'The Bill' Analysis

‘The Bill’ is a television crime drama which follows the police fighting crime in an area of London. ‘The Bill’ is shown at 20:00 on ITV and was first broadcast in 1984. The extract we watched is from the 24th series and is the first part of ‘The Forgotten Child’ story line.

The extract began with an establishing shot, which panned down to follow a car driving down an alleyway, which appears claustrophobic and dark. We hear diegetic sounds of police sirens, and focus on a pastel yellow pub, indicating to the audience that this is where the action is. The camera looks up to the police officers using a high angled shot, as we hear them discuss the time (it is 5 am) and walk towards the crime scene. The mise en scene used here is realistic, as is the lighting, as we see the bleak urban setting. We see police tape, and follow the main investigators as they look on to the crime scene. Point of view shots of the police are used to look at the girl – which tend to be close ups in order to emphasis points to the audience, such as the use of drugs and self harm. The scene is set as the audience would expect as crime scene – dreary, lots of police, police tape and diegetic sounds of sirens and police discussing the situation. The point of view shots used are from the perspective of female detective Jo Masters, and, using the same camera technique, we approach another group of policemen who are interviewing the owner of the pub who appears to not care about what has happened. The point of view shots help the audience to connect and engage with the action, as they feel more involved and as if they are another policeman.

The action then cuts to a 2 shot within the police station where DC Masters and another worker are sifting through files, looking for the girl’s identity. The 2 shot emphasises the pair working as a team, showing the importance that working as a unit plays in the police. However, once the file is found it is useless, as the information reads “Kelly Kong, brother King, lives in the jungle”. The office mise en scene is typical – lots of files and papers, which reflects the female DC as she is quite unorganised – she admits that she didn’t follow up the lead about Kelly at the time.

The camera uses a tracking shot in order to follow the DCs through the building, and a great deal of hand held camera shots seem to be used. The camera changes between being in front of the policemen, being next to them, and being behind. This adds variety, whilst giving the audience an insight into the setting. The mise en scene is typical – straight, bright corridors with lots of people walking. We see one shot through slatted blinds, which is a key thriller signifier, as this episode of ‘The Bill’ could be classed as a crime-thriller, especially as it includes key concepts such as mystery and intrigue, violence, the theme of good vs. Evil, and a shot of spiralling stairs – a more modern version of those used in Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’. As the police officers stop, we are shown shot reverse shots in order to follow the conversation and action.

The next scene takes place outside the police headquarters, as the camera pans down from the top of the tall, gray, urban building to the bleak looking scene at floor level. The camera focuses on the British signifier of a red phone box, and we see two police officers walking down the rainy street towards a woman who is sitting next to the phone box. Diegetic sounds of sirens are can be heard, as well as cars and car horns, signifying that this is set in an urban area. The conversation between the woman and the police officers are shown using point of view shots, with us looking down at the police, and up at the distressed woman. The audience will have the upper hand in this situation, as they will instantly realise that the woman is Kelly’s mother, however tension is built as we can see the woman does not know what has happened to her daughter. When Kelly’s mother tells the officers that Kelly is her daughter, close ups are used to show their shocked expressions.

The audience is then taken back into the police building, and into a childlike room, obviously used to break news to family members, which is emphasised when we see DC Masters and Kelly’s mother here. The shot is set up with DC Masters in the foreground, holding the most power as she has to inform Kelly’s mother that her daughter is dead. The shot uses a mid shot, even when we see Kelly’s mother in tears over the news. The room is silent apart from the woman’s crying, which makes it a lot more intense and emotional. The scene is realistic, using natural mise en scene, and not making the sequence exaggerated or over the top.

Several representational issues are obvious in this sequence at a macro level. Firstly, we see the youth as being victims, seeing as we are lead to believe that Kelly’s overdose was not her own fault. The fact that we see scars from her self-harm also suggests that she was stuck in a situation of which she felt there was no way out – resorting to self-harm as a way to escape her prostitute way of life which she had been forced into. Youth and also Kelly’s mother are shown to the audience sympathetically; we are not intended to blame either of these characters, and instead come to the same conclusion as the police officers.

Another representation we are shown is of the police force. We see that they are organised and modern – using technologies such as power point presentations, and remembering cases they have looked at before. However, they are also portrayed as being vulnerable, and perhaps a little unprepared as DC Masters confesses that she didn’t follow the previous case with Kelly up. DC Masters, along with the other female police officers, are shown as being dominant, which contrasts with the female character of Cartwright in ‘Life on Mars’ who is seen as ‘sweet’ and doesn’t head up action. The women, however, appear glamorised – the majority are blonde, wear a lot of make-up, and wear tight fitting clothes, which is a contrast to the kind of police women that we see every day.