11 Facts About Peter Cregeen

Peter Cregeen was the original director of ITV's successful police drama The Bill, and made a substantial contribution to the series thereafter.

Peter Cregeen served as Head of Series for BBC television drama between 1989 and 1993, which included cancelling Doctor Who after its 26th season and several years of poor viewing figures.

Peter Cregeen has worked on various police dramas, including: The Gentle Touch ; The Expert ; Softly Softly ; Z-Cars ; Juliet Bravo, and the pilot to ITV's successful long-running drama, The Bill, which was originally named Woodentop.

Peter Cregeen remained with The Bill, directing and producing between 1984 and 1987, and rose to executive producer between 1988 and 1989.

Peter Cregeen worked on The Bill during "its most popular period" when it switched in 1988 from a series to a year-round, twice-weekly half-hour format.

Peter Cregeen left the series and ITV in 1989 to become Head of Series at the BBC, later poaching fellow producer of The Bill Michael Ferguson to become executive producer of the BBC's flagship soap opera, EastEnders.

At the time, Peter Cregeen told fans to expect a longer than usual wait for series 27, though he promised it would return.

Peter Cregeen remained "Head of Series" at the BBC until May 1993, when he was replaced by Michael Wearing.

Peter Cregeen has worked on numerous projects for ITV and the BBC since, and was responsible for commissioning Carlton Television's successful drama Peak Practice in 1993.

Peter Cregeen has been involved in theatre, working alongside multimillionairess, Janet Holmes a Court, to encourage TV writers to contribute to her stage productions.

Peter Cregeen resumed producing and directing of The Bill throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and produced The Choir, a five-part adaptation of the novel by Joanna Trollope, for the BBC.