'The Bill' Producer: 'We're resting Tony'

The Bill's series producer Tim Key has insisted that Sun Hill veteran PC Tony Stamp is simply 'being rested' and will not be killed off when he bows out of the show later this year.

Last month, DS exclusively revealed that actor Graham Cole's character had been axed from the series after 22 years.

The news came only weeks before The Bill's announcement that it was to switch to a weekly, post-watershed transmission.

Speaking of the decision to rest Stamp, the show's series producer Tim Key told DS: "The thing with Tony is that we knew it would be a very difficult move for a lot of people. We are hugely respectful of Graham and he's one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. We have every respect for his character, too.

"We felt that we'd taken the character as far as we could for the time being and therefore we're resting Tony Stamp. But we're not killing him and we're on very good terms with Graham and we're talking to him [at the moment]. He hasn't finished filming with us yet and he has some really nice material to take Tony out with."

He added: "The door will be open and we'll continue to talk with him beyond his exit. He's been a great ambassador for the show, but that comes back to what I was saying at the start [of the interview] - you have to look at the bigger picture."

The Bill makes its much-anticipated schedule move tomorrow evening.

> Click here to read our full interview with Tim Key