Woodentop (The Bill) Woodentop (The Bill) "Woodentop" is an episode of the Thames Television series "Storyboard", which includes a series of one-off plays on different themes. The episode was originally broadcast on 16 August 1983. "Woodentop" became the forerunner to long-running British police television series "The Bill", which went on air 14 months later and continued for 26 years. The name "woodentop" is a colloquialism for beat policemen who traditionally wear helmets; the nickname is itself an allusion to the Children's TV series "The Woodentops". The episode documents PC Jim Carver's first day at Sun Hill Police Station, where he is partnered with
Woodentop (The Bill) not gain his CID secondment until halfway through Series One. In addition many central characters in "Woodentop" - such as Sergeant Wilding and Inspector Deeping - vanish between the pilot and the series. Deeping does gain one mention in Series One, in the episode "It's Not Such a Bad Job After All", where Ackland is informed that he is coming to meet her on the scene of a suicide - a later radio transmission, however, reports that Sgt. Bob Cryer is to meet her instead. Although Wilding is not mentioned following Woodentop, he shares several characteristics with Sgt. Cryer -