The Sun Hill Fire (2002)

The Sun Hill fire (2002) was one of the most controversialFact|date=April 2008 storylines in the long-running drama "The Bill".

In 2002 "The Bill" was dominated by racial tensions.Fact|date=April 2008 In late March long-serving and popular character Chief Inspector Derek Conway was killed in a devastating car bomb explosion. The car bombing was undertaken by a gang intent on harming police officers which later led to the riot and subsequent fire at Sun Hill Police Station. Conway's former colleague Inspector Andrew Monroe announced he would be organising a memorial fund for him. Superintendent Tom Chandler made a massive ostentatious donation. PC Reg Hollis and PC Des Taviner did not want to be upstaged. Unbeknown to Reg, Des "confiscated" some money from a gang of youths and they were able to make a large donation, which Des claimed was the result of a bet. He later discovered the money was forged.

The racial tensions that had caused Conway’s death were continuing and Des seized on a riot as an opportunity to destroy the forged currency. He decided to throw a petrol bomb through the window of Monroe's temporary office at the height of the riot. Unbeknown to Des, gas canisters were being concealed in Monroe’s office, resulting in an explosion that ripped through the station. Also, due to the refurbishment of the Station, the contractors had locked the fire exits due to thefts of their tools.

Six officers were trapped in the inferno; four were killed instantly whilst the remaining two died in hospital after sustaining massive injuries. It was implied in the episode that PC Sam Harker, who witnessed Des running from the temporary office moments before the explosion, knew that Des was the culprit, however Harker was never able to tell anybody, later dying from his injuries.

The episode attracted 8.6 million viewers.Fact|date=April 2008 It was one of very few time when CGI images have been used on the show;Fact|date=April 2008 images of flames roaring through a hallway were generated as actually sending a fireball through the hall would not have been possible.

Characters that died instantaneously

*Inspector Andrew Monroe - Colin Tarrant
*PC Di Worrell - Jane Wall
*PC Ben Hayward - Ben Peyton
*DC Paul Riley - Gary Grant

Characters that later died in hospital

*PC Sam Harker - Matthew Crompton
*DC Kate Spears - Tania Emery

succession box
before = Beech on the Run
title = Notable storylines
years =
after = The Sun Hill Fire (2005)