The Bill’s Jeff Stewart looks world’s away from his character PC Reg Hollis during shopping trip

He’s best known for portraying much-loved character PC Reg Hollis in the TV police drama for 24 years.

And Jeff Stewart looked world’s away from his much-loved character as he stepped out for a low-key shopping trip in London on Thursday.

The actor, 64, sported a long, greying mane and a very casual ensemble – a far cry from the clean-cut look and slicked back raven locks Reg was known for.

Jeff appeared in good spirits as he went about his day, donning a blue disposable face mask as he nipped into the shops.

Opting for comfort on his shopping trip, Jeff dressed down in a green Geographical Norway hoodie worn over a tan gilet.

He added a pair of navy joggers and camel Ugg boots to his look, with Jeff also carrying a white tote bag and sporting tortoiseshell sunglasses.  

Jeff looked distinctly different from his lovable character Reg, who was Sun Hill’s police federation rep.

Though he didn’t appear in the pilot episode, he featured regularly from the first regular instalment onwards. He appeared in a total of 872 episodes. 

The Scottish actor played Reg for 24 years, before the character was sadly axed in January 2008. 

Speaking in 2011 about the decision, Jeff told The Sun: ‘I felt I had been badly let down.’ 

After hearing the plans from the show’s producers Jeff went back to his dressing room and still dazed by the news, attempted to take his own life.

As he began to black out he changed his mind and rang the front desk for help.

Luckily he was found in time and was rushed from the studios in Merton, South West London to hospital.

‘I didn’t see a counsellor, it was evident I was OK and I never worried how it would affect my career.

‘I thought, ‘I have a choice, you can either stagnate or blossom’, he added. 

Meanwhile, when pictures at the time emerged on the internet of him sporting a full beard, fans presumed he was still suffering depression however, Jeff defended his scruffy appearance as a way to distance himself from the clean shaven Reg with whom he had become synonymous.

He said: ‘I didn’t cut my hair for three years. It was a thought-out, deliberate choice.

‘I thought, ‘I have to look as different as possible’.  

The Bill ran for a total of 26 years, with the popular series ending in 2010 after being axed – much to the dismay of staunch fans. 

Though The Bill was his biggest role to date, Jeff has appeared in a number of other programmes including Crossroads, Doctor Who and Hi-De-Hi!.

He has also starred in independent films and won a Best Actor award for his role in Under Jakob’s Ladder at the Manhattan Film Festival in 2011. 

Jeff continues to act, with his IMDB page stating that he has a number of projects in pre-production. 

In April this year, the cast of The Bill – minus Jeff – reunited in uniform at the fictional Sun Hill Police Station, 10 years after the long running ITV drama wrapped. 

Trudie Goodwin, Eric Richard and Chris Ellison joined Mark Wingett and Graham Cole on a virtual reunion from COVID-19 lockdown to celebrate the UKTV launch of the crime-fighting series that ran for 26 years from 1984 to 2010.

The cast started the call ‘in the slammer’ with prison bars as their backgrounds before changing to pictures of Sun Hill and images of themselves from back in the day as they reminisced.

Chris, who played DI Frank Burnside, recalled shooting car scenes ‘with our trousers off, not because we were too hot, just bored,’ while Mark, who played PC Jim Carver, remembered the ‘belly laughing’.

Graham, who played PC Tony Stamp, joked that Keira Knightley ‘never phoned’ after he worked with her on one of her first ever TV episodes.

She appeared on the show in 1995 when she was just 10 years old.

Other famous faces who enjoyed roles on the long running drama included James McAvoy, Sean Bean, Russell Brand, Ray Winstone, Hugh Laurie, David Walliams, Catherine Tate and Emma Bunton. 

The show followed the lives of the employees working at the fictional station in East London.