The thirteenth series of the British television drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' was broadcast from 2 January to 30 December 1997. The series consisted of 152 episodes, including three-hour-long specials. There were just two cast departures in the series after four the year before; actor

Tom Butcher Thomas Alfred Butcher (born 29 June 1963) is an English actor. He was born in Stamford. Biography Acting career Television Butcher is best known for playing PC Steve Loxton in ''The Bill'' from 1990 to 1997 (with a one-off return in 1999), ...

left the role of PC Steve Loxton after seven years on the show, however he would return in two episodes in 1999 as a guest at Dave Quinnan's wedding. The other departure was that of Alan Westaway, who left his role of PC Nick Slater after two and a half years. Their characters were replaced by PCs

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and

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, with actors

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and Matthew Crompton appearing as guest actors on a number of times, both of the actor's most recent guest stints coming the previous year. The series also saw DC Tom Proctor, introduced into CID. Actor Gregory Donaldson revealed in a 2018 interview on ''The Bill Podcast'' that the role came after impressing producers in a guest stint earlier in the series, portraying burglary suspect Andy Melford in an hour-long special, "In the Dark". On 3 April 2013 the complete series was released as a two-part region-free DVD box set in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The DVD artwork depicts DSs Don Beech ( Billy Murray) and John Boulton (

Russell Boulter Russell Boulter (born 7 April 1963 in Liverpool) is an English actor and documentary narrator. He is a communications coach. Career As a teenager he was one of the original members of the Concrete Theatre Company which toured several theatre p ...

Cast

Arrivals

* DC Tom Proctor ("Foxed") * PC

("Potential For Conflict") * PC

("Things That Go Bump in the Night")

Departures

* PC Nick Slater ("Free to Speak?") - Transfers to SO10 * PC Steve Loxton ("No Trace") - Resigns after being angered by a complaint about his old school methods

Episodes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill (series 13), The 1997 British television seasons The Bill series