New Tricks - Series 8 [DVD]

It is very hard to come up with a police series which is truly original as the subject has pretty much been done to death from every angle over the years. However, the BBC managed to do just that when they launched the pilot of New Tricks in 2003. Not really surprising that the show has run and run and we are now up to the eighth series and it has reached a total of 66 episodes. Good to see that we had 10 episodes this time round as in Series 7, rather than the 8 in earlier series.

Despite the long running nature of New Tricks, the script writers still seem to come up with original and sometimes quite offbeat plots. For example the last in the current series concerned the case of a zoo keeper whom it had been assumed had been mauled to death by a tiger, but whom the team suspect was killed before being put in the tiger's enclosure. As is usually the case, the truth, when it is teased out, is far from straight forward. Also good to see that we were not left with a cliff hanger at the end of this episode as has happened in some previous series and is unnecessary in my view since it tends to feel rather contrived.

A lot of the charm lies with the individual quirkiness of the three main investigators in UCOS - Jack Halford (James Bolam), Gerry Standing (Dennis Waterman), and Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong). I thought the first episode in this series was interesting - it concerned the murder of a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum - but was lacking something. However, a lot of the interest does lie in the individual lives of the characters and we missed seeing Jack communicating with his dead wife in his back garden, Gerry with his many ladies and ex wives and daughters, and Alun obsessing and trying the patience of his wife, the long suffering Esther (Susan Jameson who is married to James Bolam in real life). However, happily more elements of their personal lives did creep back into later episodes which was very welcome.

As always Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) acts as an excellent foil for the three boys. Fans will be pleased to learn that a ninth series is planned for next year. However, one wonders how many more series will be possible without a change of personnel. James Bolam is a superb actor but he is now 76, and although he is wearing well, seeing him on screen representing the Met is beginning to stretch credibility. I did wonder if a comment at the end of Episode 10 was a hint that the BBC were perhaps thinking the same way.

Eight years after Sandra shot one dog and was punished by being put in charge of a bunch of fossils, there's still no sign of the format running out of steam. As with series 7, the emphasis is again on the characters solving crimes in their own unique styles with few scenes detailing their lives outside of work, although when we do get to see their lives, they are always entertaining.

None of Gerry's extensive family appears this year, and his only memorable personal scene involves a nice comic routine involving a French cook. Brian gets the usual amusing asides with Esther, the best of which features Esther and on-line auction sites. Sandra meets another old flame and her mother returns for more memorable rounds of verbal jousting. But the character with the most interesting personal development is Jack. He hasn't been given much to do outside of work since resolving the arc tale about his wife's murder, but in the same way that series 5 detailed Brian's slow return to alcoholism, this year has a well-judged arc involving Jack's melancholy. In fact, as with Brian's earlier arc, for the most part his personal problems are unintrusive other than a sense that he's becoming increasingly maverick. There's only a small element each episode featuring Jack being distant from the others or him delivering an unexpected line of dialogue, but all these moments build up to a pay-off that's worth waiting for and which explains Jack's motivation this year. Of course, long-time fans will know that the show has a poor track record of using the final scenes from a series in the next series and so, despite the pay-off, it's likely it'll never get referred to again.

As for the stories, they are consistently strong. The only weak episode for me involves what is supposed to be the roughest, toughest, nastiest gang of scruffy bikers in the country, except the actors are a bunch of softies and they come across as being slightly less menacing than the bikers in Every Which Way but Loose. The strong episodes feature such varied subjects as fossils, homelessness, a zoo, and antiques with the highlight being an entertaining romp about a missing scientist. This episode features an amusing turn from Tim McInnery and closes with the strange addition of a nod to the Matrix, although as Jack once claimed to be a fan of Trinity, I'm not sure why he didn't spot the similarities.

Throughout, the stories feature light humour alongside some very dark subject matters, often in the same scene. A classic moment that shows why this series works involves a psychologist giving the cops a word association test. Each character's reaction is perfectly judged, combining humour, angst and sadness, all in less than a minute. Another sign of the continued strength of the series is the quality of the actors who guest star. Every episode features numerous familiar faces so that the traditional murder mystery rule that the most famous actor did it rarely applies. And it's nice to see that the usual benign nepotism continues with guest roles for Amanda Redman's daughter and Anthony Calf's wife.

Best of all, the show has already been commissioned for another two years. I'd like to think that this welcome news is played out on screen during a fourth-wall breaking sub-plot when it looks as if UCOS might be closed down due to budgetary restrictions. But the powers that be give them permission to go on solving crimes for as long as they want to although, as Jack says, that's only because they're all dirt cheap. And long may the actors carry on accepting low wages for our benefit!

These days it's almost impossible to find ANYTHING worth watching where all the characters aren't young, perky, surgically enhanced and damn near perfect. What's the point in watching?! The story isn't unbeleivable because you just don't buy the 22 year old detective in Chanel suits and Jimmy Choo shoes.

New Tricks restored my faith. But, to be honest, my faith never waivered in British television. They go for character and substance...not fluff. I saw one episode of New Tricks and was hooked. An instant fan. So much so I ordered ever single season and have watched them more than once. The characters are fully developed, yet continue to be human and grow. They're not the typical Hollywood beautiful...they're real people. Believeable, flawed, human! The story lines are fantastic and keep you guessing. I can't wait for Season 9, 10, 11, 12.....I hope this show runs forever. Anyone who's tired of today's tv.....watch New Tricks. You'll be surprised, amazed and a fan.