Don Beech Scandal
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The Don Beech Scandal was one of the most controversial[citation needed] and infamous[citation needed] storylines that the ITV series The Bill has had in its 21 year history.
The story centered around the corrupt DS Don Beech. During his four years in the show his corruption grew culminating in him forming a business relationship with gangster Howard Fallon. Fallon bribed Don to lose evidence in cases concerning Fallon.
Don ended up killing his friend and colleague DS Boulton in a fight. Facing certain imprisonment, Don managed to escape abroad. CIB subsequently suspended the entire CID and only ultimately reinstated four officers. This saw the biggest cast shake-up in the show's history.
The storyline caused the removal of the following characters:
- Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow: One of the original characters, Brownlow was the Station Commander and was therefore deemed to be vicariously liable for the whole scandal and was ordered to resign in exchange for a 'golden handshake' of £130,000. His approach of management had been criticized for some time and in their final exchange his superior informed him "Your role consists of more than having cups of tea with the WI!".
- Detective Inspector Chris Deakin: As Don's boss he was directly in the firing line and was transferred for lack of supervision.
- Detective Sergeant Geoff Daly: Daly had sought to bring Beech down but had never managed to gather enough evidence to present to his superiors. He was also transferred for lack of supervision.
- Detective Constable Kerry Holmes: Applied for a transfer in disgust after the CIB accused her of being linked with the scandal.
- DS John Boulton: Died after a fatal blow to the head during a fight with Don.
- Detective Sergeant Claire Stanton: Was revealed to be a CIB mole who had been installed to investigate the suspected corruption. After exposing the scandal she received a transfer and a promotion.
- Detective Sergeant Don Beech: Fled to Australia.
The following CID members survived the cull:
- DC Duncan Lennox: Lennox was a subordinate and therefore not responsible for Beech's behaviour. Also CIB were not convinced that he was linked with the scandal.
- PC Jim Carver: Carver also was neither linked with the scandal, nor responsible for Beech.
- DC Danny Glaze: Glaze ultimately left Sun Hill under a cloud but was not linked with this particular scandal.
- DC Mickey Webb: Webb had only recently joined the team, and like Lennox, was a subordinate.
- DCI Jack Meadows: As Beech's boss and the man who had allowed Beech much freedom Meadows was directly in the firing line - however he survived thanks to his connections in Scotland Yard.
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The storyline lead to the movie length episode set in Australia Beech on the Run and the mini-series Beech is Back.
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