Peter Cregeen he worked on numerous popular television series, including: "The Troubleshooters" (1965); "King of the River" (1966); "Out of the Unknown" (1969; 1970); "The Onedin Line" (1971; 1976); "The Sandbaggers" (1978); "Colditz" (1972; 1974) and "Wings" (1977–1978). Cregeen has worked on various police dramas, including: "The Gentle Touch" (1980); "The Expert" (1969); "Softly Softly" (1969–1972); "Z-Cars" (1965); "Juliet Bravo" (1983), and the pilot to ITV's successful long-running drama, "The Bill", which was originally named "Woodentop" (1983). As original director, Cregeen was responsible for "The Bill"'s "distinctive and atmospheric feel", which he created by adopting a "fly-on-the-wall documentary style" with a single
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 -