The Bill (1984-2010)
Creator: Various
Cast: Various
IMDb page about The Bill
Studio(s): Wimbledon Studios
Filming Locations:
1984 - The Bill goes on air for the first time, not based at Merton Studios. The Sun Hill Police Station set was in existing warehouse & office buildings at Artichoke Hill, Wapping, East London for seasons one and two. The warehouses were formerly used for tobacco storage. (This site is now a residential block opposite a Saab dealership called 'Saab City'). [Google Street View link]
1987 - Production on The Bill series three was halted when the adjacent News International plant was experiencing lengthy strike action, and actors in police uniforms for The Bill were mistaken for real police.
1987 - Sun Hill moved to a former record distribution depot in Barlby Road, North Kensington, in North West London. Filming began on this site in March 1987. [Photos and Maps of location]
1989 - When the owners of the Barlby Road site wanted to redevelop it, Talkback Thames, a subsidiary of Fremantle Media, bought what was to become Merton Studios in 1989 as a permanent site to resource the entire production of The Bill.
The buildings are located on an industrial estate and were formerly used as a wine distribution warehouse. The address is 1 Deer Park Road, London SW19 3TL [Google Street View link]
March 1990 - The move to Merton Studios was made and was disguised on screen by the 'ongoing' refurbishment of Sun Hill police station and then finally, the explosion of a terrorist car-bomb in the station car-park, which ended up killing PC Ken Melvin.
2010 - The Bill shuts up Sun Hill for the last time as the long-running drama comes to an end. The final episode aired 31 August 2010.
Original Intro (1984)
Credits (2006)