Season 15 · Episode 7

The Bill: Pond Life

Meadows recruits Quinnan and Rawton to receive a notorious sex offender, Ray Ballantyne, from another division. However, the DCI's hopes of keeping the Ballantyne's identity a secret are quickly blown by a press leak. As a protest takes place outside the safehouse, Hagen receives a call in CAD that a local boy, Andy Donnelly, has gone missing. TSG are drafted in to take Ballantyne out of the house and back to Sun Hill, as the protest escalates into a low-scale riot. Meanwhile, Page and McCann interview Donelly's friend, he gives a vague description of a man seen with the missing boy that matches Ballantyne. As the protest shifts to Sun Hill, Ballantyne is interviewed about his involvement, and he confesses to seeing Donnelly and comforting him. As the boy is tracked down after hiding in an abandoned train, he makes a shock confession about his home life. Back at the station, as Rawton struggles to find a hostel for Ballantyne, a dramatic twist brings a final resolution to the case.