A FORMER star of The Bill has revealed the infuriating reason the show never won any awards despite its huge fan base.
The ITV police drama ran from August 1983 to August 2010 across 26 seasons.
To mark the 40th anniversary of The Bill's debut episode, actor Mark Wingett – who played Jim Carver – has opened up about what it was like to be part of the show.
Mark played the probationer-turned-DC for 21 years, and during that time only saw The Bill pick up a couple of awards.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he admitted he felt it deserved many more considering it's longevity on screen.
He said: "Other shows won awards, not that I'm bitter about that because I think awards are ridiculous anyway, but The Bill was kind of overlooked.
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"The show didn't get the recognition it probably deserved."
He pondered whether snobbery was at play, saying: "Maybe, I think it fell between two stools.
"It was never really taken as a true drama, and it was never really taken as a soap opera until towards the end of the show, so it was in a category of its own."
The Bill did receive two National Television Awards for Most Popular Drama, a BAFTA for Best Continuing Drama and one Royal Television Society Award for Best Soap or Continuing Drama.
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Despite it not receiving quite as many awards as he felt it should, Mark has fond memories of being on the show.
He said: "The laughs we had. Because the subject matter was so dark and you work hard on those shows, we made four episodes at a time, we'd often sit around giggling – between takes, during takes, after takes. It was so much fun.
"To be served with those extraordinary scripts and a great cast, as an actor you couldn't wish for anything more."
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