7.1/1039 votes#1 - Light Duties
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 7/19/1988
Recently promoted to CID, D.C. Carver is feeling seasick while he and D.S. Roach work on a case on the police launch. The River Police fish the body of a murdered informant out of the Thames, but Roach is furious when the case is taken over by two detectives from Scotland Yard. P.C. Taffy Edwards and Stamp attend an incident with an unconcious elderly man who has a very protective dog. A woman offers to help, but Stamp tells her to move along. Stamp is horrified when the woman arrives at Sun Hill as the new uniformed Inspector, Christine Frazer. P.C. Hollis is running a sweep on who D.I. Galloway's replacement will be - there are rumours it will be D.I. Burnside. At the hospital, a solid gold krugerand is found on the old man, and W.P.C. Ackland and D.C. Carver realise the body in the river is the old man's nephew, who was grassing on his accomplices in a krugerand robbery. Sgt. Penny is back at work on light duties, but he is clearly still deeply affected by his recent shooting.
Director: Derek Lister
Writer: Geoff McQueen
- 7.2/1051 votes
#2 - The Three Wise Monkeys
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 7/21/1988
D.S. Ted Roach and D.C. Mike Dashwood are on the trail of armed robbers who have taken a women hostage. Sgt. Penny is starting to stress out because of the guns involved, and his collegues are concerned about his reaction. Two D.C.s from Somerset arrive to take a prisoner back. P.C. Yorkie Smith and W.P.C. June Ackland chase the robbers with three members of T.S.G. in the back. After being shot at by the robber and nearly shot by one of the T.S.G. officers, Yorkie punches the officer on the nose.
Director: N/A
Writer: Geoff McQueen
- 7.2/1059 votes
#3 - Good Will Visit
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 7/26/1988
P.C. Pete Ramsey arrives as Sun Hill, nearly running P.C. Taffy Edwards over with his Porsche and parking in the Chief Super's spot. He has been transferred from Barton Street CID for cheating at cards, and has been put back into uniform. Ramsey cops a warning from Ch. Insp. Conway to keep his nose clean, but he is clearly still up to his old tricks: taking a bribe from a street hawker and generally winding up his fellow officers. Sgt. Alec Peters and P.C. Malcolm Haynes go to the Royal Navy to arrest a group of sailors who trashed a nightclub, but are told they can't charge the sailors as they are due on an important naval exercise. D.C. Carver and D.C. Dashwood watch and arrest two Chinese men with a van full of an unidentifiable substance which they suspect may be drugs. Ramsey identifies it as the rare spice saffron, stolen from a warehouse the previous month. Ramsey takes his car to be repaired at a garage owned by a friend of Sgt. Cryer's, but takes it back without paying after f
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/1046 votes
#4 - Home Sweet Home
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 7/28/1988
Sgt. Cryer leads a raid to enforce an eviction order on a squat occupied by upper-class kids, watched by Councillor Thomas who is in charge of housing in the area. The raid is successful, but Thomas makes himself scarce as soon as a journalist arrives. P.C. Smith and P.C. Haynes are called to the local library where a homeless woman, Marie Tucker, and her kids are sheltering. Haynes moves her along by giving her a council housing brochure, but when they are called to a break-in at Councillor Thomas' home, they realise Marie has locked herself in the bathroom. Insp. Frazer arrives with a social worker who had reported Marie missing and they try to talk her out. When she goes quiet, they break down the door only to find Marie has taken an overdose and died.
Director: Gareth Davies
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1048 votes
#5 - All in Good Faith
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 8/2/1988
W.P.C. Viv Martella and W.P.C. June Ackland report entry by artifice involving a bogus gasman to Acting D.I. Ted Roach. As Ackland and D.C. Mike Dashwood investigate the two latest cases, the widow of a gas inspector locks the bogus gasman in her basement. Insp. Christine Frazer has a serious talk to P.C. Pete Ramsey. There is a weapons amnesty bin outside the station, and when CID discovers a gun that was used in a robbery five years ago, Roach is determined to nail the suspect, Pat Duffy. Ch. Insp. Conway seeks legal advice as to whether the gun can be used as evidence as it was handed in during an amnesty. Roach disobeys Conway's orders and arrests Duffy. Conway is furious, but Roach tells him that they're in the clear as Duffy's ex-wife handed the gun in.
Director: Gareth Davies
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/1048 votes
#6 - Just Call Me Guvnor
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 8/4/1988
Ch. Insp. Conway briefs the relief on a massive raid about to take place on Frontline, a gang of football thugs. Two police officers are undercover in the gang, and the relief are warned not to show them any signs of recognition, however Acting D.I. Roach and D.C. Carver are stunned when they see D.I. Frank Burnside in handcuffs, blowing his cover. Roach headbutts a suspect who spat at him. The suspect gives his name in custody as ""Get Stuffed"", and Burnside, who has arrived to take over Sun Hill CID, gives him a slap for his insolence. With no love lost between Sgt. Cryer and Burnside, Cryer threatens to report Burnside if he raises Roach's assault of the same prisoner, but Burnside shocks them all when he reveals that the unfortunate prisoner is the other undercover officer in the gang. Burnside catches up with his old flame, Insp. Frazer who later has a word with Cryer for spreading rumours that Burnside is corrupt. A chastised Cryer swallows his pride and apologises.
Director: N/A
Writer: Geoff McQueen
- 6.7/1062 votes
#7 - Caught Red Handed
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 8/9/1988
P.C. Frank and W.P.C. Martella attend an incident where a pregnant woman has stabbed her husband with a bread knife. The husband doesn't want to press charges, and when he and his wife are re-united at the station, all is forgiven. Sgt. Penny and W.P.C. Ackland are at the local swimming pool to catch a thief stealing from lockers. When they apprehend a suspect, Penny starts to crack up when he realises he's failed to videotape the evidence properly, but the S.O.C.O. salvages the incident and gets a confession when she tells the suspect that one of the wallets was coated in a chemical marker. D.C. Carver watches P.C. Smith talking to a man in the pub and thinks he has stumbled on a drug deal in the toilets. He reluctantly informs D.I. Burnside who is delighted at the chance to get one over on Uniform. Pills are found in Yorkie's locker, and he admits they are anabolic steroids to help his rugby game. Smith is let off, but he is furious with Carver for grassing him up. CID raid the stero
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1048 votes
#8 - Homes and Gardens
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 8/11/1988
P.C. Yorkie Smith assists P.C. Taffy Edwards dealing with a traffic snarl-up caused by a young man, Mickey Cozens. Mickey's father is called to the station, and he tells the officers that Mickey has a mental age of 7. Smith drives them home, but when Mickey's dad tells his son off, Mickey lashes out and knocks Smith unconscious. His desperate father bundle's Smith into the panda car and drives away. A witness reports that a police officer has been kidnapped, and massive chase takes place until the car is stopped and Yorkie found alive but concussed. A couple come home from holiday to find their entire garden has been removed - trees, lawn and greenhouse. Turns out to be poetic justice as the husband is rumoured to have nicked the plants from the council in the first place.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/1031 votes
#9 - Country Cousin
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 8/16/1988
D.I. Burnside waits impatiently at the train station to pick up a D.S. Jarvis from one of the country forces, who is arriving in London to arrest a suspect believed to be living in Sun Hill. After warning Jarvis for punching the suspect in the face, Burnside takes Jarvis to an East End club where the badly-behaved country copper ends up fighting with the manager and bouncer over the cost of a prostitute. P.C. Edwards and P.C. Haynes attend a bus crash where the driver and several passengers are badly injured. Accompanying the driver to hospital, it is discovered he was suffering from epilepsy which he had not declared to his employers. W.P.C. Martella drives Sgt. Penny to a doctor's check-up to ascertain whether he can return to normal duties after his shooting.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1047 votes
#10 - Alarms and Embarrassments
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 8/18/1988
Yorkie investigates a robbery of an off-licence. Penny is thinking of his holiday. Roach has a case thrown out of court. Stamp is in charge of organising a line up. Taffy investigates a mugging of a handicapped man. A bag lady brought in by Frazer sets fire to her cell.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1048 votes
#11 - Stealing Cars and Nursery Rhymes
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 8/23/1988
Yorkie has problems with kids at a youth group. He chases a group of kids in a stolen car that ends up with 2 deaths after wrapping around a pole. Ramsey seems to have collected a stray dog which runs loose around the station. Haynes slags off the kids of Sunhill in front of Yorkie. Ramsey investigates a ufo which turns out to be a satellite dish.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1045 votes
#12 - Hold Fire
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 8/25/1988
P.C. Smith and P.C. Melvin are first on the scene of a traffic accident. The cars are on fire, and both officers risk their lives to rescue the occupants. One of the cars explodes, killing a passenger, knocking Smith unconscious and burning Melvin's hands. One of the men they rescued is a big-time villain, and the F.I.O. (Fire Investigations Officer) reckons he had explosives in the boot. D.C. Carver and W.P.C. Martella stake out a pub, but get distracted playing video games. They eventually follow and arrest a man who is ripping off his employer. D.S. Roach attends the Met's firearms training for renewal of his firearms authorisation. He fails spectacularly and his licence is revoked, but it's clear he failed deliberately. At the hospital, Martella arrives to help Melvin keep an eye on their suspect, but they are distracted when a man high on drugs runs through the ward, and their villain disappears.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1047 votes
#13 - Bad Faith
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 8/30/1988
TSG, Haynes, Ramsey, Mike and Jim are staking out a tower block to bring in a burglary suspect. Bob and Taffy find some children on some waste ground. Mike's car get hit by a falling telly.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1049 votes
#14 - Requiem
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 9/1/1988
P.C. Ramsey and P.C. Haynes attend a flat where the occupants have discovered a decayed skeleton in the wall where they were going to build a fireplace. Sgt. Cryer, D.S. Roach and D.C. Dashwood are called in, and a forensic expert soon arrives to examine the body. What looks like a baby's body is also found, but it turns out to be a doll. While CID search for former occupants and interview the Trants' obnoxious neighbours, a note is found in the wall from a merchant sailor who couldn't afford a funeral, so he put his dead wife's body in the wall.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1055 votes
#15 - Trespasses
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 9/6/1988
P.C. Ramsey investigates noises in a rubbish chute, and finds a newborn baby which he rushes to hospital. In the CAD room, P.C. Haynes and W.P.C. Brind argue over why anyone would dump a baby. P.C. Edwards and P.C. Melvin follow up on the theft of items from a church, and Edwards is surprised when Melvin tells him he's a born-again Christian. D.C. Dashwood discovers the church property in an antique shop, and Sgt. Peters and D.C. arrests the culprits in another church. Edwards and Melvin catch a woman removing her property from her ex-husband's house.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1046 votes
#16 - Save the Last Dance for Me
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 9/8/1988
A dangerous escaped prisoner is supposed to visit his girlfriend in Sun Hill, and a massive obbo is in place to catch him when he turns up. A bored relief waits in the canteen with P.T.17, and P.C. Ramsey suggests a little game of cards to pass the time. Sgt. Peters and D.C. Carver wait in a van, and while Peters is answering a ""call of nature"", Carver nicks a boy for damaging cars. D.C. Dashwood and W.P.C. Ackland wait in a dance school, where they each take a turn in partnering a dance student. The jealous husband of Dashwood's dance partner storms in and attacks them, taking Mike's gun, which fortunately is unloaded. Ch. Insp. Conway nearly blows the obbo when his impatience causes him to break radio silence, despite D.S. Roach's warnings, but his radio call is just the diversion Dashwood needs to overpower his assailant.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1048 votes
#17 - Runaround
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 9/13/1988
Viv has hay fever and tries to get medication but is called to a café with a dead body and is man-handled by the deceased's son. Yorkie visits a lady with agrophobia who thinks her neighbour is being burgled. He gets on their truck and helps June and Haynes arrest them. Haynes and Ackland run into a drunken driver in a bus garage using a sledge hammer to break windows.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/1050 votes
#18 - The Trap
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 9/15/1988
D.I. Burnside sets up a trap on a residential street: an open vanload of video recorders. He, Carver, Roach and Dashwood sit in wait for some villains to take the bait. Eventually, a man pulls up in a BMW and takes one of the videos into his house. Roach and Dashwood arrest him, and back at the station he turns out to be Julian Pembridge, a slimy solicitor well known to Burnside. Pembridge claims he was merely exposing a police entrapment campaign, and manages to escape with a fine. With Sgt. Peters on leave, Sgt. Cryer and Insp. Frazer are concerned about Sgt. Penny's state of mind. Ch. Insp. Conway has a word with him and asks him to take some leave. Penny insists he's fine and refuses, but when the air conditioning breaks down in the CAD room, Penny's temper rises with the temperature. He spills a coffee on his keyboard, and tries to attack the electrician - taking leave is no longer optional.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.6/1053 votes
#19 - Community Relations
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 9/20/1988
P.C. Melvin and P.C. Ramsey are in a garden shed doing an obbo on a garage believed to contain with stolen motorbikes. Ramsey is winding Melvin up about being a Christian, when a ball is kicked through the window. The owner of the shed gets into a violent row with his family, and while Melvin and Ramsey are dealing with the domestic at the house, they miss the suspect arriving at the garage. Ch. Insp. Conway attends a meeting at the Town Hall with residents of the Jasmine Allen Estate, but the meeting degenerates into arguments and slanging matches. P.C. Smith brings in a violent prisoner from the estate who was high on cocaine, but Sun Hill faces a death in custody when the man dies of an overdose shortly after arrival. With a riot brewing outside, Insp. Frazer must convince the man's father to tell the mob to blame the drugs, not the police.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/1051 votes
#20 - A Dog's Life
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 9/22/1988
Taffy is trying to find someone to form a syndicate to buy ½ share in a greyhound which turns out to be stolen. Reg is keen on joining Taffy in syndicate. He is also very knowledgable about the dogs. Flytipping increases. Ramsey is asked to talk to his brickie mate. Mate says there is a war on with flytippers. New person is tipping all over the place and council can't accept quiet backhanders any more. Haynes and Ackland investigates vandalism at a renovation. Asks claimant about flytipping. Mother of one of the suspects comes with him to the station. Asbestos is involved in latest tipping. Other boy involved in vandalism has been beaten.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1054 votes
#21 - Trouble and Strife
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 9/27/1988
P.C. Haynes and P.C. Ramsey attend a domestic where a pregnant woman, Joanna Mancini, has been beaten by her husband with a bike chain. As Haynes and Ramsey try to calm the Mancinis down, Joanna drives her husband's car into a wall, and he retaliates by dropping appilances like her sewing machine, television and vacuum cleaner out of the window. Ramsey breaks into the house, but the husband has disappeared. Ramsey climbs into the loft to look for him, and Antonio jumps him, causing them to fall through the ceiling. When Haynes and Ramsey go to arrest Antonio, Joanna attacks them. Both of them are arrested for assaulting police officers, but as they are being lead out, the Mancini's teenage son arrives...
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1045 votes
#22 - Running Late
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 9/29/1988
W.P.C. Brind is late for parade, and misses a warning to the uniform relief to stay away from the Dock Industrial Estate, where C.I.D. and a P.T.17 team are awaiting a security van robbery. While on foot patrol, Brind chases a young girl onto the estate and into the middle of the operation. Burnside stops a suspiscious van, but it turns out to be full of fish. Brind is yelled at by Burnside and Sgt. Cryer, but she has her suspiscions about the girl, Jane, and her family. Meanwhile, Burnside realises the security van visits the estate twice, and he races back with all the armed officers he can muster, just in time to catch the robbers. Brind returns to Jane's flat where she discovers a bedroom full of nicked goods. She arrests Jane's mother, who turns out to be one of Burnside's snouts.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1044 votes
#23 - They Say We're Rough
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 10/4/1988
Viv and Ken go to an army surplus store that seems to be being supplied off the back of a lorry. Van used to deliver the gear was nicked from Yorkshire. 2 redcaps (who don't think much of police) turn up to collect squaddies. Cryer doesn't think they are kosher. Cryer wants someone for a p.a. job at local school and asks Ken to buy a flying jacket. An ice-cream van and a car cause a traffic snarl-up near the station. Roach sends a traffic warden to sort it out. Hollis is also sent out to deal with it. After walking around the block, Hollis comes back to find part of a funeral has now joined the bigger traffic jam.
Director: N/A
Writer: Douglas Watkinson
- 6.6/1044 votes
#24 - Blue for a Boy
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 10/6/1988
W.P.C. Martella and P.C. Edwards are on the beat, and intervene when they find a man arguing with a young mother. D.C. Dashwood goes to meet a snout, and is nearly run over by the man Martella and Edwards questioned before. The woman, Brenda Knight says he has abducted her baby, but claims she doesn't know him. Burnside is suspiscious, and puts the pressure on Brenda until she admits that the man who took the baby is Sam Rice, who paid her £2000 to bear his surrogate child, which she then refused to hand over. After questioning Rice's wife, W.P.C. Ackland finds him at the hospital with the baby who is in good health.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1051 votes
#25 - Chasing the Dragon
Season 4 Episode 25 - Aired 10/11/1988
D.S. Roach spots a drug deal taking place on the Rochester Estate, but he, Carver and Dashwood fail to catch the dealers. P.C. Haynes and P.C. Ramsey spot the escaping car in their panda and give chase, but the dealers' car hits a little girl before crashing into a skip. Haynes loses one of the suspects when obstructed by some punks, but the driver of the car, Mickey Squire, is arrested. With Burnside on leave, Ch. Insp. Conway allows Ramsey and Haynes to continue with the case. Ramsey is pleased as he thinks it may get him back into C.I.D. He and Haynes play good-cop/bad-cop to get a confession, and Haynes goes undercover at a party to find the escaped passenger and the main drug supplier. C.I.D. raid the supplier's luxurious apartment and discover a huge amount of drugs and stolen goods in his garage. P.C. Melvin and W.P.C. Brind attend a fracas at a laundrette. Melvin slips on some soap, leaving Brind to take charge.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Bill Season 4
Every episode of The Bill Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Bill Season 4!
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats...
Genres:CrimeDrama
Network:ITV1
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"Light Duties" is the best rated episode of "The Bill" season 4. It scored 7.1/10 based on 39 votes. Directed by Derek Lister and written by Geoff McQueen, it aired on 7/19/1988. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Three Wise Monkeys".