The Bill was broadcast on ITV under the title "Woodentop" on 16 August 1983. "Woodentop" starred Mark Wingett as PC Jim Carver and Trudie Goodwin as WPC June Ackland of London's Metropolitan Police, both attached to the fictional Sun Hill police station. Although originally only intended as a one-off, "Woodentop" impressed ITV to the extent that a full series was commissioned, first broadcast on 16 October 1984 with one post-watershed episode per week, featuring an hour-long, separate storyline for each episode of the first three series. The first episode of the full series was "Funny Ol' Business – Cops & Robbers". With
The Outsider (1983 TV series) The Outsider (1983 TV series) The Outsider is a British television drama series produced by Yorkshire Television and screened on the ITV network in late 1983. Successful journalist Frank Scully (John Duttine) is visiting old friends, the Harpers (Joanna Dunham and Norman Eshley), in the Yorkshire country town of Micklethorpe. Deciding to stay on, he takes the job of editor of the local newspaper, the Messenger. Fiona Neave (Carol Royle), who runs the local print works, becomes Scully's love interest, as he soon becomes embroiled in local affairs. "The Outsider" was the brainchild of writer Michael J. Bird, who researched