Portrayed By Ben Roberts
First Appearance The Three Wise Monkeys
Final Appearance #005
Call Sign Sierra Oscar 5-4
Life at Sun Hill was never easy for Derek Conway. His office, next door to the Superintendent’s, meant that he was always at the beck and call of Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow and then Superintendent Tom Chandler. It was no wonder that Derek was a ambitious chap, unfortunately his Superintendents were not so enthusiastic and blocked Derek at every given opportunity. This did not go down well with Mrs Conway who managed to express her hatred of both Superintendents to their faces, often to cheers from the viewer. With the help of a pal at HQ he was shortlisted and then employed in the new job of Community Liaison Officer. Derek then followed this role with in a stint as acting Superintendent, a role in which he flourished. As so often in Derek’s career he was looked over for the permanent role of Superintendent. Derek was Sun Hill’s negotiator and in his role as negotiator he was able to over rule his superintendent and you could almost see the took joy in keeping them at arms length in these situations.
Despite his lack of career prospects Derek’s sense of humour stayed in tact. His quiet sarcasm often had viewers in stitches along with some catastrophes that crossed his path. When I say catastrophes I actually mean when the bottles of scotch hidden around his office had run out. One such time was at the turn of the millennium, Derek and Jack Meadows spent the whole night in an unsuccessful search for alcohol.
He may not have been favourite with the top brass but Derek was well respected by junior ranks. Derek treated other officers well if they didn’t cause him too much trouble although he seemed quite mystified by ambitious female officers such as Christine Frazer and Kim Reid. Unfortunately Sun Hill lost Derek to that big police station in the sky, when he was tragically murdered. After Derek it seemed no-one was fit to take on the role of Chief Inspector and that role stayed empty to the end of The Bill’s days.
Trivia
Quotes
Official Site
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730851/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Ben Roberts sadly passed away June 2021.