June 19, 2019 3.46 pm This story is over 63 months old

What to expect from tonight’s Wild Bill

Will it be better than episode one?
In ITV's Wild Bill Rob Lowe plays Bill Hixon, Chief Constable of the fictional East Lincolnshire Police force in Boston. Photo: ITV

A mysterious stranger wandering into Boston with amnesia will give chief constable Bill Hixon the chance to crack a notorious unsolved case in tonight’s Wild Bill.

The six-part ITV crime drama set in Boston hit television screens for the first time on Wednesday, June 12. The bizarre accents of the actors were the subject of much debate and appeared to overshadow the story.

In the first episode Bill Hixon, played by Rob Lowe, moves to the UK from America to become Chief Constable of the fictional East Lincolnshire Police force in Boston. He is not welcomed by his new team and a local journalist grills him on his approach.

Rob Lowe stars at Bill Hixon in the new drama. Photo: ITV

The second episode airs on Wednesday, June 19 – focusing on an unsolved case which Bill realises is more complicated than it first appears. His daughter Kesley also helps Bill finally engage with his dead wife’s memory.

The first episode raised questions over accents and Carol Midgley wrote in The Times that the show had an identity crisis, saying: “Can a drama that involves the attempted suicide of a bullied 14-year-old girl and the severed head of a 19-year-old woman call itself comedy? Amazingly, though, it’s not completely terrible.”

Muriel is a big Imps fan.

Details have also been released about episode three. Bill launches a PR offensive when a leaked list of potential redundancies turns his team against him, while a routine burglary turns out to be a much bigger case than first anticipated.

DNA discovered at the scene provides the team with a match and they track down his estranged daughter in the search for answers.

Double Bill: Rob Lowe as US cop Bill Hixon and Lincolnshire Police’s Chief Constable Bill Skelly. Photo: Steve Smailes for Lincolnshire Reporter

Filming for Wild Bill took place in London and Lincolnshire. Crews arrived in Boston in November 2018 with a convoy of trailers and fake stalls for the market place. Local people and stallholders were also roped in to the filming too.

During filming Hollywood Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor Lowe came face to face with the real Lincolnshire Police’s Chief Constable Bill Skelly.