TV Icons: Inspector Gina Gold
With news that actress Roberta Taylor is to hang up her handcuffs and leave The Bill we take a look at the tough, plain-speaking character of Inspector Gina Gold.
Inspector Gold arrived at Sun Hill in the aftermath of the devastating fire of 2002. An explosion had ripped through the Police Station during a race-related riot at the front of the building. Five officers, including the previous Inspector, were killed in the explosion and fire. The station was in a state of shock and grief, struggling to deal with the aftermath of such a tragic event. While they might have expected an understanding, comforting new Inspector what they got was an old-fashioned, tough talking new Inspector who wasn’t about to take any crap for anyone.
Inspector Gold quickly made herself feel right at home in Sun Hill and sussed out her officers very quickly. Although Sergeant June Ackland was widely popular, Gina referred to her as ‘Aunty’ June – as June was the kind, comforting officer than Gina was not. Although at first Gina was rather 
disrespectful to June, within time Gina would come to respect June and appreciate her as a colleague. Gina also got along well with another of her Sergeant’s, Craig Gilmore. Gina famously told him once to put his ‘pink hat’ on and deal with a homophobic attack, Craig at first thought she was being homophobic herself but quickly found out she wasn’t. Gina and Craig became friends, of sorts, but Gina disapproved of his relationship with PC Luke Aston. Gina was fond of Luke and PC Kerry Young and helped their romance along, when she found out that Luke and Craig had slept together she was not pleased. Gina did her best to keep the truth for Kerry but this lead to Craig’s departure from Sun Hill and later Luke’s suicide attempt. After this Gina did her best to keep out of the romantic lives of her staff as everywhere she looked romance was going wrong for her officers. Even ‘Aunty’ June’s romance with Jim Carver was going down the pan!
Gina wasn’t shy to romance herself and enjoyed a brief romance with CPS lawyer Jonathan Fox but the romance didn’t last long and Jonathan left Sun Hill. Before joining Sun Hill Gina had been a DS in a CID department but had decided to transfer to Sun Hill and become an Inspector with Uniform rather than an Inspector in CID. Gina’s CID experience came in good use and she was able to see things from both sides of the coin. During the Sun Hill serial killer Gina thought hard against DCI Jack Meadows to keep a suspect under arrest but Jack released him when he revealed vital information. Gina’s childhood flirtations with the criminal underworld, and her family’s connections to it, have also helped her deal with the criminals that come through Sun Hill and catch them out.
It’s been a tough five years for Gina at Sun Hill with so many of her officers being killed in the line of duty. Before she even started five had died in the fire and before long others were falling. PC Cass Rickman died at the hands of the Sun Hill serial killer just months after the devastating fire. PC Kerry Young was the victim of the Sun Hill serial sniper. DC Juliet Becker was stabbed at the station while dealing with a prisoner. Sergeant Matthew Monroe was shot dead by his own daughter, but several officers were suspects for a short while. SRO Marilyn Chambers, PC Andrea Dunbar and DC Ken Drummond where killed in a second fire at Sun Hill. PC Honey Harman was also murdered. PC Emma Keane was another tragic victim and PC Gabriel Kent killed himself after his nutty antics. PC Lance Powe
l was the victim of another serial killer, this time targeting gay men and DC Rob Thatcher was shot dead. On top of all this Gina had to cope with the deranged PC Cathy Bradford who was responsible for the deaths of two people and framed PC Polly Paige for a death and got her sent down.
All these tragic deaths have no doubt taken their toll on Gina and the other trials and tribulations she’s gone through over the years won’t have helped her much. But Gina’s a tough old bird and she’s stayed strong and held her head up high. She’s a much valued member of the team and Sun Hill won’t be the same without her.