NEW TRICKS (TV SERIES)

'''New Tricks''' is a BBC television drama series which follows the work of the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS). Led by Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes. The series is similar in idea to ''Waking the Dead'', another BBC drama series about a "cold case" squad, but is far lighter in tone, with many humorous situations. It draws much of its humour from the former detectives' unfamiliarity with the modern methods of policing, and their increasing age. In August 2007, the Daily Star revealed that writer Roy Mitchell had based his character names on West Bromwich Albion F.C. players. This is based on the fact that TV presenter Adrian Chiles wrote in the Guardian that he contacted Mitchell through the controller of BBC1's office because a character called Koumas appeared in the cast of New Tricks on BBC1. West Bromwich Albion had a player called Jason Koumas and he felt it was too much of a coincidence.
Guardian Story

Contents

Main characters

Supporting characters

Occasional guest stars

DVD release

Production history

International broadcasters

References

Further reading

Main characters

'Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman' (Amanda Redman): The head of the unit and the only currently serving police officer in UCOS, Sandra Pullman was previously a Scotland Yard high flyer and a highly successful career woman until an incident involving the shooting of a dog during the rescue of a hostage (which becomes a running gag during the series). Following this incident, her career stalled and she was given the dubious honour of running UCOS against her will. An intensely ambitious and competitive woman, she has sacrificed most of her personal life in pursuit of her career and likes to be in absolute control of every situation; a running subplot involves Pullman's lonely and unsuccessful love life, consisting of a string of adulterous relationships in her past and numerous failed efforts at romance (including, in one episode, speed dating). Pullman believes in following the rules, and is often exasperated by her colleagues' eccentricities and willingness to bend the rules in pursuit of a result. Although reluctant to lead UCOS, as time goes by, she begins to warm to her colleagues and view them as her friends, and at the same time change her attitude towards life.
'Jack Halford (Ex-Detective Chief Superintendent)' (James Bolam): The highest-ranking ex-officer on the team and the first to be approached by Pullman when she was forming UCOS, Jack Halford is something of a second-in-command to Pullman and acts as a mentor to her on numerous occasions (based on their previous working relationship when she was subordinate to him on the murder squad). Halford retired from the police force as a result of his grief at the death of his dearly-loved wife Mary in a hit-and-run incident; he is still haunted by her death, partly due to the fact that no-one was ever been charged in connection with it, and still speaks to his wife's memorial in his garden, often seeking her help and opinion in solving cases. A softly-spoken and gentle man, Halford nevertheless possesses a quick and at-times violent temper that he has unleashed towards several of the suspects in the cases that he has worked on.
'Gerry Standing (Ex-Detective Inspector)' (Dennis Waterman): Something of a 'Jack-the-Lad', Gerry Standing is very much an old-school police officer; in his time, he was 'a top thief-taker' who passionately enjoyed catching criminals but nevertheless mixed easily with them. As a result, allegations of corruption arose, which he angrily denies but nevertheless were among the reasons he left the police force (the other being that he punched his then-superior officer, Don Bevan, as a result of these allegations). Something of a ladies man, he has been married three times; although his marriages were unsuccessful, he is a devoted father to his three daughters and maintains amicable relationships with his ex-wives (so much so that he occasionally manages to seduce them once again). Along with his familial commitments, he also has a keen interest in gambling and thus is keen to work in UCOS for financial reasons. Although he is a now a grandfather, he maintains his devil-may-care lifestyle, but insists that he is merely "a naughty boy, not a bastard". Although initial tension existed between them, he and Pullman share a mutually respectful but nonetheless barbed friendship.
'Brian Lane (Ex-Detective Inspector)' (Alun Armstrong): Brian 'Memory' Lane is an exceptional detective, possessing a keen attention to detail and a remarkable instant recall memory that allows him to call up obscure details not only regarding cases but the officers investigating them at the time. He is also extremely socially inept and highly eccentric, a sufferer of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder and a recovering alcoholic; as a result, despite being an essentially well-meaning individual he possesses extremely poor social skills and a tendency for getting himself into trouble. He left the force under a cloud, having been partly held responsible for the death of a prisoner in his custody; although Brian maintains it is part of a conspiracy against him (and was, at least initially, consumed with attempting to discover who was behind it), his colleagues believe that he simply cannot admit he made a mistake. Brian is married to the long-suffering but caring Esther.
One of the original writers, Roy Mitchell, is a supporter of the English football team West Bromwich Albion and in the first series numerous characters were named after players who previously played or still play for the club. The three male characters of the programme, Halford, Lane and Standing, were named after the oldest stand at the Hawthorns football ground in West Bromwich.

Supporting characters

'Robert Strickland ' (Anthony Calf)
From the second series onwards, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Robert Strickland is the team's boss. He is a political animal who enjoys basking in the reflected glory of UCOS's clean up rate and his choice of cases is influenced by a desire to make his department look good.
'Esther Lane ' (Susan Jameson)
Esther is Brian Lane's long-suffering wife. Esther and Brian met when he arrested her for attempting to steal a copy of ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' from a library. They have a son, Mark. At least once, Brian's obsession with the incident which caused him to leave the force has led Esther to leave him, although she did return. Susan Jameson, who plays Esther, is in real life married to co-star James Bolam.
'PC Clark ("Clarkey")' (Chiké Okonkwo)
PC Clark (we never learn his first name) is assigned to the team to help them with their IT needs and administration, though he soon becomes a valued member of the team. He only appears in the pilot and first series, and the disappearance of the character has not been explained.
'Donald Bevan' (Tim Woodward- pilot, Nicholas Day- series one)
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Donald Bevan is the team's boss during the first series. He knows both Jack Halford and Gerry Standing, and strongly opposed Standing's inclusion in the team, mainly due to the history between them. (It is later revealed that Gerry punched Bevan in the face and broke his jaw). In an episode broadcast in May 2006 concerning a group of witches there is a reference to the film ''The Wicker Man''. The film starred Edward Woodward, Tim Woodward's father.

Occasional guest stars

'Grace Pullman' (Sheila Hancock)
Grace Pullman is Sandra Pullman's mother and the widow of her late husband - Sandra's father Gordon, who committed suicide by carbon monoxide inhalation. She appeared in two episodes in 2007. The first of which - her daughter was helping her choose a home to stay in, where a murder had recently been committed. Grace then became ill with Ménière's disease, but, after the murder was solved, moved into the home. She next appeared in the last episode of the fourth series - where she had suffered a stroke and it was then that Sandra found out the truth about her father's death.
'Emily Standing' (Hannah Waterman)
Emily Standing is one of the four daughters of Gerry Standing and a trainee police officer. She appeared in two episodes - one in 2006, the other in 2007. She is eager to be a great police officer like her father and proves successful.
Note that Emily and Gerry Standing's father-daughter relationship is helped by the fact that Hannah and Dennis Waterman are real-life father and daughter.

DVD release

Series One, Two and Three of ''New Tricks'' are available on DVD on Region 2 (UK).
The first and second series are available on DVD Region 4 (Aus).

Production history

''New Tricks'' is produced by Wall to Wall Television for the BBC. It began as a one-off episode, broadcast on 27 March 2003. This attracted a sufficient number of viewers for the BBC to commission a series of six episodes, which began on 1 April 2004. Subsequently several eight-episode series were commissioned for 2005, 2006 and 2007.
A fifth series had been commissioned by the BBC after the audience share rose week upon week for the previous series^[1]. One of the last episodes to air received viewing figures of 9.25 million, becoming the second most watched programme on BBC One that week.^[2] However like many other BBC Drama shows 'New Tricks' has been scrapped due to cost cutting.
ABC TV also broadcasts the series in Australia, it is widely known that Melanie Wright, wife of Academic writer M J Enticott is a huge fan of the series, having been a personal assistant to Denis Waterman during his time in Australia.

International broadcasters

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country !! TV Network(s)
|-
| Australia || UK-TV
|-
| Finland || YLE TV1
|-
| Italy || La7
|-
| Singapore || BBC Entertainment
|-
| Thailand || BBC Entertainment
|-

References

1. "'New Tricks' gets a fifth series" Digital Spy website
2. "Weekly Viewing Summary" (Scroll down and click 27/05/07 - BARB Website

Further reading

★ ''New Tricks'' at bbc.co.uk