Flics toujours

What is it about British crime drama that makes them so good? While Americans produce one run of the mill series after the other that centers on fancy technique and the minds of killers the Brits constantly come up with new concepts and interesting character line ups.

New Tricks is probably the best of the current breed closely followed by my personal favourite, "55 Degrees North". I pity the so called young and hip series which feel the need to give identification figures to every focus group the entertainment industry cares about - "New Tricks" manages to make you care about the characters because they simply feel real and because it uses their genuine faults and quirks to propel exquisite and hilariously entertaining story lines.

The actor all are veterans of crime drama and the fun they are having with this one is palpable. These old dogs having plenty of new tricks up their sleeve to make he viewer eagerly ask for more.

We are just at the conclusion of 5 episodes, the end of the 2003 series I would imagine and therefore hopefully expecting additional episodes to be made available later in the year. This programme, unique in its storyline, tells of a senior Detective Superintendent,a lovely blonde who commences to address older cases, unsolved, with three senior ex Detectives. All have unusual characteristics such as photographic memory for one, excellent detective skills with another and criminal contacts with the third. The scripts are well written, full of humour but are still a serious crime drama series. As good as Dalziel and Pascoe, Taggart etc., and is recommended for scripting, acting and humour. Good English series

Few series about cops - albeit in this case retired, but re-activated - and criminals are as original, thought-provoking and fun as New Tricks! Even if I love 'A Touch of Frost' this series runs rings around it, and even more so compared to another favorite: 'Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'

Excellent plots (every case has to do with an unsolved serious crime, or murder), excellent actors, very good scripts, professional directing, nice twists, and lovely characters, like Gerry (Dennis Waterman), who's has a host of ex-wives, who occasionally wine-and-dine him, but has contacts everywhere, or Brian (Alun Armstrong), who plays an ex-alcoholic, who has a perfect memory about facts and dates, but less perfect when it comes to his wife (lovely played by Susan Jameson) and her likes and dislikes! The third of the retired officers is Jack (played by James Bolam), who's wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident - he spends most of his off-time talking to his dead wife - even have a kind of mausoleum over her in his back garden. But his high rank before retiring, and his knowledge of people and what makes them tick, makes for an excellent interviewer of suspects, and others. Always very well dressed, always well spoken, but aged by sorrow and longing for the wife that's no longer around.

Their boss, Sandra, is a blond, forceful, young officer, who has no husband, but a messy private life, which sometimes affect the stories. Expertly acted by a, to me, totally unknown actress called Amanda Redman.

Can't be beaten, this row of series, and no two installments are alike!

Doff my hat, it's great!

9.4/10

I'd give it a 10/10 if the picture quality in dark scenes were better!

I agree that the Brits seem to be able to produce well written shows that can make you laugh out loud one minute and then be tearing up at the sincere drama of the next minute. This is a unique and entertaining crime drama with good humor and great actors. I became a fan of Amanda Redman in spite of first seeing her in a terribly crap TV movie called "Suspicion". She was clearly working hard to make that script interesting and I knew an actress that determined must be good. Now that I'm seeing her in a decent show I am not in the least disappointed. She is great (and getting more beautiful with each year). She's completely believable as the tough policewoman in charge of this motley crew of men, and the guarded, reluctantly vulnerable woman sort of dating a younger man. The entire cast is superb. Alun Armstrong has never disappointed in anything I've ever seen him in and he is hysterical as the cop on multiple meds in this show. It's nice to see real looking people rather than bimbos & himbos. These are talented actors having a good time and creating something extremely entertaining.

I absolutely adore Touch of Frost, Midsummer Murders and Inspector Morse, but the thing I love about New Tricks is that it is contemporary, funny and still manages to be serious when it needs to be. True, it is a bit corny at times,my only criticism of the series, but it is sterling entertainment for those who want to relax in the evenings. Allun Armstrong is both touching and funny as Brian, a man of intellect and charm, but this is perhaps under-appreciated by his colleagues. James Bolam makes the most out of his character, and one of the main reasons I watch New Tricks in the first place. Jack Halford is seen as quiet and composed, yet there is a certain sadness to him that is quite appealing. Amanda Redman never disappoints in anything she's in, and she gives a thoroughly entertaining and sometimes serious portrayal of Sandra, and Dennis Waterman from The Sweeney and Minder delights with his vocals in the title song(which is quite catchy), and equally delights with his three-times-divorced, heavy-smoking character of Gerry Standing. The episodes allow the four stars to have fun, and the witty and fresh, though sometimes corny, script allows plenty of character development. Standout episodes are when Jack is slowly poisoned by a man played by Richard Briers, and Sandra finding out how and why her father died.(I felt sorry for her then)All in all, an entertaining and often funny series. 9/10 Bethany Cox.