The Bill : The Forgotten Child (Part 1) - Analysis

The Bill is a "soap" series, that doesn't have a certain set number of episodes, as its continuously in production. It follows the lives of the police officers who work in Sun Hill Station, and follows stories, trials, and arrests of the people who live in the surrounding area. Each episode is an hour long, and usually the crime is solved in one episode, however sometimes they have a 2 or 3 part episode, each an hour long but on different days.
This episode was a part-episode, following the story of a young girl gone missing then found dead. It is from the 24th series, which shows again how it is not a limited movie-like special.
The extract we were given to watch, started with a high angled shot of a car pulling down an alley way off a main road, beside a pub. We hear digetic siren sounds in the background, and are told it is 5am by the main police investigators, who are shown predominantly in the shot, walking toward an obvious crime scene. There are police officers, and police tape around the area, and we then receive a close long shot of a young girl slumped against a fence, dead. Close-ups of her arm reveal self-harming and a heroin injection overdose. The background for this extract is a closed alley behind a pub, wet and damp in the early morning. The setting is quite dreary, matching the matter which the police are solving.
We are shown a point of view shot from DC Jo Masters, looking at the dead girl, as she claims she recognises her from somewhere.
We are then taken with DC Masters toward 2 other police officers, who are interviewing the owner of the pub on the corner. Not too much is said, but it is obvious the pub owner doesn't have that much interest in what's going on.
The camera then cuts to the offices in Sun Hill Station, with DC Masters and DC Micky Webb searching through files looking for the young girl's identity, however, once found, the information "Kelly Kong, Brother King and lives in the Jungle" proves unhelpful. The office desk has a few papers scattered on it, and DC Masters doesn't take care when searching through the folders, leaving the desk quite messy.
We are then shown another short section inside the Station, where 3 DC's are discussing the matter. DC Masters, the only female in the shot, seems to be in charge of actions and information, and seems to be quite blunt and to the point.
Behind the 3 DC's in the corridor, are many offices and rooms partly concealed by slatted blinds which are a typical thriller signifier, and the Station has many of these. Although the Bill isn't really a full-on thriller, as its more crime-scene/thriller, it still holds a few subtle hints. Another thriller signifier, mystery and deception, also come into this episode, as the cause of the young girls death is unknown and unsure of, and how we are shown some people obviously lying.
We are then shown another damp grey street with 2 police officers walking down the road. They stop to talk to a woman who is sitting near a phone box, and we hear sirens in the distance. We are shown a picture of the woman's daughter, and are told her name is Kelly, and the audience immediately knows that the woman's daughter is the dead girl from the alley, however she does not know this. This can create tension in the audience, as we wonder how she will find out and how she will react, and the audience has the upper hand on one of the characters, as we know more than they do.
We are then taken back to the station, where we are taken into a room with DC Masters, where the mother of Kelly is. The mise-en-scene of this shot has a sense of power, as DC Masters is close to the camera, and Kelly's mother is sat on one of the comfy sofas, small and worried. The room has pleasant colours and is almost child-like, so is obviously not used for interrogations but is more like a waiting room or care room. As the news of her daughters death is brought to her, Mrs Porterfield breaks down in tears, this is shown with a mid shot, no close-ups as you'd expect to build on her emotion. The room is quite silent throughout this scene, although there is a distant phone or two ringing in a businesslike tone, however ignored by whoever is meant to answer them. The atmosphere of the waiting-room-scene is calm but tense, as we are waiting for an outburst of emotion from Mrs Porterfield, or more sympathy from the DC's, however neither become present.

Throughout the extract, the police force are not portrayed as stereotypical as you'd think, baring in mind the theme of the soap. They make a fair few jokes throughout the extract, for example when they interview the pub owner, who claims his pub gets busy and popular, we hear one of the officers sarcastically comment "can't think why", which we would not usually expect a police officer to say when interrogating someone during a crime scene. We are also shown more humour when DC Masters & DC Webb are looking through files for the identity of the dead girl, as they know her name starts with a k, DC Webb pulls out a file and says "Keith" with a picture of what seems to be a girl, but is a transvestite, at which they both laugh. Another joke, sex-related, is between the 2 police officers who find Mrs Porterfield. As they are leaving the Sun Hill Station we hear the male officer ask the female for help on a case, at which she replies "I'm all yours" to say she will help him, however he comes back with a "you wish" implying she was talking about something else. The female officer then says "yeah right" as if to imply he's not her type, and to emotionally hurt him.
These jokes are not how we usually view the police, and although are not that shocking, are still surprising to see in a "serious" police crime drama.
Another factor concerning the portrayal of the force, is how most of the woman dress. They seem to wear lots of make-up, practically the same amount as a model, and how their uniforms are quite tight and seem to enhance their bodily features. Again, if we look at our every-day police force in our own city, we don't usually see female or male police officers looking so "good" or seeming to take pride in their appearance as much as someone who had a career in make-up would!