James R | On 14, Nov 2019

ITV has cancelled Wild Bill after one season.

Rob Lowe executive produced as well as starred in the series, which followed Bill Hixon, newly appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force. Landing in Boston, Lincolnshire with teenage daughter Kelsey, he’s hoping they can flee their recent painful past. However, this unfamiliar, unimpressed community will force Bill to question everything about himself and leave him wondering if it’s Boston that needs Bill, or Bill that needs Boston.

Despite Lowe’s involvement, though, the series failed to capture a large audience, with an average of 3.7 million viewers. While it is being touted as a high-profile box set on the newly launched BritBox streaming service, ITV has decided not to renew the programme, with no sign yet of a US player snapping up the rights.

The show was created by The Hunted’s David Griffiths, with Awake creator Kyle Killen then coming on board alongside Silent Witness writers Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble.

An ITV spokeswoman said in a statement: “We are immensely proud of Wild Bill and loved working with Rob Lowe and the production teams at 42, MultiStory Media and Anonymous Content. However, Wild Bill sadly won’t be returning for a second instalment. We are hugely grateful for the warm welcome we received whilst filming in Boston, Lincolnshire.”

 

First look: Rob Lowe stars in ITV’s Wild Bill

25th May 2019

Rob Lowe is heading to ITV for new drama Wild Bill, and a trailer gives us a first look at him in action.

Lowe executive produces as well as stars in the series, which follows Bill Hixon, newly appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force. Landing in Boston, Lincolnshire with teenage daughter Kelsey, he’s hoping they can flee their recent painful past. However, this unfamiliar, unimpressed community will force Bill to question everything about himself and leave him wondering if it’s Boston that needs Bill, or Bill that needs Boston?

Lowe is joined by Rachael Stirling (The Bletchley Circle, Detectorists) who takes the role of Lady Mary Harborough, and Angela Griffin (Ordinary Lies, Brief Encounters) who will play local journalist, Lisa Cranston. Tony Pitts (Peaky Blinders, Line Of Duty) will play Crime Commissioner Keith Metcalfe and rising star Bronwyn James (Harlots, The ABC Murders) takes the role of DC Muriel Yeardsley. Also among the cast are Anjli Mohindra (Bodyguard, Dark Heart) as Deputy Chief Constable Lydia Price, Steffan Rhodri (A Very English Scandal, Apple Tree Yard) as DS Alex Blair, Divian Ladwa (Lion, Detectorists) as PC Drakes, Anthony Flanagan (Versailles, Humans) as PC Sean Cobley and Vicki Pepperdine (The Windsors, The Woman In White) as pathologist, Broadbent.

Wild Bill is a co-production between 42 (Traitors, Watership Down), Anonymous Content (13 Reasons Why, Maniac) and ITV Studios label, Shiver (Come Dine With Me, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories) and marks the first occasion the companies have collaborated to produce a drama series for ITV. Created by David Griffiths (The Hunted, Collateral Damage), Kyle Killen (Halo, Awake), Dudi Appleton & Jim Keeble (Silent Witness, Thorne: Sleepyhead & Scaredycat), it will be written by lead writers and show-runners Keeble and Appleton.

As an Executive Producer on Wild Bill, Rob Lowe will work alongside Eleanor Moran (Rome, Being Human, Watership Down) and Rory Aitken (Watership Down, Traitors) who are Executive Producers on behalf of 42, and fellow Executive Producer, Tim Carter, (Traitors, Garrow’s Law, Privates) Managing Director of ITV Studios label, Shiver. Writers Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, creator David Griffiths, Kyle Killen, Scott Pennington and Keith Redmon from Anonymous Content also join the team as Executive Producers.

Here’s the trailer:

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