Mickey Webb

Infobox character
colour = #d6d6ff
name = Mickey Webb


caption =
first = 13 April 2000
occupation = Detective
title = Detective Constable (Prev. Detective Sergeant)
portrayer = Chris Simmons

Detective Constable Michael "Mickey" Webb is a fictional character in the long-running ITV drama "The Bill". He was originally on the show from 2000 to 2003, and after a series of guest reappearances he returned as a regular character in 2005. He is played by Chris Simmons. As he is a CID officer he does not have a callsign and is referred to in radio communications simply as "DC Webb".

2000-2003

Mickey transferred to Sun Hill from Porter's Avenue police station, near Dagenham as a cocky and ambitious 25-year-old. He had a tendency to put his foot in it on more than a couple of occasions and often rubbed his colleagues up the wrong way, particularly old-school coppers like Bob Cryer. On his first shift at Sun Hill he single-handedly went after a dangerous con-man spotted in the area and clashed with June Ackland over his methods. He also nearly came to blows with Don Beech after the death of John Boulton when Mickey remarked that John shouldn't have been on his own when he was killed. He eventually matured out of this insensitive attitude and became a popular member of the team.

Following the Don Beech Scandal, Mickey was one of the four surviving CID officers (despite being worried over the fact that he had borrowed a tenner from Beech recently) and he felt some resentment towards DCI Jack Meadows for surviving the ordeal. Jack overheard Mickey saying that Jack should have had to suffer the fall just as others around him did, instead of having his connections at Scotland Yard dig him out of the mess. After this incident Mickey felt that Jack was out to get him. Mickey was immediately attracted to new colleague DC Kate Spears, and they had one-night-stand, after which Kate made it clear that she wasn't interested in a relationship.

One of Mickey's biggest cases was going undercover with a gang of football hooligans, which led to him being badly beaten. He formed a close bond with one of the gang members, and told him a childhood story about his father's violence towards him and his mother, which he insisted was true even after it was revealed that he was a police officer. His friend ended up being killed by another gang member. Mickey blamed Superintendent Tom Chandler for this, and hated him even more when he discovered he was having an affair with Kate. Mickey was present when Derek Conway was killed by a petrol bomb, and was very shaken by this, as well as angry that the bomb had been intended for Chandler who was in bed with Kate at the time. Following the Sun Hill fire, in which Kate was killed, Mickey and Jack banded together to bring Chandler down once and for all. Together, they uncovered his role in the rape of a girl back in his Hendon days. Backed into a corner, Chandler ultimately took his own life.

Mickey and Jack became very close after the Chandler affair and Mickey was one of the very few officers to address him as "Jack", instead of the more usual "Sir" or "Guv". When Mickey and his on-off girlfriend Robbie Cryer were held hostage by gangster and paedophile Ron Gregory, Jack was furious with Mickey and suspended him for a while. They made up when Mickey's mother Rita Marshall was killed in a hit-and-run, and Jack attended the funeral with Mickey. They fell out again when Mickey discovered that Jack was having a relationship with prostitute Rachel Heath.

Trying to make amends with Jack, Mickey arrested Martin Delaney, a punter who was giving Rachel hassle. Delaney was accidentally released and attacked Rachel, putting her in hospital. Jack blamed Mickey for this. Mickey then went after Delaney himself, but after luring him into a warehouse Delaney overpowered Mickey, tied him up and raped him. Mickey was discovered by his friend Sergeant Dale 'Smithy' Smith, who was sworn to secrecy. After seeing Smithy talking to sexual offences specialist DS Ramani DeCosta, Mickey wrongly assumed that he had told her about him and they had a fight which was broken up by Jack. Mickey then went missing for a few hours while Smithy told Jack what had happened with Delaney. Jack then found Mickey at his mother's grave, where Mickey told him what had happened, and broke down in Jack's arms. A few days later Mickey tracked down Delaney and arrested him, and finally reported the assault. He was however unable to face his colleagues and got a transfer to the Murder Investigation Team after a recommendation from Jack.

Guest appearances

Mickey made a series of guest appearances following his departure, the first being the live episode a few weeks after his departure in which it was revealed that Mickey now worked for MIT. Mickey returned again for Rachel Heath's trial for assault in 2004, and was disgusted to learn that Rachel was pregnant with Jack's baby, and that Jack was planning to reveal their affair to keep her out of prison. After having words with Rachel, Mickey persuaded her to plead guilty and she also told Jack that he wasn't the baby's father.

Mickey's most prominent return came in 2005 when he returned as a Detective Sergeant in the National Crime Squad with evidence of DI Neil Manson's corruption. Jack was convinced that someone in the NCS was setting Manson up and suspected Mickey when he refused to reveal his sources. They had an argument in which Mickey told Jack that no one called him Mickey any more as he was going by his birthname Michael. It later transpired that Manson and Mickey were both innocent of corruption, and that Mickey's fiance, colleague Liz Garrett was actually the bent cop. After this Mickey was advised to take a break from the force.

Return to Sun Hill (2005-)

When Martin Delaney escaped from prison, Jack tracked down Mickey and sought his assistance in helping to re-capture him. It was thought that Delaney had broken out to take revenge on Mickey, however it turned out that he was looking to move the body of his old cellmate who had watched him being raped whilst in prison the first time. Mickey managed to get Delaney arrested for murder, however for not having informed NCS that he was working at Sun Hill while on leave, he was reprimanded and demoted back to his old rank of DC. Unable to return to NCS, Mickey accepted Jack's offer of his old job back at Sun Hill.

After returning to Sun Hill, Mickey built up a strong working relationship with his CID colleagues and especially DC Zain Nadir, whom he assisted in proving the innocence of Smithy when he was framed for murder. Mickey started a relationship with Mia Perry, a Metropolitan Police Press Officer. However, Mickey's rape ordeal of three years earlier left him insecure and in much difficulty with his relationship, and he instead turned to heavy drinking and one-night stands. It was only after he was arrested on suspicion of rape that he opened up to Mia about his past, and the two of them grew closer.

Mickey's life took a turn for the worse when he found out Mia was having an affair with Superintendent John Heaton. Mickey subsequently punched Heaton, endangering his job. However, Jack persuaded Heaton that Mickey is too good at his job to lose.

External Sources

* [http://www.thebill.com/page.asp?partid=120 Mickey at the official site]