“Times change, and so do the tastes of our audience,” said Peter Fincham, the channel’s director of television.

The move follows a major revamp that saw the drama relaunched as a weekly programme in a post-watershed slot.

Producers Talkback Thames said they were “devastated” by a decision that “may result in a significant number of redundancies” for the company.

“We are incredibly proud of what the show has achieved,” said CEO Lorraine Heggessey.

“It is a credit to everyone who has worked on The Bill that the series will be signing out on a creative and editorial high, with both critical and industry-wide acclaim and a loyal fan base who have supported the show throughout.”

Creative decision

ITV said it would invest the money it spent on the programme – first seen on the channel in 1983 – on new peak-time drama commissions.

Fincham said The Bill had been “the home of some of the UK’s best serial drama storylines and a great showcase for terrific scriptwriting and fine acting talent”.

“Thanks to a superb production team, it’s been one of the great institutions of television drama,” he continued.

Set around the fictional Sun Hill police station in London, The Bill began life as a one-off drama entitled Woodentop.

ITV was impressed enough to commission a weekly series that eventually became a thrice-weekly soap.

The channel insisted the move to axe the show was a creative decision and was not done to cut costs.

“Whilst The Bill will come to an end in 2010, we will continue to invest more in drama programming than any other commercial broadcaster in the UK,” said Fincham.

Reid commented: “I’ve got some auditions coming up, which I’m thrilled about. One of them is for quite a big-budget BBC drama, and the director asked to see me specifically.

“I do not want to get too excited yet, just because I know how this world works, but it feels really good to get the acting buzz back.”

Reid first found fame by playing footballer Jason Cunliffe in Hollyoaks, but has concentrated on his cage-fighting career in recent years.

During his stint on Celebrity Big Brother, the 34-year-old repeatedly spoke of his desire to make it big in Hollywood.

Dr Ann Coxon said that Goody’s death last year was unnecessary and could have been prevented if “glaringly obvious” symptoms were not overlooked.

Goody was allowed to travel to India to appear on the country’s version of Big Brother after staff at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, apparently failed to find anything during an ultrasound, reports The Sun.

The cancer was only diagnosed after a nurse at the medical facility asked to carry out a smear test after realising that Goody had skipped several in the past.

Dr Coxon, a Harley Street consultant, said: “An ultrasound should be able to pick up lesions just 1.2mm wide, and Jade had a tumour the size of a tangerine. It should have been blindingly obvious.

“She probably had cancer for at least a year before her diagnosis. The abnormal smear tests were signs that she was high-risk. She was only diagnosed because of one nurse bothering to do her job.”

The Princess Alexandra has previously refused to discuss allegations over its care of Jade, commenting only that it was respecting her confidentiality. Dr Coxon added: “Jade’s story must never be forgotten.

“She need not have died if the medical profession had got their act together in time.”

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DR Coxon contributes to Jade: A Year Without Her, on Living TV on Sunday at 9pm.

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Her solicitor Mike Brookes said that Price told Norton, Jo Brand, Jackie Collins and a 600-strong audience that Powell had had an affair with Andre, despite his client being engaged to Neville Hendricks, who is father to her child.

Brookes said: “To be accused of infidelity, with one of her longstanding and high-profile clients, was obviously very damaging and distressing for Ms Powell – the most obvious reason being that the allegation was completely untrue.”

Speaking to Mr Justice Eady at London’s High Court, Brookes added that the BBC had “quite sensibly” edited out the comments but noted that they had nevertheless been picked up by the press.

Price’s lawyer Keith Ashby said: “She greatly regrets what has happened, and joins in the making of this statement in order to assist in setting the record straight.”

The glamour model was not in court for the hearing but Brookes said that she apologised unreservedly for the comments, accepted that the allegation was untrue and agreed to pay “substantial compensation” in addition to Powell’s legal costs.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Powell said: “I’m just glad it’s been sorted. I didn’t really want to be in court but if something bad is said which is going to trash your reputation, you have to clear your name.”

The star raised thousands of pounds for Sport Relief by crossing the 21-mile busy shipping lane to France.

On completing the task, she said: “I can’t believe I’ve actually done it. It was really tough.”

Strong winds meant the 31-year-old, who fell eight times during the challenge, faced sub-zero temperatures.

“The water was freezing and having to get up after every fall was exhausting,” the star added.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me along the way, it really kept me going out there.”

The task had been delayed several times because of poor weather and the presenter still had to compete with strong winds during the ordeal.

Before setting off, Bleakley had admitted to being “petrified” as she is frightened of water and is not a strong swimmer.

The star has been in training for just a few weeks and has only recently started water-skiing.

She decided to take on the “crazy” task for Sport Relief after visiting East Africa last year.

Despite everything Christine can still manage a smile. A sunnier disposition it would be hard to find
Sport Relief on Twitter

“I went to Uganda where I met Hajjara, a teenage girl carrying the weight of the world on her young shoulders,” Bleakley said.

“After losing her parents to Aids, she’s been left all alone to care for her younger siblings.”

The star’s progress was followed on the official Sport Relief Twitter feed. Shortly after she began the challenge, it said: “Seventh fall – seven miles done. Cold, hard, slog.”

Eddie Cheever said: “You are crazy and amazing all at the same time.”

And David Anthony called her “an inspiration”.

Footage of her challenge will be shown on The One Show at 1900 GMT on Friday.

A whole host of stars have been taking part in sporting challenges for the charity.

Earlier this month David Walliams, Fearne Cotton and Davina McCall completed a bike ride from John O’Groats on the tip of Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall.

A spokeswoman said he passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Providence St Joseph Medical Centre.

A post-mortem will determine the cause of death and no other details have been released as yet.

The Canadian-born star’s first role was in the 1984 hit Firstborn. In recent years, he appeared in reality TV show The Two Coreys.

The series, which also starred Haim’s friend Corey Feldman, was cancelled in 2008 after two series.

The pair, who both have battled drug problems in the past, starred in the 1988 movie License to Drive together and became well known for their on and off screen partnership.

After Firstborn, Haim landed a role in the 1985 TV movie A Time to Live and also appeared in several episodes of the TV show Roomies.

He went on to become a teen heartthrob after starring in the 1986 film Lucas, alongside Charlie Sheen and Winona Ryder.

Haim starred alongside Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, about a group of friends who do battle with a band of teenage vampires.

Duo Ant and Dec won two awards, including Most Popular Entertainment Presenters and Most Popular Entertainment, for their ITV show Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Simon Cowell’s hit singing competition The X Factor won Most Popular Talent Show, stealing the crown from its rival Strictly Come Dancing, which won at the last ceremony.
Cowell announced that he would be making a song to raise money for the Haiti earthquake appeal.
He said: “We had a request from the Prime Minister and The Sun newspaper, would we put a record together … we are going to do something, and attempt to raise as much money as possible.”

Loose Women celebrated a surprise win in the Most Popular Factual Programme category, beating previous winner Top Gear, The Apprentice and cult favourite Come Dine With Me.
James Corden and Ruth Jones’ comedy series Gavin And Stacey, which has come to an end after three series, picked up the award for Most Popular Comedy Programme.
EastEnders actress Lacey Turner won the gong for Outstanding Serial Drama Performance. Her character Stacey Slater has battled mental health issues in the past year.

Stephen Fry In America won Most Popular Star Travel Documentary, while Coronation Street’s Craig Gazey took the award for Most Popular Newcomer.

The Awards, which honour media for outstanding images of the LGBT community, will take place across three separate ceremonies in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“Words and images matter,” GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said.

“With these awards, we seek to recognise news coverage and entertainment programming that go beyond stock stereotypes with LGBT story lines that more fully reflect the challenges gay and transgender people face and the aspirations we hold for ourselves and our families.”

Glee and Modern Family will go up against Beautiful People, Greek and United States Of Tara in the ‘Outstanding Comedy Series’ category.

The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in New York on March 13, 2010 at the Marriott Marquis; in Los Angeles on April 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza; and in San Francisco on June 5 at The Westin St. Francis

According to The Sun, the comedian is seriously considering accepting an £80,000-per-episode deal with the satellite broadcaster.

It is thought that the new deal would see Hill securing an annual pay packet of more than £3 million, as Sky is hoping for a larger number of episodes and also considering him for other projects.

An insider said: “Sky is very confident of getting Harry. He’s very tempted by their offer. They want him to do TV Burp and have other ideas for him. A deal could be just weeks away now.

“ITV is trying really hard to keep him but is under serious pressure to reduce costs.”
Representatives for Sky and ITV refused to comment on the rumours.

According to The Mirror, both presenters have been lined up for ‘live auditions’ along with Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp.

Reports claim that up to ten stars have been approached by bosses to host the show one week at a time. Whoever appeals the most will then go on to become a permanent replacement for O’Grady.

“We have been inundated,” an insider is quoted as saying. “The teatime slot is a real favourite because it means they can be on telly every day but there is less pressure than with a primetime show.

“We plan to have eight to ten presenters for a week each in spring. Then we’ll decide whether to give the gig to one or carry on with rotating names. It’s a bit like staging live auditions.