Series 22 of British television drama The Bill was broadcast from 4 January until 28 December 2006. The series consisted of 91 episodes, as two episodes from the series remain unaired after the master tapes were stolen in a robbery at the show's recording studios in November 2006. Under new producer Johnathan Young, this series saw the programme begin to step away from the serialised format, and return much of the focus to the actual policing aspect of the programme, removing the more 'soap' feel previously introduced by Paul Marquess. Most episodes consisted of two parallel stories running at the same time, much like the initial transition to hour-long episodes in 1998. However, some episodes feature entirely on one story, beginning the move back to single-themed episodes as part of a plan to completely remove serialisation - which did not take place until 2007. The series also saw a large portion of cast changes in the first few months, with a number of characters previously introduced by Marquess being axed to make way for new blood - many of them support staff and non-police officer characters. Young believed that several of the characters introduced by Marquess did not have the longevity of the more well-known characters in the show, and thus decided to give a number of highly recommended up-and-coming actors roles on the show, such as Kidulthood star Aml Ameen.

Series 21 of British television drama The Bill was broadcast from 5 January until 29 December 2005. The series consisted of 106 episodes, making it the series with the highest number of episodes in the show's final decade, tied with series 19. Joint-longest serving cast member, DC Jim Carver, exited the show after 21 years, having been with the show since its first ever episode; he was the sixth character with over ten years on the series to have exited in the previous three years. It followed the events of the third Sun Hill station fire. As was the case in 1990 and 2002, a redevelopment to a large part of the station set was explained by an explosion, racist PCSO Colin Fairfax driving a van into the station reception to shift the blame for a terror attack onto the local Asian community; the fire led to three characters being killed off. The death of Carver's best friend in the blaze, DC Ken Drummond, came before the revelation that his estranged wife June Ackland had an affair with experienced PC Roger Valentine. Ackland, co-protagonist with Carver in the series pilot Woodentop, was involved in a 30-minute special episode that ended with Carver's exit. Actor Mark Wingett also featured in spin-off documentary series The Bill: Uncovered, exploring Jim's time on the show that included addictions to alcohol & gambling and two failed marriages. The final of four Uncovered documentaries saw Superintendent Adam Okaro narrate on some of the best moments from the show's 21-year history, however the episode did not air in the U.K; instead it aired in Australia a year after its originally planned broadcast.