ITV AXES THE BILL

Posted on May 11, 2010

Equity has expressed its deep concern at the news that ITV is to axe long-running drama The Bill.

Christine Payne, Equity’s General Secretary, said:

“This is a disaster! Almost every television actor in the country has at some stage worked on The Bill over the last 26 years and it is an enormously important source of work for Equity members. It also has a one of the most loyal audiences of any ongoing drama currently on television. We call on ITV to reconsider their decision to cancel this important programme.

“Our thoughts are with those members of Equity and other unions who will lose their job because of this decision and we are deeply concerned about what this implies for the future of ITV’s commitment to quality drama production.

“I understand that ITV has said that it is considering filling this slot with original UK-produced drama. I believe that my members expect that to be a cast iron guarantee – anything less would not be acceptable”

Over the past 18 months there has been an unprecedented collapse in long-running ITV drama. The closure of The Bill follows the ending of The Royal, Heartbeat and Taggart. Day-time drama the Royal Today and the highly-regarded drama Wire In The Blood have also been cancelled.

TV is Changing • Equity