New Tricks | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy-drama |
Created by |
Nigel McCrery Roy Mitchell |
Starring |
Alun Armstrong (2003–13) James Bolam (2003–12, 2013) Amanda Redman (2003–13) Dennis Waterman (2003–15) Denis Lawson (2012–15) Nicholas Lyndhurst (2013–15) Tamzin Outhwaite (2013–15) Larry Lamb (2015) |
Theme music composer | Mike Moran |
Opening theme | "It's Alright" (vocals by Dennis Waterman) |
Ending theme | Reprise |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 12 |
No. of episodes | 107 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Wall to Wall (2003–14) Headstrong Pictures (2015) |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Productions UK |
Release | |
Original network | BBC One |
Picture format |
576i (SDTV) (2003–09) 1080i (HDTV) (2010–15) |
Audio format | Stereo |
Original release | 27 March 2003 | – 6 October 2015
External links | |
Website |
Brian Lane | |
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First appearance | Series 1 Episode 0 |
Last appearance | Series 10 Episode 4 |
Portrayed by | Alun Armstrong |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex-Detective Inspector |
Spouse(s) | Esther Lane |
Children | Mark Lane |
Jack Halford | |
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First appearance | Series 1 Episode 0 |
Last appearance | Series 10 Episode 8 |
Portrayed by | James Bolam |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex-Detective Chief Superintendent |
Spouse(s) | Mary Halford (deceased) |
Sandra Pullman | |
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First appearance | Series 1 Episode 0 |
Last appearance | Series 10 Episode 8 |
Portrayed by | Amanda Redman |
Information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Detective Superintendent |
Family | Gordon Pullman (father) |
Gerry Standing | |
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First appearance | Series 1 Episode 0 |
Last appearance | Series 12 Episode 2 |
Portrayed by | Dennis Waterman |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex-Detective Sergeant |
Family | Norman Lestade (father) |
Steve McAndrew | |
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First appearance | Series 9 Episode 4 |
Last appearance | Series 12 Episode 10 |
Portrayed by | Denis Lawson |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex-Detective Inspector |
Spouse(s) | Trisha McAndrew (divorced) |
Children | Stuart McAndrew |
Dan Griffin | |
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First appearance | Series 10 Episode 5 |
Last appearance | Series 12 Episode 10 |
Portrayed by | Nicholas Lyndhurst |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex-Detective Chief Inspector |
Spouse(s) | Sarah Griffin |
Children | Holly Griffin |
Sasha Miller | |
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First appearance | Series 10 Episode 9 |
Last appearance | Series 12 Episode 10 |
Portrayed by | Tamzin Outhwaite |
Information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Detective Chief Inspector |
Ted Case | |
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First appearance | Series 12 Episode 2 |
Last appearance | Series 12 Episode 10 |
Portrayed by | Larry Lamb |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Ex Detective Chief Inspector – Former Head of Operation Trident Command Unit (Gun Crime) |
New Tricks is a British procedural comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS) of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes. There have been cast changes, but the squad always consists of three men with a female boss. The series title is taken from the proverb "". In February 2015, BBC One announced the show would end after series 12, which comprises 10 episodes.
New Tricks began as a one-off episode broadcast on 27 March 2003. This attracted sufficient viewers for the BBC to commission a series of six episodes, which began on 1 April 2004. Eight-episode series were subsequently commissioned for 2005, 2006 and 2007. A fifth series was commissioned by the BBC after the audience share rose week upon week for the previous series. In 2007, an episode from the fourth series received viewing figures of 9.25 million, becoming the second most watched programme on BBC One that week, and the most watched New Tricks episode to that point. The fifth series continued this good run – on two occasions it was the most watched programme in Britain for the week, and the seventh episode gained a new series high rating of 9.36 million – second only to the X Factor that week. The fifth series aired from 7 July to 25 August 2008. The sixth series finished location filming on 8 May 2009 in Central London and began airing on 16 July 2009. The opening episode of series six was watched by 8.07 million, despite clashing with Five's The Mentalist (1.64m) and ITV's Living With Michael Jackson (3.64m). The second episode clashed with The Mentalist and the relaunch of The Bill on ITV, and was watched by 7.59 million.
Series 7 and 8 were commissioned by the BBC in September 2009, ensuring that the show would run until 2011. The seventh series began airing on 10 September 2010 and completed its run on 12 November. The eighth series opened on 4 July 2011 with 9.2 million viewers, the show's highest rating for three years, and the first since the fifth series to break the 9 million barrier. The third episode of series 8, "Lost in Translation", was the show's highest rated episode to date with 9.7 million viewers, becoming the most watched television programme of the week in the UK. Episode 7, "The Gentleman Vanishes," surpassed this figure with 9.87 million viewers, and was again the top programme of the week.