New Tricks (My Rating: 5+)

One of my very favorites

Back from the summer break with one from my top three favorite British detective series, along with Morse, and Foyles War.* Some years ago, when I retired for the second time (I’ve done it thrice), my lunchtime watching was New Tricks on PBS. I was working part-time as a “re-hired annuitant,” in bureaucratic parlance, a WAE (i.e., paid only “When Actually Employed”). The show’s three rehired “WAE detectives” became like old friends. During the past heat dome summer, I began rewatching and was immediately reminded what a marvelous show it was. The premise is simple, a squad of retired detectives brought together under the command of a Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent to solve cold cases. The first class ensemble of actors, excellent writing and comic flair comes wonderfully alive for 60 minutes. All four main characters arrive at the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS) with baggage. Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (played by Amanda Redman) shot a dog during a raid. Former Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Halford (played by James Bolam) retired after his wife was killed in a hit-and-run. Ex-Detective Inspector Brian “Memory” Lane (Alun Armstrong) is a recovering alcoholic with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Ex-Detective Sergeant Gerry Standing, who broke his superior’s jaw and remains friendly with his three ex wives, is played by Dennis Waterman (actually married four time with three divorces). The retirees are experienced and serious detectives, drawing on long careers of crime solving and the wisdom that – hopefully – comes with age. But together, they also often resemble The Three Stooges.

The show went through 12 seasons from 2004 to 2015 with only one of the detectives being there to the end. During the first several seasons, the back stories eventually came to the fore as their own dramatic arcs including a long running plot concerning alcoholism and OCD, both handled sensitively and sometimes sparking the fun. In rewatching the series, I skipped over one strand as simply a bit too intense for restful summer enjoyment. But I also have favorite episodes, including one that included crime at a brewery!

Bolam left the series in season nine and all four original detectives were replaced by the end (with Armstrong and Redman leaving in 10 and Waterman lasting almost to the ending in season 12). While the replacements all brought their own quirks to the dynamic, it was never again quite as much fun. From season ten on, back stories absorb more time and “Gerry Standing” sometimes gets quite annoying with his old-style cop schtick. But the series – apparently available now only via streaming including on on Britbox – remained a 5+.

(Interestingly, when New Tricks went off the air in 2015, New Blood appeared in 2016 as an overly flashy, short-lived but decent seven episodes of two young detectives thrown together by chance but discover they are working two different angles of the same case.)

* Of course, the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series stands above them all.