'Woodentop' is a term used by plainclothes CID (Criminal Investigation Division) detectives, referring to uniformed police officers.
Shown as part of the "Storyboard" series of individual plays, "Woodentop" became the pilot for the long-running series The Bill (1984). Although essentially the same, a few changes were made before the series began. These are:
- Peter Dean was replaced by Eric Richard as the father-figure sergeant.
- Robert Pugh was replaced by John Salthouse as fiery DI Roy Galloway.
- PC Morgan was renamed PC Edwards.
- Jon Croft's character was dropped.
Contrary to popular belief, PC Hollis's (Jeff Stewart) voice is not heard over the radio in this episode. The duty PC puts out a call for him, but we don't hear the reply.
When PC Carver (Mark Wingett) meets PC Morgan for the first time (later PC Edwards played by Colin Blumenau) he nervously introduces himself as 'Jim, Jimmy'. As a joke, PC Morgan calls him 'JimJim'. This little joke between the two characters is prevalent in The Bill (1984), though it is never revealed why he calls him 'JimJim' - only in this pilot.
The first line of dialogue is "Right then Carver, let's do it.", spoken by Jim Carver (Mark Wingett). The last line of dialogue in the series finale of The Bill (1984) (1984) is "Yeah, come on, let's do it", spoken by Dale Smith (Alex Walkinshaw).