The Bill stars unite to support homeless young people

Stars from the defunct police drama are to take part in a virtual event to raise money for youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. 

‘The Bill – Legends Under House Arrest’ is taking place live on Zoom on Saturday 27th March at 11am – 12:30pm.

The cast taking part includes: DI Samantha Nixon (Lisa Maxwell), DC Terry Perkins (Bruce Byron), PC Tony Stamp (Graham Cole OBE), DC Jim Carver (Mark Wingett), Sgt. Phil Hunter (Scott Maslen), Abi Nixon (Georgie Tennant), Sgt. June Ackland (Trudie Goodwin), DC Viv Martella (Nula Conwell), PC Polly Page (Lisa Geoghan), DI Neil Manson (Andrew Lancel), Ch. Supt. Charles Brownlow (Peter Ellis), Supt. Tom Chandler (Steven Hartley), DC Will Fletcher (Gary Lucy), DC Mickey Webb (Chris Simmons), PC Cathy Marshall (Lynne Miller), DC Eva Sharpe (Diane Parish), Supt. Adam Okaro (Cyril Nri), DCI Kim Reid (Carolyn Pickles), DC Jacob Banks (Patrick Robinson), Sgt. Jo Masters (Sally Rogers), PC Norika Datta (Seeta Indrani), DS John Boulton (Russell Boulter), PC Kerry Young (Beth Cordingly), Sgt. Alec Peters (Larry Dann), PC Cathy Bradford (Connie Hyde), PC Cass Rickman (Suzanne Maddock), Sgt. Bob Cryer (Eric Richard) and DC Mike Dashwood (Jon Iles).

Comedian, TV presenter and radio host Paul O’Grady, who played Roxanne (an informant of DS Ted Roach (Tony Scanneli) in three episodes of The Bill also joins the cast as a special guest.

Sgt. Bob Cryer played by Eric Richard was one of The Bill’s longest-running characters

Paul O’Grady as ‘Roxanne’ in The Bill

“This is a very rare opportunity to see so many well-loved faces from the show appear all together. I am seizing on the fact that we are all under house arrest and putting it to good use for the charity.” – Lisa Maxwell, Centrepoint Ambassador

It is £15 to join cast members as they reminisce about their time on set and re-enact some iconic moments, a Q&A plus a unique script reading session and an interview with Paul O’Grady. The event will be divided into five sections (focusing on the 80s, 90s and 00s), and will be hosted by the Bill super fan and BBC Radio 1 Producer Matt Fincham.

For £25 there is the opportunity to take part in a quiz by The Bill expert Oliver Crocker. Super fans will also have the chance to buy a unique restricted number of virtual Meet and Greet tickets, to take part in several group calls with their favourite The Bill legends after the event, for £100.

“I’m more than happy to support Centrepoint’s Independent Living Project and I’m looking forward to talking about my time on the show, even if I did play a copper’s nark who was on the game.” – Paul O’Grady

The money raised will go towards Centrepoint’s Individual Living Programme which will provide 300 young people a job and a home or apprenticeship, leading to a career and independence. Centrepoint estimates that over 121,000 young people were facing homelessness last year – up by more than 10,000 on the previous year.

Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-bill-legends-under-house-arrest-in-aid-of-centrepoint-tickets-145225191457 For more information on Centrepoint, visit https://centrepoint.org.uk/.

Originating from police slang term ‘Old Bill’, The Bill followed the lives of policemen and women working at the fictional Sun Hill Police Station in East London. More than 2,000 episodes were produced between 1984-2010, with the show reaching over 10 million viewers at its peak.