matthew Scurfield, Eddie Tagoe and Jim McManus	2 November 1988 (1988-11-02)
33	"Personal Imports"	Brian Farnham	Kevin Clarke	TBA	Paul O'Grady (credited as Paul Savage) and Stevan Rimkus	8 November 1988 (1988-11-08)
34	"Paper Chase"	Niall Leonard	Barry Appleton	TBA	Christine Kavanagh and Sally Faulkner	10 November 1988 (1988-11-10)
35	"Intruder"	Graham Theakston	Roger Parkes	TBA	Iain Rattray, Terence Wilton, Martin Matthews and James Pertwee	15 November 1988 (1988-11-15)
36	"Conflict"	Graham Theakston	Al Hunter	TBA	Alex Kingston and Russell Lewis	17 November 1988 (1988-11-17)
37	"Duplicates"	Niall Leonard	Simon Moss	TBA	Leon Eagles	22 November 1988 (1988-11-22)
38	"Snout"	Paul Harrison	Arthur McKenzie	TBA	Desmond McNamara	24 November 1988 (1988-11-24)
39	"Old Habits"	Barry Davis	Nicholas McInerny	TBA	Geoffrey Beevers, Hilary Mason, Ralph Nossek, Dennis Edwards, Lee MacDonald and Aimée Delamain	29 November 1988 (1988-11-29)
40	"The Silent Gun"	Terry Marcel	Christopher Russell	TBA	James Gaddas, Peter Caffrey, Damaris Hayman, Milo Sperber and Richard Bonehill	1 December 1988 (1988-12-01)
41	"An Old Fashioned Term"	Philip Casson	Geoff McQueen	TBA	TBA	6 December 1988 (1988-12-06)
42	"Getting Stressed"	Philip Casson	Christopher Russell	TBA	Tim Preece	8 December 1988 (1988-12-08)
43	"Tigers"	Terry Marcel	Edwin Pearce	TBA	Bhasker Patel, Michael Goldie and Patsy Palmer	13 December 1988 (1988-12-13)
44	"Guessing Game"	Jan Sargent	P. J. Hammond	TBA	TBA	15 December 1988 (1988-12-15)
45	"The Assassins"	Terry Daw	Douglas Watkinson	TBA	Daniel Flynn, John Judd, Frank Mills, Martyn Whitby, Seymour Green and Owen Brenman	20 December 1988 (1988-12-20)
46	"Outmoded"	Terry Green	Barry Appleton	TBA	Michael Fenton Stevens and Brian Miller	22 December 1988 (1988-12-22)
47	"Digging Up the Past"	Barry Davis	Barry Appleton	TBA	Dicken Ashworth, Gawn Grainger and Tessa Peake-Jones	27 December 1988 (1988-12-27)
48	"Taken Into Consideration"	Christopher Hodson	Lawrence Gray	TBA	TBA	29 December 1988 (1988-12-29)

v t e The Bill
Series	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Notable episodes	"Woodentop" (1983) "The Don Beech Scandal" (1999–2001) "Golden Opportunity" (2002) "Sun Hill Serial Killer" (2002–2003) "Fatal Consequences" (2003) "Confessions of a Killer" (2005) "The Anniversary, Part Two" (2005) "Frontline" (2008) "Proof of Life" (2008) "Respect" (2010)
Spin-offs	Burnside (2000) Murder Investigation Team (2003–2005)
Characters	Dale Smith Callum Stone Cameron Tait Kerry Young
Lists	Home video releases Awards and nominations History
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