Veteran Italian actor Terence Hill is standing down from the long-running television series Don Matteo, in which he has played the lead role for more than 20 years. Hill first appeared on Italian television screens as Don Matteo Bondini - a priest in the town of Gubbio in the Umbrian province of Perugia - in January 2000. The popular TV series went on to become one of the most successful and long-lived on Italian state broadcaster Rai1.

Don Matteo is a wise, helpful character who is skilled at investigating local crime stories, in collaboration with his Carabiniere friend, Antonio Cecchini, played by comedian Nino Frassica. But now - after 22 years, 13 seasons and 259 episodes - Terence Hill has said goodbye to the beret-wearing priest and his trusty bicycle.