It's a fair cop, Guv : Australian fans of The Bill

The British serial The Bill holds a special position within the television police genre, not only because of its longevity in Britain and Australia but also due to its ability to adapt to the changing demands of industry and audience. Since its inception The Bill has continually renegotiated the boundaries of the television police genre through innovative production techniques, characterisation and the creation of an active fandom. First broadcast in Britain in 1984 as an example of the police procedural category of the television police genre, it was hailed by critics and audience for its authenticity and gritty realism. Twenty years and some 2,000 episodes later. The Bill incorporates numerous elements of the soap opera genre in a deliberate production strategy to attract more viewers. The emphasis is no longer on 'realistic' police work but rather on personal relationships and morally questionable behaviour within a specific police community. Traditional generic conventions of law and order have given way to chaos, importantly featuring a focus on the private, rather than the public, lives of the protagonists. This reshaping of generic boundaries emerged in 1997 and became particularly apparent from 2001 onward. The Bill is not the only police series to incorporate soap opera elements; it is, however, the most prominent police series to challenge conventions by transforming from realism to soap opera. Other examples of police drama that incorporate soap opera elements — such as NYPD Blue, Between the Lines and Blue Heelers — have done so from early episodes.