| abstract | - __TOC__ P.C. George Garfield was a character in The Bill from 1989 until 1999. You could call PC George Garfield uncomplicated, or you could be honest and call him a bit thick. Though he was no use helping you finish your crossword, he was a bloke you could rely on when the thumping and kicking started. Subtlety may have been lost on him, but he could do the job and he liked doing it, more and more. Londoner George joined the Met. at nineteen because it was steady employment and he’d not had much luck with other jobs he’d tried since leaving school. But he didn’t much like the leafy suburb of Teddington, to which he was sent – too dull – and used his excess energy in the boxing ring. He reached ABA quarter finals standard. He was a pretty fair snooker player, too. After repeated requests for a posting to a busier manor, he was transferred to Sun Hill early in 1989. He got on with most of the people there. Stamp was a good mate. He had run-ins with Dave Quinnan and Steve Loxton, both of whom could be a bit aggressive if rubbed up the wrong way. Unlike them, Garfield could control his temper, although occasionally he could be something of a bull in a china shop, charging in wildly before he had properly thought out the repercussions of his actions. He could also bear a grudge with the best of them. But as the relief’s Federation rep. George was a steady, reliable type, known for his loyalty and integrity. He took pride in his work and his best quality was his commitment to colleagues. He tried hard to never let anybody down, by acting as a trouble shooter for the team - and served well in the role as he always had his colleague's best interests at heart. But, like so many others, he had been taken under the wing of Bob Cryer more than once. He needed a calm father figure to advise him when everything seemed to be going wrong for him and it seemed that his second name was Gullible. He had money troubles before the night of the party for his twenty-fifth birthday, but they got worse after it. He’d hired a room only to have Quinnan and Jim Carver wreck it by fighting over a girl. Garfield had to pay for the repairs, which meant he had to return the flash XR3 convertible car he’d just started buying on installments, against the advice of his bank manager. Lending the key of his section-house room to Loxton – who was spotted nipping up the stairs with a nurse, against the rules – was another black mark against his name. But his colleagues were on his side when Matthew Boyden let him down – nipping off to see one of his women friends and leaving him to be beaten up by the villain they were supposed to be trailing. Garfield was knocked down and concussed. There were bets on if and when Garfield might get his own back. They were safe bets. Boyden leaned about Garfield’s right hook – the hard way. Over the years, young women seemed to be immune to the Garfield charm. There was some chance he was getting something together with a WPC whom he invited for a pizza, then there was that journalist from the Sun Hill Chronicle. In the end, George’s love life proved to be the end for his stint at Sun Hill. A rather messy love triangle involving himself, Dave Quinnan and nurse Jenny Delaney ensured George wasn't at Sun Hill station for much longer. He left the force on a voyage of self-discovery, briefly returning a couple of months later to settle his differences with Dave at his wedding.
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