The Bill Made Me Famous

To celebrate 25 years of The Bill, a one-special, The Bill Made Me Famous will be broadcast on 5th November, 9pm, ITV1. Click through our gallery to find out the kind of people who will be featuring in the show. 

We'll kick things off with the girl who went on to find fame with some little-known group called the Spice Girls (remember them?). She appeared as Janice in a 1993 episode - unfortunately, her turn was edited down to a non-speaking part. 

You may know him as the doctor with a vicious tongue in House, the hapless George in Blackadder or perhaps even as PG Wodehouse's classic creation Bertie Wooster.
But once upon a time he was Harrup in The Bill. 

Then known as Paul Savage, O'Grady played a transvestite called Roxanne in three episodes. 
Paul reveals: “It was my first telly job. I was working at the Vauxhall Tavern and one of the casting directors came down and said do you fancy being in The Bill? 
“They had a lot of trust in me and I was really grateful for that. At the time I thought I was the new Garbo. I’ve got such happy memories of it, I’d like to go back and play a villain. A really twisted serial killer.” 

Long before Keira took Hollywood by storm, she was busy making a name for herself in the classic British drama. 
Here she is, way back in 1995 as suspected thief, Sheena Rose. 

Michelle Collins was a 23-year-old jobbing actress when she landed one of her first major roles. She tells the programme: “The Bill was quite a coup. It definitely helped my career.” 

Joe got one of his first roles in the iconic cop show, as 14-year-old joyrider Justin Richards. 
Joe went on to find fame in ITV's Doc Martin and can be seen in forthcoming drama Caught in a Trap.

Best-known for his swashbuckling performances as Napoleonic war hero, Richard Sharpe, this action man was once little more than common thief. Well, he was in The Bill anyway, playing an anoymous robber in a 1984 episode.