Overview
Total Episodes: 48
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.
Episode 1
Runtime: 45m
1988-07-19
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 an...
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Episode 2
Runtime: 45m
1988-07-21
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...
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Episode 3
Runtime: 45m
1988-07-26
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 ...
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Episode 4
Runtime: 23m
1988-07-28
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 lo...
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Episode 5
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-02
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 t...
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Episode 6
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-04
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....
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Episode 7
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-09
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 catc...
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Episode 8
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-11
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...
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Episode 9
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-16
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 th...
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Episode 10
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-18
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.
Episode 11
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-23
Yorkie has problems with kids at a youth group. He chases a group of kids in a stolen car that ends up with 3 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 Sun Hill in front of Yorkie. Ramsey i...
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Episode 12
Runtime: 45m
1988-08-25
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 v...
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Episode 14
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-01
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 al...
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Episode 15
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-06
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...
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Episode 16
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-08
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, an...
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Episode 17
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-13
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 ...
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Episode 18
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-15
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 stat...
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Episode 19
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-20
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 Ra...
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Episode 20
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-22
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...
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Episode 21
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-27
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, t...
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Episode 22
Runtime: 45m
1988-09-29
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...
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Episode 23
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-04
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. j...
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Episode 24
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-06
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...
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Episode 25
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-11
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 susp...
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Episode 26
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-13
P.C. Edwards and W.P.C. Ackland are on their lunch break, and they warn a man for flying a model helicopter too close to the road. They then investigate a terrible smell coming from a nearby property, and discover a shed full of the carcasses of battery hens. The smell is making Edwards sick, and he...
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Episode 27
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-18
Sgt. Peters attends a physical fitness evaluation, but does not do too well. P.C. Ramsey and P.C. Frank gives chase when they witness a robbery. The robbers escape, but they manage to nick the driver, who insists his car was hijacked. Ramsey interrogates the boy, but Ch. Insp. Conway intevenes when ...
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Episode 28
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-20
P.C. Ramsey and P.C. Smith are looking after a witness in a court case. Ramsey is amused that the witness, Andrew Pike, has a high opinion of the police and is applying to become a special constable. Ramsey gets bored at the flat, and convinces Pike to have a day out at the dog races. At the track, ...
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Episode 29
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-25
Bob. Claire and Taffy investigate the report of a man carrying a cross which is found hanging from a crane. They come across a lady driving a car with a small white dog on her knee which is knocked down by a truck after escaping from the car. Taffy swims across a canal after a religious nutter ...
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Episode 30
Runtime: 45m
1988-10-27
Sgt. Cryer introduces two special constables who will be joining the relief: Mary Kilnair and Brian Defoe. While on patrol with P.C. Edwards, Kilnair is pricked by a junkie's needle, there is grave concern she may have been infected. A man arrives at the station to confess to the murder of his wife ...
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Episode 31
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-01
W.P.C. Martella and P.C. Stamp take an American woman who has been caught shoplifting into custody. She is very insistent that the police contact her husband who is staying in a hotel. The husband, meanwhile, is reporting the theft of his briefcase from their hotel room. D.I. Burnside is warned off ...
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Episode 32
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-02
It's a busy day on the station front desk, and P.C. Smith fails to notice that someone has left a hold-all next to the desk. When it is discovered, Insp. Frazer orders the station evacuated as a safety measure while the bomb squad is called in. Sgt. Cryer and W.P.C. Martella have trouble getting a v...
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Episode 33
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-08
P.C. Melvin sees a chemist being robbed, but he has powder thrown in his face and the thieves escape. D.C. Carver is conducting an obbo in the house of a lonely, amourous woman. He spots what looks like a drug exchange and pursues the car, but is told to relinquish the pursuit to the drugs squad fro...
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Episode 34
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-10
A schoolgirl has been abducted, and D.I. Burnside is determined to find her. The girl's father is reluctant to have the police involved, as the kidnappers have threatened to kill his daughter if the police are called. He gets £250,000 out of his company account to pay the ransom. A technical officer...
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Episode 35
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-15
While Melvin and Haynes are on the beat, they are nearly decoyed away from a robbery. Giving chase Haynes is diverted to an armed robbery while Melvin has to let his prisoner go so he can help Haynes. The armed robber is paranoid and thinks everyone is poisoning him.
Episode 36
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-17
Lines and Carver are doing an obbo on a man who might lead them to an arms dump. June and Ramsey arrest him because he beat his girlfriend who didn't want him to go out. The doctor at the hospital is going to make a complaint against Ramsey because of the way he interogates the girlfriend.
Episode 37
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-22
Due to her slight resemblance to a missing woman, W.P.C. Brind reluctantly agrees to perform a reconstruction of her disappearance for television. D.S. Roach and D.C. Carver go to serve an arrest warrant for video piracy, but instead find the aftermath of a bare-knuckle boxing match and a critically...
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Episode 39
Runtime: 45m
1988-11-29
W.P.C. Brind is called to the house of an elderly lady, Mrs Lomax, who has just been robbed. The old lady is in such a state of shock, she attacks Brind and then suffers a heart attack and dies. It appears there's been a spate of burglaries against several old people from the Salisbury Day Centre, a...
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Episode 40
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-01
P.C. Haynes arrives at a house to investigate what seems like a routine disturbance. Instead he finds a bailiff who has been shot in the hand while trying to evict the lodger in the upstairs room. Ch. Supt. Brownlow cancels his weekend away and takes charge of the siege, Ch. Insp. Conway and several...
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Episode 41
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-06
P.C. Edwards and W.P.C. Morgan find the naked body of a young woman who appears to have gassed herself to death, but they notice the neighbour who reported the death wiping something from the dead girl's mouth. D.C. Carver can't believe D.C. Lines has been a D.C. for twelve years. Lines isn't convin...
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Episode 42
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-08
Frazer is driving to work when she sees an accident. On informing the man she has rescued she is a police officer he hits her. Ramsey deals with a lady who was raped. An old lady helps Dashwood with info about motorbike muggers. After June brings in a lady drunk in charge of a baby, she goes t...
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Episode 44
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-15
Neighbours report an elderly man hasn't been seen for a couple of days, and P.C. Ramsey breaks into the house to find the man dead on the floor. A doctor confirms he died of natural causes. As W.P.C. Ackland checks the house, she is suspiscious of the pictures on the wall and some woman's belongings...
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Episode 45
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-20
Burnside and Tosh are in a cafe waiting to catch a group of people who take apart restaurants. They turn out to be upper class twits. One of them winds the magistrate up so much he is sentenced to 28 days in jail and the diplomat father of another waives his immunity. Yorkie and Haynes investigate a...
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Episode 46
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-22
Sun Hill police are being called out to a series of bogus shouts which the Yard pins down to a computer hacker breaking into the police computer network. Sgt. Cryer investigates, and finds a former university student who has a acquired an ex-MOD computer which still had access codes to government an...
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Episode 47
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-27
An excavator on a building site has uncovered some human remains, and Sgt. Cryer calls in C.I.D. Cryer is avoiding returning to the station, as his son Patrick is being charged with causing death by dangerous driving. Ch. Insp. Conway, Burnside and Roach have a word with Cryer, who is avoiding his f...
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Episode 48
Runtime: 45m
1988-12-29
D.C. Dashwood and D.C. Carver are on an obbo in a street where a spate of burglaries has taken place. They see a young man, Kevin Boswell, climbing over a wall with a bag full of 50p pieces, and they arrest him for theft. They also take Kevin's girlfriend, Daphne, into the station as there is what l...
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