The Dangers of Typecasting

Sad and shocking news in the paper this evening that The Bill's Reg Hollis tried to slit his wrists after being told his contract with the show would not be renewed.

Excuse the way my reporting of this seems to muddle the actor (Jeff Stewart) with the character but that is how the newspaper covered it too. And obviously the role was important to the man himself - he's been on the show since it started in 1984. That's an awful long time in one role and it is easy to see how it must be more than a job to him.

I've been made redundant once and whilst I was upset and worried about finding another job, I wasn't driven to such extremes. I quickly got myself some temping work, but I suppose that isn't an option for him (can he touch type?). Vacancies for people who've pretended to be a policeman for over 20 years are probably a bit thin on the ground, although I believe Heartbeat recently lost a policeman so there may be a position for him in 1960s Yorkshire town.

I hope Jeff feels better soon and if its any consolation The Bill has gone downhill anyway so he may be better off out of it.

News Just In: Law & Order London

I read in the London Lite paper tonight that ITV will be doing a UK version of Law & Order, set in London. It will have the imaginative title Law & Order London. Scripts from the original show will be reworked to suit the English legal system.

Now I love Law & Order and there is a severe lack of good UK crime shows at the moment so my initial thoughts were positive. But then I realised that this is ITV. Their idea of quality drama is rarely mine. Their dramas tend to use a small pool of actors, usually former soap stars. I'm picturing Robson Green and Ross Kemp as Logan and Briscoe, John Nettles as the prosecutor, perhaps assisted by Michelle Collins or Sarah Lancashire. This is not a good thing.

But perhaps I'm being harsh and it may turn out to be as good as Morse or Cracker. No dates have been given yet for when this is likely to come on as it seems to still be in development, but I'll await its arrival with interest.