Des Taviner
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| Des Taviner | |
|---|---|
 Paul Usher as PC Des Taviner |
|
| First appearance | 2001 |
| Cause/Reason | Killed while in custody |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Police officer |
| Portrayed by | Paul Usher |
Police Constable Desmond "Des" Taviner was a popular character in ITV's police drama The Bill. He was played by Paul Usher.
Contents |
[edit] Early Days
PC Des Taviner arrived at Sun Hill in 2001 as the brand new area car driver. Loudmouthed and very cocky, he wasted no time in stamping out his territory in the area car - it was his domain, and he believed anyone accompanying him in the passenger seat should take orders from him. Strangely enough, Des immediately hit it off and formed a close friendship with station oddball PC Reg Hollis, whose personality and attitude couldn't have been anymore different from his. An overconfident womaniser, on more than one occasion Des would use his position of power as a police officer to pull an attractive woman over and rather than give her a ticket give her his number. When new SC Terry Knowles was paired with him Des was shown to have a strong influence over the lad, and it was when attempting to try on Des's picking up woman trick that he was murdered. Des never got on well with Sgt. Craig Gilmore either, and it was implied that he had dirt on Supt. Tom Chandler, whom he'd attended Hendon with.
[edit] The Sun Hill Fire
Des was initially very good at his job, and his friendship with Reg later provided them with a good cop/bad cop technique that applied very successful at times. After the death of Chief Inspector Derek Conway, Des was determined to make the largest donation to a collection going around the nick. When apprehending a teenage suspect he found to be in possession of a large sum of money, Des nicked it and contributed it. After later on finding out that the notes were counterfeit, Des panicked and seized race riots occurring outside the station to destroy the notes. In perhaps his most famous scene, Des throw a petrol bomb into Inspector Insp. Monroe's office where the notes were being held. At the time Sun Hill had been in the middle of redevelopment, and the redevelopers had chosen to keep some highly inflammable items in there. Des's petrol bomb caused the famous Sun Hill fire, leading to the death of six police officers.
[edit] Downfall
After working to conceal his role in the fire, Des framed an extremeist and then went on leave in an attempt to put the events behind him. Upon returning to Sun Hill, Des risked his own life to save a victim engulfed in a burning car. While being treated for his injuries, Des confessed his crimes to Reg, and after becoming convinced his colleague would turn him in he contemplated suicide. When Reg told him he thought he'd suffered enough Des decided he would just have to put the whole thing behind him the best he could. Not long afterwards he started falling for Sgt. Sheelagh Murphy, and upon getting her pregnant he was prepared to settle down and raise a family with her. His past came back to haunt him however when he confessed his role in the Sun Hill fire to her, and in return she demanded he confess to Superintendent Adam Okaro. Once more believing his time was up, Des drove himself and Reg into a burning building. Reg was rescued, however nothing more than the remains of Des's radio were recovered. Unknown to the officers at Sun Hill, Des had faked his own death to go on the run.
[edit] Final Days
While on the run, Des met up with Sheelagh and asked her and the baby to join him. She refused and revealed to him that the baby had died, and that it'd happened while PC Cameron Tait had been babysitting. Des immediately took Cameron hostage, however he soon came to realise that he actually blamed himself, and he was just using Cameron to compensate, so he released him unharmed. Regardless, he once more asked Sheelagh to join him on the run and this time she agreed, however unknown to him she was working undercover for MIT to bring him to justice. Their plans failed, and Des was forced back into hiding. He surfaced one more time to apologise to Reg for all the grief he had put him through, however Inspector Gold had suspected he would attempt to contact his best friend again and had been watching him. Des was arrested for the murder of his colleagues and taken into custody. While awaiting trial, Des was beaten to death in his cell by a manic depressive.
