The new "The Bill" format

[jimpritchard]

Watched this intently last night.. they said the titles / start would take some getting used to, and to be honest, I thought it was rather badly done.. but further in was slightly better...

anoyone else catch it?

[Poledriver]

Yes, I preferred it to the old format. The style of filming made it look more like a Police documentary and the whole thing seemed more gritty and natural. Not easy to make this kind of program look "real" when constrained by the pre-watershed rules!

[jimpritchard]

I have noticed a change to the "feel" of it over the last few weeks, seemed like they were trying to "ease us in gently"

[iluvmercs]

I suppose they want to update The Bill, but I think messing with the theme tune is something to be avoided - it's been altered in the past, but not in such a significant way before.

I'm not too keen on the "Americanised" habit of backing music to dictate what emotion the viewer should be feeling. There's also the wierd wide-angle and tracking shots which are just tacky!

I suppose the HD format is something which will be a benefit for the future, as it's the way television is generally heading.

Having said all of this, I guess we die-hard "The Bill" fans will have to get used to the new format, as I can't see them changing it, even if we do email ITV with our feedback!

Darren