Hi
My real name is Terry. I did have that account but my password was reset at some point.
My first taste of British murder mysteries was The Hound of the Baskervilles. I've yet to see a movie that can match the atmosphere that Doyle creates.
That is what the British are so good at doing: police drama and, in particular, murder mysteries. I guess that is why I prefer Taggart and Morse over The Bill as with those shows you *always* get a murder
I discovered The Bill many years ago at a friends place after dinner. At first I couldn't see what was so good about it. Just a small police station, no high-profile cases or international intrigue. But, after a few weeks, I was hooked and have watched the show
for more than a decade.
In it's prime almost every episode of The Bill was the finest vintage. Shows you could watch a dozen times and still enjoy. Admittedly there's not so many of those these days but The Bill is still very good.
It's hard to say which parts of the show and characters that I have enjoyed the most. I guess I always preferred the uniform episodes as the writers cleverly made those the most complicated and the most intriguing.
Character-wise, I think Smithy is up there with the best of them. A tough and uncompromising cop who will befriend the weakest child but stomp on the hardest criminal or pin back the ears of almost anybody. I disliked him at first but when he beat
up Robo after the latter tried to bully Jim, he won me over. Other favourites were Cryer, Burnside and Beech.
Having friends on this forum has been almost as good. I used to love having arguments with Avon about Chandler - almost every week I tried to think of a new angle
I miss Gayle with her well-informed and deep posts.
BUT, as everybody here knows, all things come to an end
I do hope that the DVD wallets are rebooted. THAT will give immortality and status to the series.
I don't know how many episodes we Aussies have left. But a special thanks to Matt and Angel for their fun posts and good discussions.
Terry
