The Best Episodes of The Bill Season 16

Santini goes on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the murder of Jessica Orton, but tries to talk to CIB and implicate Quinnan and Rawton. A prison guard tells Santini that Sherman's drugs charges are being dropped in favour of conspiracy to murder Santini and Fox, who turns up dead in her hotel room after an apparent suicide. With Ferguson executed and Timpney taken on side by Sherman's heavies, Santini's trial starts falling apart. Hagen is discredited by her Sun Hill colleagues when she lies under oath and breaks down in the witness box after being caught out. With Santini found not guilty, he is warned by his recently released cellmate that he is in grave danger from Sherman's heavies.

Director: John Howard Davies

Writer: N/A

Stop and search is resumed when there is an outbreak of street robberies. Mannion asks Brownlow to stand in for him for a TV interview, but he ends up shifting blame after two undercover journalists are subject two stop and searches. With the relief furious at their chief, Brownlow joins Conway on the beat in the C.I.D. car. They respond to a call and collar one of the street robbers, but when the other robber hops onto a bus and Brownlow gets uniform to stop the bus, he comes under public criticism, although uniform can only see the funny side.

Director: N/A

Writer: J. C. Wilsher

Insp. Monroe has trouble dealing with a gang of boy-racers who are harassing and intimidating an elderly couple. When the old man dies after an altercation with the gang, Monroe is urged by Brownlow to show 'zero tolerance' to the youths. PC Smith gets close to a nurse at the St Hughs Nurses Home while investigating reports of a stalker in the area.

Director: John Howard Davies

Writer: N/A

PC Jim Carver returns to duty after undergoing treatment for his alcoholism. Unfortunately for him, he is paired with PC Dale Smith and their first case involves alcohol! Attending what first appears to be a racial assault at a post office, Carver uncovers a scam to sell thousands of pounds worth of illegally imported alcohol to off-licenses. Smith and much of the relief don't trust him, and after a Customs raid on a off-license which turns out to be an empty building, Carver must go out on his own (and on his own bicycle!) to find the person behind the scam.

Director: Jeremy Silberston

Writer: N/A

Boyden has a near miss on patrol when a van in front of him collides with a teenage girl. Her friend is identified by a mall security guard as a shoplifter, and after refusing to give her details, Boyden is shocked to discover the girl is Monroe's daughter Jackie. Boyden supports his boss through the ordeal, drawing on his own recent experience with his daughter Amy. As the relief rumour mill goes into overdrive, Monroe demands harsh action for Jackie to silence the officers claiming she will get off lightly. Monroe gets a reality check as he realises how badly fractured the relationship with his daughter is, and is determined to help her when she later goes missing. When Page finds drugs on Jackie's friend, Brownlow intervenes amidst media pressure about the fatal overdose of a teenage girl from Jackie's school, but has further media pressure to deal with when Jackie's arrest becomes public knowledge.

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With Leroy Jones being held captive by rival dealer Touissant, Rickman is sent to make a second purchase from the syndicate. Rickman tails her contact to a tower block in the city, where Touissant's crew burst in and shoot the ringleader of "The Syndicate" and Rickman's contact. When Jones is ordered to kill Toussaint's main rival, Nathan Clarke, Rickman finds she has fallen for Jones and confesses her love and status as a police officer. When he abandons her, she goes back to Sun Hill before getting into Touissant's so SO19 can conduct a raid. With Jones a surprise member of the group, Rickman warns him to leave, but she finds herself as a hostage for a vengeful Touissant when SO19 storm in.

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Ch. Insp. Conway encounters the ""Sun Hill Angels"" at a function, an escort service which DS Boulton believes is also dealing in drugs. Boulton convinces Conway to help him conduct a sting operation against the Angels, which goes terribly wrong when Conway's 'escort' turns out to be an undercover reporter, conducting her own sting on a senior police officer! To keep the story out of the paper, Boulton and Conway offer the newspaper a chance to be involved in the investigation into Chapman, the owner of the Angels. Reporter Geraldine Sands disappears when she goes to Chapman's house to collect the drugs, but when the police find the house, they find she has the situation well in hand.

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Quinnan reels following his rescue and the death of Robbie Hunter the day before. When savings of his sister Donna are reported missing the day of her funeral, the mother of the teenagers discovers Robbie gave Donna the uncut heroin that killed her and stole her savings to get a gun for revenge. With AMIP convinced Robbie killed Hall, identified as the burnt out body discovered by Boyden and Hagen the night before, Boulton and Quinnan put their differences aside to prove AMIP wrong. Convinced Mick Glover is responsible for the murders of Hall and Robbie Hunter, they seek the help of the youth club to nail Boulton for a series of burglaries. Quinnan thinks he's found the evidence to nail Glover for murder, until a shocking turn of events robs them of the result.

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DC Mickey Webb arrives for his first night shift at Sun Hill, and assists an under strength uniform to track down dangerous prison escapee, Craig Ronson, who has served 8 years of life sentence for armed robbery and murder. Ackland warns the newer members of the relief that Ronson assaulted several officers when he was arrested in 1992. With Quinnan and Smith injured in separate mishaps, Ackland attends a break-in at a local sports complex and is confronted with an armed man who tries to attack her with a sledge hammer. Webb arrives and finds it to be Ronson's brother Colin, and uses his arrest to gain information as to Ronson's whereabouts. When Harker goes missing during a door-to-door on the Jasmine Allen, Rickman arrives to find him badly beaten – and herself confronted by an angry Ronson.

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Stanton and Lennox are tasked with investigating a brutal assault outside a nightclub where the victim had pouches of what appear to be drugs stuffed into his mouth. The owner, Vince Carter, is a well-known figure on the plot, being the son of an old school villain, Frank Carter. Meanwhile, Boulton, bored of having to transcribe the tape of a murder confessions, assists when a young girl is run down by a car, and a witness claims that it was no accident. Boulton vigorously questions the witness when he discovers the man is blind, but soon finds himself believing that the incident was no accident. As his and Stanton's cases soon reveal a close link in Vince Carter, Stanton is tailed by an unknown assailant and run-off the road.

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Boulton and Holmes are left to pick up the pieces when the key witnesses in a robbery case refuse to give evidence. Holmes notices Boulton's change of attitude and suspects he may have found himself a woman. As word gets around the relief, Stanton attempts to cool things off with Boulton, which leaves him devastated. Meanwhile, Stanton's suspicions about Beech increase after she discovers his involvement with a credit card thief, Billy Bullock. Bullock pays Beech £1000 to destroy a CCTV tape of him stealing credit cards from a hotel conference. When Smithy and Hagen pursue Bullock, Beech's cover is nearly blown. When Bullock goes to make the drop, Stanton follows with the hope of catching Beech.

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Writer: N/A

To finance his buy-in to the Yardie drug dealing operation, Jones and his gang rob a building society, with Rickman forced to be getaway driver. Despite Trident being tipped off, the relief are left lying in wait for them at the wrong bank when Jones spots a cash in-transit van, with a special constable who tries to disarm Rickman being seriously injured. The relief buzzes with rumours that Rickman has "gone native", and she finds loyalties torn as she gets close to her target. However, she is given a harsh reality check when Jones is kidnapped by rival gang leader Touissant - who gives her an ultimatum.

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Stanton is desperate to be discharged from the Beech case due to her love for Boulton, but Hodges assures her she is doing well. Boulton accepts a free night at a plush Docklands hotel, and invites Stanton to join him. Sure enough, as the pair settle down for their evening of luxury, an assault and robbery at the hotel sees Sun Hill officers arrive to investigate, and their night is ruined. The next day, CID investigates the theft of a laptop computer, and Beech is intrigued by reports of a "mystery blonde" sighted fleeing from the hotel. Horrified that Beech could have discovered their affair, Boulton and Stanton send Beech to the other side of London on a wild goose chase while they solve the case themselves.

Director: Michael Ferguson

Writer: N/A

Klein and Hagen are called to a stabbing at a shopping centre, where a foreign aid worker has been attacked and left for dead. Initially, suspicion falls on a local youth, Wayne Stevens, who has previous for similar offences and was seen running away from the scene. However, when another witness claims she heard the victim shouting something before she was attacked, the pair find themselves on the trail of a Rwandan war criminal, Colonel Augustus Ngeze, who is wanted for mass genocide and rape by the UN. Klein's personal views begin to cloud his judgement when they fail to obtain any evidence to prove Ngeze's identity, so he sets up a chance meeting with a Rwandan national in an attempt to identify him.

Director: John Howard Davies

Writer: N/A

Boulton investigates the shooting of one of the youths from Quinnan's group. Convinced it is linked to the death of Donna Hunter, he searches the shooting victim's house, and Quinnan is disappointed to learn the girl has been dealing drugs. When Robbie Hunter disappears intent on finding his sister's killers, Quinnan conducts a private investigation, but finds himself attacked when he finds a badly beaten Robbie dying in a church crypt. Smith and Harker find Quinnan's car being joyridden but lose it when yobs on the estate interrupt the chase, but Stamp and McCann find it ablaze on wasteground. Jenny fears her husband has been killed, and while Brownlow reassures her and his troops, uniform believe he is deluded. When Boyden and Hagen find a burnt out body in a factory, the team are left fearing the worse.

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Santini is determined to find out if Jess Orton has grassed on him, and when he breaks into her home to challenge her, he causes her to fatally fall down the stairs. Fox is ordered off the case by DCI Pallister and warned that if her actions directly resulted in her death, then she could be facing criminal charges. Vicky plugs DS Timpney for information, suspicious that Santini may not be telling the whole truth. Desperate to conceal his involvement with the Ortons, Santini and Fox find themselves captured by Sherman and Ferguson, and facing possible execution. Fox believes she has a confession for Orton's murder and is attacked by Santini, but after their rescue, it's Santini's girlfriend Hagen who nails him for the murder.

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Worell goes undercover as a prostitute on Barrack Lane after a series of punters are assaulted and robbed, the most recent of which resulted in the punter being sliced across the face with a knife. Worrell gets close to Leanne Gibbs, a former tom who is recently back on the game after quitting rehab. Ackland, however, has a troubled past with Leanne, and resents CID using her again for an undercover operation. Ackland finds herself in too deep and nearly blows Worrell's cover, which agonizes Stanton and Meadows.

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When Quinnan and Stamp are attacked on the Jasmine Allen Estate trying to get an overdose victim to hospital, Brownlow organizes a community initiative scheme to earn back the trust of the estate's residents. Quinnan decides to face his demons and prove to the relief he can deal with the youth club, but soon finds himself haunted by the memories of his stabbing. Things get worse when a camera donating to the youth club is stolen, and Quinnan is furious when he is confronted by Mick Glover, recently released just a year after his son stabbed Quinnan on his behalf. Estate backlash is rife when the overdosing girl Quinnan and Stamp tried to get to hospital dies, and Boulton discovers local dealers are giving uncut heroin away to school kids. When Worrell, working at a women's drug groups, finds another teenager overdosing, Brownlow demands action. Boulton launches and ill-fated raid on the prime target, causing Brownlow to order the removal of Quinnan and Worrell.

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Writer: N/A

Santini tries to convince his lover, Jess Orton, to set him up with some drug dealers – he wants out of Sun Hill, and DS Timpney, his friend in Area Drugs, has promised him a place in the squad if Santini can get him evidence on them. However, before he has the chance, the Ortons' club is firebombed, and Santini is shocked when one of the officers assigned by AMIP to investigate the explosion is his old nemesis, DS Rosie Fox. Fox is convinced that Santini is linked to the events in question, but her AMIP DCI, Richard Pallister, believes otherwise. When Santini manages to locate Jess Orton, he persuades her to make a false confession to bombing the club in order to gain the trust of the suspected drug dealers.

Director: Ian White

Writer: N/A

Sun Hill has been given a new "crime car" for quick arrests and Boyden, Hagen and Proctor are chosen to crew it, much to the other officers' annoyance. Proctor is given a list of targets by DI Deakin and has been told to collar at least one to count towards his appraisal. However, Boyden is more concerned about his own collars. TSG have been assigned as cover as the relief are very low on manpower, but seem more determined to ruin the collars of the crime car than actually do any work themselves. When they dangerously vy for an arrest, disaster strikes. Meanwhile, Mannion arrives for a tour of the station just as the CAD room goes down due to an electrical fault, a fault caused by someone whom Ackland later discovers to be a regular in the cells.

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Boulton and Stanton's personal affairs threaten to get in the way of their investigation, as Stanton attempts to block out the events of the night before. Persuading Meadows to separate the two investigations, Holmes discovers another link in the cases in a second witness who is involved with both victims. However, refusing to have her statement recorded on tape, Boulton is forced to use the information to place a 'bomb' underneath the Carter family, hoping it will go off and that they will all implicate themselves in the separate crimes they have committed. Stanton tries to distance herself from a smitten Boulton, who is unaware that the "sick mother" she keeps visiting is actually CIB's Detective Superintendent Steve Hodges.

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With the Flying Squad suffering from a staff shortage, Stamp is seconded away as a temporary driver. He struggles to impress senior officer, DS Harrap, but DI Lomax continues to encourage him. Lomax is left furious however, when a bank robbery they are trying to discretely bust is ruined by a silent alarm and appearance by Klein and Hagen in the Area Car. Stamp's standing with Harrap declines when he loses a car that kidnaps the bank manager's family. Lomax works with Monroe to negotiate with the robbers, but when he is arrested, he refuses to reveal the location of the missing family. Stamp gets a chance at redemption when the family are tracked down at a remote country house, taking a major risk to draw out the kidnappers.

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When an apparent drug-related murder leads Operation Trident onto Sun Hill's patch, they suspect Yardie street gangs could be active in the area. A new scheme by Conway to encourage taxi drivers to help the police bears fruit when an overzealous cabbie brings a 'prisoner', Wesley Carter, to the station, saying he heard him making a drug deal. When Carter is linked to gangster Leroy Jones, Trident get Rickman to go undercover. As they reunite, Jones admits there are Yardies operating on the patch and he is trying to take on their drug running operation - but that a rival firm is trying to stop him - leaving Rickman caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting.

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Cryer decides to take it upon himself to discover the identity of a body found on a roundabout, after Webb shows a less than caring attitude towards the case. His investigation leads him to believe that the deceased is Graham Dennis Anderson, a man wanted by the fraud squad for falsely selling pensions and other financial services to customers. Cryer is convinced that Anderson's business partner is in fact his alter-ego, who created Anderson as a way of escaping capture. However, his trail soon leads him to uncover one individual with several alter-egos – and as pieces of the what seems impossibly difficult jigsaw begin to piece together, he finds himself with a body it seems nobody can identify.

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PC Smith is working undercover as a bodyguard for a South African drug importer named Tony Rourke. Rourke offers Smith a contract to kidnap and torture a senior police officer to find the location of a police informer they need kept quiet. Ordered by SO10's DCI Tasker to remain in place and find out more, Smith comes up with a plan to abduct the officer, who turns out to be Sun Hill's own DCI Meadows. Rourke and his right-hand man Jake begin to doubt Smithy's integrity, and end up executing his plan themselves. With DCI Meadows missing, a massive search is underway, until Smithy convinces Ken Stockley, the informant Rourke and his financier are after, to tell him not only Meadows' location but also the identity of Rourke's mysterious ""money man"" - Lucy Haslock, a City lawyer. SO19 raid the warehouse and recover Meadows, in bad shape but alive.

Director: Bob Blagden

Writer: Clive Dawson