Davies Express: New Tricks

New Tricks is a BBC television drama series which follows the work of the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS). Led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes. The series title is taken from the popular expression "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". The "old dogs" are successful in adapting their skills and experience to modern policing, with their knowledge of past cases proving especially useful. Series 7 finished on November 12, 2010.

Main characters

Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman):
The head of the unit and the only currently serving police officer in Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS), Sandra Pullman was previously a Scotland Yard high flyer and a highly successful career woman until an incident involving the shooting of a dog during the rescue of a hostage (which becomes a running gag during the series). Following this incident, her career stalled and she was given the dubious honour of running UCOS against her will. An intensely ambitious and competitive woman, she has sacrificed most of her personal life in pursuit of her career and likes to be in absolute control of every situation. A running subplot involves Pullman's lonely and unsuccessful love life, consisting of a string of adulterous relationships in her past and numerous failed efforts at romance (including, in one episode, speed dating).
Pullman believes in following the rules, and is often exasperated by her colleagues' eccentricities and willingness to bend the rules in pursuit of a result.Ironically, she herself does so at times. An example was when the team were told to fix the accounts but the men went behind her back; when she found out she went into the case saying "I'm a copper, not an accountant."

The cast of New Tricks (top left: Alun Armstrong, top right: Dennis Waterman, bottom left: Amanda Redman, bottom right: James Bolam).

Although reluctant to lead the squad, as time goes by she begins to warm to her colleagues and view them as her friends, and at the same time change her attitude towards life. Her mother Grace is still alive, but recently had a stroke. Her father, Detective Inspector Gordon Arthur Pullman committed suicide in 1975 by carbon monoxide poisoning, when Sandra was 14, while under investigation for corruption by Jack Halford after he attempted to cover up killing a criminal. However, she did not find out about this until 2007, believing that he died of a heart attack.

John Alan "Jack" Halford (Ex-Detective Chief Superintendent) (James Bolam):
The highest-ranking ex-officer on the team and the first to be approached by Pullman when she was forming UCOS, Jack Halford is something of a second-in-command to Pullman and acts as a mentor to her on numerous occasions (based on their previous working relationship when she was subordinate to him on the murder squad). Halford retired from the police force to care for his dearly-loved wife Mary who had been involved in a hit-and-run incident; he is still haunted by her death. This is partly due to the fact that no-one was ever charged in connection with it, although it is common knowledge that it was Ricky Hanson (this is proven in Series 4, Episode 1 "Casualty"). Ricky Hanson was finally charged with the death of Mary in Series 6, Episode 6 "The Last Laugh". Halford still speaks to his wife's memorial in his garden, often seeking her help and opinion in solving cases. A softly-spoken and gentle man, he nevertheless possesses a quick and sometimes violent temper that he has unleashed on several suspects in the cases that he has worked on.

Gerald "Gerry" Standing (Ex-Detective Chief Inspector) (Dennis Waterman):
Born Gerard Lestade, the son of Smithfield Market butcher Norman Lestade, Gerry changed his name as he did not get along with his father and loudly protests his French Huguenot background ("I'm *not* bleedin' French!"), instead preferring to be known as a Cockney born and raised in Bermondsey. Nicknamed "Last Man Standing" due to his refusal to take backhanders while the rest of his squad were all bought out by a gangster, his cousins Sid and Barry appeared in the last episode of the 2009 series ("Meat Is Murder"), facing off against Danny Paye, a gangster Gerry owed money to in 1977. Something of a 'Jack the Lad', Gerry Standing is very much an old-school police officer. In his time he was a top 'thief-taker' who passionately enjoyed catching criminals but nevertheless mixed easily with them. As a result, allegations of corruption arose which he angrily denies, but nevertheless were among the reasons he left the police force (the other being that he punched his then-superior officer, Don Bevan, as a result of these allegations).
Something of a ladies' man, he has been married three times. Although his marriages were unsuccessful, he is a devoted father to his four daughters and has a grandson, Gerry Jr.. Standing maintains amicable relationships with his three ex-wives, so much so that he occasionally manages to seduce them once again. Although he is now a grandfather, he maintains his devil-may-care lifestyle, but insists that he is merely "a naughty boy, not a bastard". Gerry owns a 1977 Triumph Stag Roadster which is seen in some scenes. He also has a passion for cooking fine food for his extended family and co-workers.
While initial tension existed between them, he and Pullman share a mutually respectful but nonetheless barbed friendship. They sometimes pose as husband and wife when undercover. Along with his familial commitments, he also has a continuing interest in gambling and thus joined UCOS for financial reasons, much to the consternation of DAC Bevan.

Brian Lane (Ex-Detective Inspector) (Alun Armstrong):
Brian 'Memory' Lane is an exceptional detective, possessing a keen attention to detail and a remarkable instant recall memory that allows him to call up obscure details not only regarding cases but the officers investigating them at the time. He is also extremely socially inept and highly eccentric, a sufferer of Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and a recovering alcoholic. As a result, despite being an essentially well-meaning individual, he possesses extremely poor social skills and a tendency for getting himself into trouble. He left the force under a cloud, having been held partly responsible for the death of a prisoner in his custody. Although Brian maintains it is part of a conspiracy against him (and was, at least initially, consumed with attempting to discover who was behind it), his colleagues believe that he simply cannot admit he made a mistake.
Brian is married to the long-suffering but caring Esther and they have an adult son called Mark. Brian finds his work in UCOS becoming too stressful for him throughout the fifth series and resumes drinking alcohol when nobody else is around, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings once again. In the final episode of the fifth series ("Mad Dogs"), he gets drunk in a pub and ends up kissing two young women that he is drinking with, in full view of Esther and Mark as they come into the pub to look for him. Esther then walks out, leaving Brian realising the cost of resuming his alcoholism.
Based on the souvenirs in his office and the banner behind his desk, Brian is an ardent supporter of the football club AFC Wimbledon; at the end of Season 2 Episode 3, he skipped an afterwork celebratory drink with his UCOS mates, saying, "I have an appointment to support my team" while throwing his AFC Wimbledon team scarf around his neck, and singing "A-F-C-Wim-ble-don" to the tune of Verdi's "La donna è mobile". He is also an avid cyclist and was revealed to be a keen war-gamer. In Series 3, Episode 8 "Congratulations", he digs out his old war-gaming board and figurines and attends a war-game tournament, which he wins. He is nearly tempted to take a drink of celebratory champagne out of his cup, saved only by the arrival of the rest of the team who have been looking for him.

Character Naming

One of the original writers, Roy Mitchell, a supporter of the English football team West Bromwich Albion, named numerous characters after past and then-current players for the club in the first season. The three male characters of the programme, Halford, Lane and Standing, were named after the oldest stand ("The Halfords Lane Stand") at The Hawthorns football ground in West Bromwich.^[1] But it is worth noting that in the 1970s, James Bolam played a character called Jack Ford in When The Boat Comes In, written by James Mitchell, in which Susan Jameson also appeared.^[2]

Supporting characters

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Robert Strickland (Anthony Calf)
From the second series onwards, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Robert Strickland is the team's boss. He is a political animal who enjoys basking in the reflected glory of UCOS's clean up rate and his choice of cases is influenced by a desire to make his department look good.

Esther Lane (Susan Jameson)
Esther is Brian Lane's long-suffering wife. Esther and Brian met when he arrested her for attempting to steal a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover from a library. They have an adult son, Mark, who is rarely spoken about but was seen for the first time in the third episode of the second series, where they attend a football match of AFC Wimbledon. Susan Jameson, who plays Esther, is in real life married to co-star James Bolam.

PC Izzy Clark ("Clarkey") (Chiké Okonkwo)
PC Izzy Clark (First name is only mentioned in Episode 3 of Series 1) is assigned to the team to help them with their IT needs and administration, though he soon becomes a valued member of the team. He only appears in the pilot and first series.

Donald Bevan (Tim Woodward- pilot, Nicholas Day- series one)
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Donald Bevan is the team's boss during the first series. He knows both Jack Halford and Gerry Standing, and strongly opposed Standing's inclusion in the team, mainly due to the history between them. (It is later revealed that Gerry punched Bevan in the face and broke his jaw).

DCI Karen Hardwick (Lynda Bellingham, Series 4, 1 Episode) Brought in to replace Jack Halford, but made it clear she had no intention in doing so, retired at the end of the episode.

Recurring Characters

Grace Pullman (Sheila Hancock) Grace Pullman is Sandra Pullman's mother and the widow of Sandra's father, Gordon, who committed suicide by carbon monoxide inhalation. She appeared in two episodes in Series Four. In the first of those, her daughter was helping her choose a home to stay in, where a murder had recently been committed. Grace then became ill with Ménière's disease, but after the murder was solved, moved into the home. She next appeared in the last episode of the fourth series, where she had suffered a stroke, and it was then that Sandra found out the truth about her father's death. Grace appeared once in the fifth series, when Sandra wanted to find out more about her father's death.

Emily Driscoll (Hannah Waterman) Emily Driscoll is a trainee police officer who turned up on the doorstep of Gerry Standing saying she thinks he's her dad. However, unknown to her, he does a DNA test which proves he is not her biological father. He doesn't have the heart to tell her, and she continues to believe he is her dad. She appeared in five episodes - first in Series Three, the second time in Series Four a third time in Series Five, and then twice in Series Six. She realises in the first episode of series five that Gerry has lied to her when he gives evidence in court relating to Ricky Hanson, due to Gerry hesitating before saying that Emily was his daughter. She later ignores his phone calls to try to apologise to her. Emily is eager to be a great police officer like the man she believes to be her father and proves successful. Hannah Waterman, who plays Emily, is Dennis Waterman's real life daughter.

Ricky Hanson (David Troughton) Ricky Hanson is a career criminal and the man responsible for death of Jack's wife, Mary. He confessed this to Jack in the last episode of the third series, which finished on a cliffhanger, where Jack was about to run Hanson down in his car as Hanson had done to Mary. In the first episode of the fourth series, the cliffhanger resumed and Sandra, along with Gerry and Brian, slammed her car into Jack's in order to prevent the murder. Hanson remained unharmed, but all four of the UCOS team were hospitalised. Hanson returned later on in the episode disguised as a doctor. He went into the ward in which Jack and Brian were being kept, and, after muttering to Jack, "Jack... Jack... Say hello to the wife", he began to smother his nemesis with a pillow. Luckily, Brian, despite being on crutches and without sight in one eye, hit Ricky on the head, stopping him from smothering Jack. As Ricky was choking Brian, Jack picked up an oxygen cylinder and struck Hanson on the back of the head, knocking him out. Ricky was then arrested for attempted murder.
Hanson did not return until the first episode of the fifth series, where he stood trial for attempted murder. His shrewd representative Ian Figgis (James Fox) led the jury to think badly of the UCOS team while they gave evidence: Brian for his recovery of alcoholism and his OCD, Sandra for her occasional tendency to bend rules, and Gerry for incorrect use of forensic facilities within UCOS. When Hanson gave evidence himself, he lied to the court that he did not attempt to murder Jack Halford, that he bore no ill will towards Jack Halford. The jury gave the verdict that Hanson was not guilty, and he triumphantly left the court with a few of his criminal friends, all singing smugly at his not guilty verdict.
Jack disappeared after this, despite the efforts of Sandra, Gerry and Brian to keep him under friendly surveillance, and it was thought that he had left UCOS for good. Strickland even ordered Sandra to start interviewing possible replacements for Jack, but Brian was determined to get Jack back on the team, and managed to track him down. Jack felt unable to carry on in UCOS knowing Hanson had been let off with his wife's murder, but Brian persuaded him to return to the team to ensure other career criminals like Hanson would not be loose on the streets, and so Jack resumed working for UCOS again. Hanson returned in Series 6 when he was linked to the disappearance of two Anti-Fascist Activists, leading to renewed hope among UCOS of sending him down. They discovered from a former adversary that his son, Luke was in the car when he killed Mary. Though Luke initially denied this he admitted it when it was revealed that Ricky had had an incestuous relationship with his secret daughter. Ricky was arrested for Mary's murder, plus the murders of the two activists and various other crimes, making sure that Ricky's downfall was assured and he was sent to prison.

Frank Patterson (Phil Daniels) Short-tempered, old fashioned copper, mates with Gerry back in the day, separated on a bit of a rift over a woman. All sorted Patterson is interviewed over an investigation of the murder of two student activists. The investigation leads onto old rival Ricky Hanson and Patterson gives the team some off-hand insights on how to get Hanson behind bars, main factor to leading Hanson getting nicked for the murder of Jack's beloved wife Mary.Patterson returns to get the team to re-investigate an armed robbery and murder in the 80's,with a suspicion that a senior officer might have been tipping off the ringleader of the robbery for a small cut and conspiring to cover it up. They nail the bugger in the end and Gerry and Frank go out for an old fashioned, 'wild' knees up, night out on the town.

Guest stars

Guest stars have included:

Series

New Tricks began as a one-off episode, broadcast on 27 March 2003. This attracted a sufficient number of viewers for the BBC to commission a series of six episodes, which began on 1 April 2004. Subsequently eight-episode series were 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.^[3] 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, at that point.^[4] The fifth series continued this good run - it was the most watched programme in Britain for the week twice and the seventh episode gained the series' highest ever rating, of 9.36m - second only to the X Factor that week.^[5]

The fifth series began airing on 7 July 2008 and completed its run on 25 August. The sixth series finished location filming on 8 May 2009 in Central London and began airing on 16 July 2009.^[6] The opening episode of series six pulled in 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, pulling in 7.59 million.
Series 7 and 8 were commissioned by the BBC in September 2009, ensuring the show will run until 2011.^[7]

Music

The theme tune is a song called "It's Alright", written by Mike Moran and sung by cast member Dennis Waterman, whose penchant for singing the theme tune of productions in which he stars is the subject of a famous caricature in the BBC comedy show Little Britain. In the pilot for the series, Waterman sang the Traveling Wilburys song, "End of the Line".

I love the theme tune - brilliant.

Alun Armstrong	...	Brian Lane (57 episodes, 2003-2010)
Amanda Redman	...	Det. Supt. Sandra Pullman (57 episodes, 2003-2010)
Dennis Waterman	...	Gerry Standing (57 episodes, 2003-2010)
James Bolam	...	Jack Halford (57 episodes, 2003-2010)
Susan Jameson	...	Esther Lane (39 episodes, 2003-2010)
Anthony Calf	...	D.A.C. Strickland (33 episodes, 2005-2010)

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Friday, 25 March 2011

New Tricks