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
Woodentop (The Bill) Thames Television transmitted "Woodentop" as part of its "Storyboard" anthology series of one-off dramas. It was written by Geoff McQueen, a writer who had genre experience after writing episodes of LWT's "The Gentle Touch". "Woodentop" stood out from run of the mill police dramas of the time for a number of reasons including the use of hand-held cameras and natural lighting as well as the use of naturally sounding dialogue. The show created a realistic portrayal of modern-day policing, and there was nothing like it on television at the time, a fact which was actively exploited by the programme's makers.