Of all the TV shows that have come and gone in our lifetime there are just two that we would desperately love to see return.
Brookside. And The Bill. (Okay, and maybe Hotel Babylon with Max Beeseley at the helm…)
Our prayers have been answered. Kind of. Today, a group of very familiar faces appeared on This Morning to reveal the return of The Bill.
Sadly, we won’t be getting any new episodes of the show – which was set in the fictional Sun Hill police station in East London.
But what we will be treated to is re-runs of all 2,421 episodes on UKTV’s Drama Channel. Exciting stuff!
And it seems the cast are pretty thrilled to see their old selves back on the box again, too.
To celebrate the news, half a dozen of them – Graham Cole (PC Tony Stamp), Eric Richard (Sgt Bob Cryer), Chris Simmons (DC Mickey Webb), Lisa Maxwell (Samantha Nixon), Mark Wingett (DS Jim Carver) and Trudie Goodwin (Sgt June Ackland) – appeared on the sofa.
And although the hair is now greyer and the wrinkles deeper, seeing them on TV brought all those glorious memories flooding back.
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Wingett, now 56, also took time out to speak to The Sun about the effort it took to make such a successful show.
“It was a tough job because we’d be working six days a week, involving 12-hour days, after which I’d go home and learn my lines for the following day – so you had to get by on about six hours’ sleep a night,” he revealed.
“But it was a wonderful thing to be part of, particularly because we were custodians of our characters, who we knew so well. And if we disagreed with the script, we could make suggestions that would be used.”
And fans took to Twitter to exclaim their glee at the news.
Posting one of the reunion pictures, someone wrote: “The best photo you’ll see today. I LOVED #TheBill. It should never have ended. @dramachannel are going back to the beginning next week.”
Another said: “Each and everyone of these #TheBill cast members are iconic.”
Meanwhile, a real-life policewoman tweeted that the show had been the inspiration behind her career, saying: “Better get this on series link! #TheBill is the reason I do what I do & I’m not ashamed of it.”
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The big comeback begins on Monday at midday, with all the shows airing at lunchtime.
It’s certainly going to be top of our bill!