both the opening and closing sequences. The background of the closing sequence, designed by company "Roisin at Blue", was simply a police shade of blue, with all generic images being removed. Throughout its four-year use, these titles were never updated or changed, with the exception of the police shade of blue, which was changed to a dark shade of black in 2006. On 3 January 2007, starting with Episode No. 471, the opening and closing sequences were once again changed. This time, the opening sequence, for the first time, features an image of the Sun Hill sign, and returns to featuring images of officers in action. This sequence also featured a further new arrangement of "Overkill", once again arranged by Lawrence Oakley. This time, the closing sequence follows a police car on patrol, watching it as it drives through the streets of Sun Hill. These titles were used for nearly two and a half years. On 23 July 2009, after the programme underwent a major overhaul, the opening sequence and theme were heavily changed. This time, the classic "Overkill" theme was completely removed, and a new theme created by Simba Studios was used. However, producer Jonathan Young stated that echoes of "Overkill" can still be heard in the theme. The opening sequence featured a patrol car driving through the streets of Sun Hill. The closing sequence follows the same patrol car, however, this time, from an overhead view. These titles remained the same until the show's final episode, where the theme tune was replaced by a final version of "Overkill", in homage to the show. Episodes When The Bill was first commissioned as a series by ITV, it started with 12 episodes per year, each an hour long with a separate storyline. In 1988, the format changed to a year-round broadcast with two 30-minute episodes per week. In 1993, this expanded to three 30-minute episodes per week. In 1998, the broadcast format changed to two one-hour episodes each week, also recording in 16:9 widescreen Digibeta. In 2009, The Bill began broadcasting in HD and as part of a major revamp, was reduced to broadcasting once a week. The Bill finished on 31 August 2010 after 2,425 episodes. Special episodes The Bill broadcast two live episodes. The first was in 2003 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the pilot, Woodentop. The second was in 2005 to celebrate the 50th birthday of