Kevin Lloyd

Kevin Reardon Lloyd (28 March 1949 – 2 May 1998) was an English actor, best known for portraying DC Alfred "Tosh" Lines in Thames Television's The Bill.

Born in Derby, his Welsh-born father, Ellis Aled Lloyd, was a police officer who was killed in a car accident while answering an emergency call aged 46 in 1970. Lloyd's grandfather and uncle were also police officers. Lloyd was the older brother of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd who was killed in the Iraq War in 2003. Lloyd suffered from Perthes disease as a child. After leaving grammar school, he initially trained as a solicitor before he decided he wanted to be an actor and trained at East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex.

Prior to appearing in The Bill Lloyd had already played the high-profile role of nightclub owner Don Watkins in the soap opera Coronation Street. He also made appearances in a number of other TV shows, including the first series of Starting Out, Boon, Minder, Dear John, Farrington of the F.O., Dempsey and Makepeace, Z-Cars, Andy Capp, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Blake's 7 and Casualty. His film credits included roles in Trial by Combat (1976), Britannia Hospital (1982), Don't Open till Christmas (1984), Link (1986) and Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1987). He was also active on stage in the 1970s, appearing in a production of Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw.

Lloyd married his wife Lesley in 1973. They had seven children: Mark, Sophie, James, Poppy, Henry, Edward and Chloe. In 1989, James, Poppy and Henry Lloyd appeared in an episode of The Bill as three of Tosh's children. James Lloyd is an actor who later appeared on The Bill as PC Steve Hunter between 2004 and 2006. Chloe Lloyd died from meningitis aged 17 months. In 1991, Lloyd and his wife adopted a Romanian orphan, Ellie. Lloyd lived with his family in Duffield, Derbyshire, from which he regularly commuted a round trip of 270 miles (430 km) to Notting Hill, west London, where The Bill was filmed.

Lloyd separated from his wife in 1995, with the latter blaming his alcoholism and accusing him of violence. He was subsequently in a relationship with Rita Hudson, although he had reportedly resumed his relationship with his wife over a week before his death.

Lloyd was one of the most popular cast members of The Bill. In 1996, the show won the award for "Best TV Drama" at the National Television Awards and it was Lloyd who collected it on behalf of the cast and crew. Lloyd spoke of the similarities between himself and his character in the series, namely that he and Tosh were both short, scruffy and slightly overweight, and both had multiple children to support. He also drew on aspects of his late father’s personality and manner for his performance.

He had been so popular on The Bill that on 26 February 1992, within four years of joining the show, he was selected as special guest for the TV guest show This Is Your Life. He was a lifelong supporter of Derby County F.C. His autobiography, The Man Who Loved Too Much, was published in 1997.

A chronic alcoholic, he played "Tosh" continuously from 1988 until he was sacked from The Bill on 27 April 1998 for turning up drunk and failing to learn his lines. Within days, he was admitted to a clinic in Burton-on-Trent for detoxification and was administered Antabuse (Disulfiram), but then left the premises to drink alcohol. He returned to the clinic on 2 May 1998 in an intoxicated state, retired to bed, fell asleep, then choked on his vomit. His widow subsequently fought to prove that he had died as a result of negligence, but lost the case in court. Lloyd died just one week after recording his last scenes for The Bill, and the character of Tosh was still appearing on screen for more than a month after Lloyd's death. Tosh's final appearance was on 9 June 1998. Lloyd's funeral took place at St Alkmund's Church, Duffield, where he was cremated.