Frank Burnside
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Frank Burnside is a fictional character from ITV’s The Bill portrayed by Christopher Ellison. Famed for his unorthodox policing methods and colourful turn of phrase, Burnside is one of the most memorable characters in the show’s history.
[edit] Early Appearances (1984-1986)
Detective Sergeant Tommy Burnside (as he was then known) appeared in the first episode of The Bill, ‘Funny Ol' Business - Cops and Robbers’, broadcast on 16th October 1984, as a guest character. He was a former colleague of Sgt. Bob Cryer, who made no secret of his dislike of Burnside. Burnside was thought to have slipped through the net of Operation Countryman, the Met’s anti-corruption drive of the 1970s, and revelled in his notoriety. When PC Jim Carver arrested a small-time car thief, Burnside arrived at Sun Hill to appeal for the man’s release. Cryer was appalled at the suggestion, and urged Detective Inspector Roy Galloway to block the request. However, Burnside explained that the prisoner was a valuable police informant, and managed to persuade Galloway to secure his release. The incident created much ill-feeling within the station, particularly among Cryer and Carver.
Burnside would reappear twice more in 1986 during The Bill’s second series, in the episodes ‘Ringer’ and ‘The Chief Superintendent's Party’. By this time, his apparent villainy was an open secret at the station, and few were pleased to see him, least of all Cryer and Galloway. However, Burnside was indifferent to their hostility, and set his sights on WPC June Ackland. Burnside was too thick-skinned to sense her obvious repulsion towards him, and June took great delight in stringing him along. However, other Sun Hill officers took exception to his pursuit of her, prompting DC Mike Dashwood to intervene. He informed Burnside that Ackland was Galloway’s mistress, forcing the rogue detective to switch his sights elsewhere.
[edit] Reign at Sun Hill (1988-1993)
By 1988, The Bill had switched to a twice-weekly half-hour format, with significant cast changes. Galloway’s departure from the series created a vacancy for a new detective inspector, and the first half-hour episode, ‘Light Duties’, saw officers taking bets on who the new incumbent would be. DS Ted Roach had his own sights set on the job, and was appalled to learn that Burnside was a rival candidate. When Burnside took the post in the episode ‘Just Call Me Guv'nor’, Roach and Cryer were outspoken in their views on the appointment of an apparently corrupt officer.
It soon became clear that “Frank” Burnside was far removed from his previous incarnation. Besides a new rank and Christian name (the series already had another regular character with the name Tom), Burnside acquired a new outlook. The sneering wide-boy of the hour-long shows was replaced with a darker and more authoritative character. His apparent corruption was explained away by Inspector Christine Frazer as a result of Burnside having worked undercover on Operation Countryman, forcing Bob Cryer to swallow his pride and welcome Burnside to Sun Hill. However, Ted Roach was far harder to win round.
Despite their similarities – both had maverick tendencies, but were ultimately on the right side of the law – Burnside and Roach had an uneasy working relationship. Roach’s increasing bitterness at having been passed over for promotion, coupled with a thinly-disguised drink problem, made him almost unmanageable for his senior officers. When matched with Burnside’s explosive personality, it came as no surprise when the two officers physically came to blows. However, their similar policing styles and views led to them developing a mutual respect. As the police force became more politically correct, maverick officers such as Burnside and Roach were increasingly seen as a dying breed. As such, their working relationship became one of mutual dependency, each watching the other’s back when either of them sailed too close to the wind. When Roach walked out of the job following a drunken pub brawl in 1993, DCI Jack Meadows caustically remarked that it was “the end of an era for Frank”.
Meadows’ prophecy was proven right later than year when Burnside mysteriously failed to show for work. It was explained that Burnside had been taken out on a “special operation”, prompting his colleagues to speculate that he was working undercover. As the years went by, a succession of DIs took Burnside’s office.
[edit] After Sun Hill (1998-2000)
In 1998 The Bill underwent its second major upheaval with a return to the hour-long format. In October of that year, Frank Burnside returned to the series in a two-part story, ‘Cast No Shadow / Betrayal’. The story followed an investigation led by DS John Boulton and DC Jim Carver into a protection racket, which led them to Manchester. Carver was shocked to discover that his former boss was one of the main players in the operation, and he and Boulton were forced to take Burnside back to Sun Hill in handcuffs. Jack Meadows was openly hostile towards his former colleague but, reminiscent of Bob Cryer ten years earlier, he was forced to backtrack when it emerged that Burnside was working undercover. Furthermore, Burnside had been promoted to the rank of DCI within the field, and was now on an equal footing with Meadows.
From December 1998 to January 2000, Frank Burnside appeared semi-regularly in The Bill as an occasional character. He was now head of the elite Crime Operational Command Unit, and his work frequently brought him into contact with Sun Hill officers, investigating high profile cases. One such investigation led to him arresting Jim Carver on suspicion of murder. Despite their rocky start, Burnside had taken the impressionable young Carver under his wing during his reign as DI, and was sorry to see his friend’s sad fall from grace. Carver had hit the bottle following his enforced move back to Uniform, marking a steep decline into alcoholism. When he awoke from a drunken stupor to find a murdered prostitute beside him, it seemed Carver’s career was over. However, Burnside managed to solve the murder, and urged Carver to seek help for his addiction.
Burnside was the principal character in the episodes in which he appeared, and the popularity of these episodes paved the way for a spin-off series, Burnside. The six-part series (three consecutive two-part stories) followed Burnside’s new role as a DCI with the National Crime Squad, dubbed in the show’s publicity as “the American FBI”. The series was much grittier than The Bill, as its post-watershed timeslot enabled stronger language and more violent scenes. Although each two-part story focused on a different crime, the series was underpinned by a story arc which explored Burnside’s pursuit of gangland boss Ronnie Buchan. Buchan had murdered Burnside’s best friend years earlier, and Burnside was determined to use his newfound influence as head of the NCS to bring Buchan to justice. The series ended with Burnside vowing to nail Buchan by whatever means necessary.
Despite the popularity of Burnside’s character in The Bill, his spin-off failed to take off, and was axed after just one series. It remains to be seen whether the character of Burnside will ever return.
