New Tricks

A motley crew of retired police officers re-opens troublesome cases that were never laid to rest. From the discovery of a new motive in the killing of a college lecturer, to the tracing of a missing child, the team finds a way through the detail that eluded the original officers. But they are finding a surprising incidence of cover-up and conspiracy in their new investigations. Are their superiors about to close ranks? Or is someone feeding them particular files? Either way, the suspicion that they are being manipulated is high - and the team is determined to get to the bottom of it. These old dogs won't roll over too easily.

A motley crew of retired police officers re-opens troublesome cases that were never laid to rest. Starring Alun Armstrong, James Bolam, Amanda Redman and Dennis Waterman, series two sees Lane, Standing, Halford and their bullish boss Pullman taking on more half-forgotten cases. Mixing nose-to-the-ground, old-school detective work with a fresh take on troublesome cases, the veterans investigate a range of unsolved crimes from the apparently racially motivated attack on a young Asian bride to the mystery of the unidentified torso found in a wood populated by wild boars. Will they succeed where others have failed? Or will the burden of all the years begin to weigh down on them? After all, they all have to grow old some time.

The third season of New Tricks, presented in this DVD set, features eight varied episodes and the obligatory end-of-season cliffhanger, along with some welcome guest stars. The stories cover ice cream, witchcraft, dogs and school, and it’s to the show’s credit that it does balance the serious moments with its plentiful humour exceptionally well.

In short, New Tricks is a real treat, putting core values ahead of gimmicks and letting us all enjoy the rewards of its approach. Cracking

There are more cases to solve, and there?s a lot more entertainment to enjoy as the supposedly-retired crime-fighting team of Dennis Waterman, James Bolam and Alun Armstrong knuckle down to business once more. And as they do so, New Tricks proves that if you want consistent quality, you need to turn to the old pros.
For it?s the outstanding cast, clearly having a ball here, that make New Tricks quite so much fun. This fourth series sees the trio of mismatched detectives--once more working for Amanda Redman--solving crimes and generating many laughs as they do so. Their methods are inevitably more towards the old school, and this inevitably brings them into conflict with the generation that followed them, but this just adds to the fun. Throw in a host of welcome famous faces in cameo roles, and it feels like a piece of television where good storytelling and strong production values sit above gimmicks and whizzbang special effects.
The pace of New Tricks may not immediately endear it to the CSI generation, but for many, that?s part of the appeal. That, and the quality of writing and the chance to enjoy good actors playing the kind of good roles that you?d thought had long since dried up.