The End Of The Bill

I should have seen it coming.

In fact, I did.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that ITV had cancelled The Bill after over twenty-five years.

I went through phases of liking and being disinterested in the show. In the last four years, I had become a fan again.

Then, only recently, I noticed how repetitive the storylines were becoming.

After moving to a later timeslot and cutting down from two episodes a week to one, it seemed that each 'grittier' new episode involved child abductions or something to do with drugs.

I was on YouTube earlier this year and stumbled upon a few classic episodes from the 1980s and began reading the user comments.

One of these statements noted how The Bill's change in tone and timeslot was similar in ways to how London's Burning was before ITV pulled the plug on that series.

That person had made a great point but - in the back of my mind - I discounted it figuring ITV wouldn't cancel it.

I'm probably going to end up missing it eventually but - right now - I couldn't care less. It has become stale, why else would I have been clamouring to see older videos on YouTube?