The Sun Hill Serial Killer was a major storyline from the
ITV police procedural drama ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
''. They were known on screen as the "River Murders", due to the bodies being left on the banks of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
. The storyline spanned several months, from July 2002 to January 2003, with cast regular
Cass Rickman (played by
Suzanne Maddock
Suzanne Maddock (born 13 February 1976) is an English actress, singer and voice actress. Suzanne has been an industry professional since 1994, working in both TV and Film. She first appeared in the ITV police procedural drama ''The Bill'' as P ...
), killed off at the denouement in December 2002. It also served as the exit storyline for DC
Duncan Lennox, who transferred from Sun Hill Police Station to the Murder Investigation Team during the plot. The storyline concluded with the killer's capture in 2003 after they kidnapped Acting DI
Samantha Nixon. It was the first of several
serial killer
A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone:
*
*
*
*
* (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
storylines in the show.
The victims
All the victims of the killer featured prominently in various episodes.
*Liz Chambers (
Brooke Kinsella) – A teenage
goth
Goth or Goths may refer to:
* Goths, a Germanic people
Arts and entertainment
* Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music
* Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock
* ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film
* ''Goth'' (2008 f ...
who testified against her father in court for assaulting her boyfriend.
*Tina Pope (
Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Kathleen Stapleton (born 9 August 1974) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''EastEnders'' as Mandy Salter and ''Emmerdale'' as Danielle Hutch. A graduate of the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Stapleton began her care ...
) – A young mother being pressured to testify against her violent husband, who savagely slashed her lover's face with a knife. The police begin the hunt for a serial killer when her body is discovered, bearing the same hallmarks as the body of Liz Chambers.
*Miriam Ray (Julie Maisey) – The victim of a
flasher; she helps the police identify the man who exposes himself in a park.
*Lucy Corrigan (
Fiona Glascott
Fiona Glascott (born 22 November 1982) is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing the young Minerva McGonagall in the ''Fantastic Beasts'' franchise, which is a spin-off prequel of the ''Harry Potter'' film series.
Early life
Glascott ...
) – Desperate to drive a wedge in her ex-boyfriend's marriage, she sends hate mail to herself claiming him as the sender. Her tearful and frightened act vanishes into a cool and ruthless one once her lies are exposed.
*Vicki Casson (
Jade Williams) – A middle class teenage runaway determined to make her stepmother's life hell, including putting her in hospital.
*PC Cass Rickman (
Suzanne Maddock
Suzanne Maddock (born 13 February 1976) is an English actress, singer and voice actress. Suzanne has been an industry professional since 1994, working in both TV and Film. She first appeared in the ITV police procedural drama ''The Bill'' as P ...
) – The final victim of the serial killer, the only cast regular killed off as part of the storyline.
The suspects
* Martin Porter (
Simon Chadwick) - The ex-fiancée of PC
Kerry Young, a duty solicitor with access to the courts. Arrested whilst attempting to abduct a drunk girl, Porter was solicitor for Lucy Corrigan's ex-boyfriend and frequently clashed with PC Cass Rickman. Acting DI Samantha Nixon suspected his failed relationships with women could lead him to targeting them, while he lived near the river at the time of the first two murders. He was cleared when he had an alibi for the murder of Rickman.
* Peter Baxter (
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in '' The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' ( ...
) - A convicted sex offender who had been released in mid-2002 after serving 27 years in prison for murder and rape. He lured Acting DI Samantha Nixon to talk to her about his crimes, Nixon having trained as a criminal profiler, was keen to get inside his head. He was arrested and confessed to the murders, but only gave details on Liz Chambers. Baxter lived near the river as a child and frequently visited the area, but Nixon discovered he had found the body of Chambers on the banks before the police did and was just desperate to go back to prison. Baxter would go on to make further appearances in 2004 and 2005.
* Shane Pellow (
Phil Cornwell
Philip Cornwell is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and is the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band Gorillaz. Cornwell has co-written and performed pri ...
) - Ex-boyfriend of Liz Chambers, Pellow was a former undertaker and took photos of Tina Pope's body at work, posting them on a sordid
S&M website. Cass Rickman unsuccessfully tried to get Liz Chambers to leave him, and then when she discovered he had another young girlfriend, Rickman persuaded the girl to leave him. Pellow had also gotten close to Vicki Casson before her death, having had drinks with her in a pub before she went missing. Due to his connection with the three of the victims and his grudge against Rickman, he was a strong contender. He was cleared due to a lack of connection to the other victims.
* Simon Kitson (
Mark Letheren
Mark Vincent Letheren (born 6 February 1971) is an English actor.
He is known for his roles as journalist Simon Kitson in ITV's drama ''The Bill'', as Ben Harding in the BBC One drama ''Casualty'' and for his recurring role as DS Kevin Geoffri ...
) - The boyfriend of Cass Rickman, Kitson was a journalist who had a major interest in the case. His wife had also gone missing several years earlier, suggesting she could've been the first victim. When Rickman was killed, Kitson was arrested after a report of his car being seen near where Rickman was abducted. When her DNA was found in the boot of his car, Rickman's grieving best friend PC Nick Klein pressured an unstable Kitson to kill himself. As MIT went to question him, he was found in his cell having slit his wrists, and efforts to revive him were not successful.
* Pat Kitson (
Alexandra Gilbreath) - The sister of Simon Kitson, Pat emerged as a suspect after the suicide of her brother. Acting DI Samantha Nixon suspected she killed Simon's wife and then girlfriend Cass Rickman, after discovering Simon bought an engagement ring for her. She was further intrigued to discover Pat attended Rickman's funeral. Nixon's theory was that Pat wanted to get rid of women she felt "weren't good enough" for him. Pat lured Nixon to the warehouse where Cass Rickman was murdered, abducting her to get justice for Simon's death in custody. Pat and Nixon shared stories whilst Pat held her hostage, Pat confiding that she was in love with her brother after they ended up in bed together as teenagers. Before Pat could kill Nixon, DC
Duncan Lennox found them and arrested Pat for murder. Klein was stunned to discover this, and called Pat sick for coming to the funeral.
The killer's methods
Pat Kitson targeted people who were both known to Sun Hill station through the courts, and people her brother interacted or bonded with. Once tracked down, Kitson strangled her victims, hacked off their hair and dumped the bodies on the banks of the River Thames.
Legacy
The high ratings of the Serial Killer storyline spanned two similar storylines, in which other members of the cast were written out. The Sun Hill Gay Serial Killer storyline saw the exit of PC
Lance Powell and the Sun Hill Sniper storyline saw out long-time favourite PC
Kerry Young. The storyline was also referenced when Nixon's daughter went missing in season 20. She stated it was the most famous case she investigated during her career as a police officer to that point.
References
{{The Bill
The Bill episodes
Fictional serial killers
Television characters introduced in 2002
British drama television characters
Fictional kidnappers
Fictional murderers of children