Woodentop (The Bill) "Woodentop" has an unusual place in the history of "The Bill" due to the original premise of this being a one-off play. After broadcast, Thames commissioned a full series to be shown the following year, under the name "The Bill" as the show had the potential to appeal to a mass audience. Although "The Bill" is clearly a continuation from this episode, the main series contradicts it in a number of ways. For instance, in Woodentop Litten has completed his secondment to CID and is close to securing his place in the detective branch, whereas in "The Bill" he does
BBC television drama productions, a figure equalled only by outside broadcasts. In Christmas week 1938, drama accounted for fourteen of the twenty-two hours of programming broadcast. By the following year, drama programming had fifteen producers working on it, compared to nine for all other types of programmes combined. In 1939, the total audience for the BBC's programmes had grown to an estimated audience of 100,000 viewers, watching on 20,000 television sets. However, BBC television broadcasting ceased on 1 September 1939 in anticipation of World War II. The station remained off-air for the duration of the conflict. The British Government were afraid that the