Can You Teach an Old Dog Brand New Tricks (New Tricks)

Member Name: chris212

Product:	New Tricks
Date:	15/07/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good, quality drama

Disadvantages: Not many produced in a series

New Tricks is a detective show with a slight twist, as the majority of the cast are now retired police officers that are working on cold case files. This is the reason that the show has been given the title 'New Trick', as it comes out of the saying that you cannot teach and old brand new tricks.

The main cast include Amanda Redman as the head of the unit as Detective Sandra Pullman, who is best described as a career character that is dedicated to the police force, who is initially does things by the books and was a higher flyer and initially did not want to run UCOS (Unsolved Crimes and Open case Squad).

James Bolam plays Jack Halford, a character that could almost be described as an unofficial second in command of the unit, as the character was previously the boss of Pullman and she often looks to Halford for advice. I am not sure what to make of this character, as at times he seems like a sweet grandfather character, and at other times a police officer that wields too much power for his own good.

Next there is Dennis Waterman character Gerry Standing, who is the more older type police character, that is best described as Waterman character in the Sweeney that has grown old, but still works for the police. Although he may seem it, he is not a corrupt character, as shown in many episodes that he was the only officer in his unit when he was a police officer not to take a bribe. Waterman also does his usual trick with this show, as he sings the theme tune, which I actually think is quite good. I actually like this character as it arcs back to the old traditional police character of the Sweeney and shows just how the old type have had to move and adapt to modern policing.

Finally there is the Brian Lane played by Alun Armstrong. This is the odd character of the bunch, in that he as exception recall and suffers from OCD, which has shaped the traits of the character. What this does is create a character that at times can be annoying and at the same time endearing. Although the character does have a problem with alcohol which was brought to the forefront with the conclusion of series 5 and is expect to continue into the next series.

Usually an episode revolves around a case that has either been brought to the attention of one of the member so the team or has media significants attached to it. Although the three are retired police officers, they almost act as if they are still police officers, I suppose like most real life police offers do. Although new methods of the police are brought in, it is still the old fashion methods of the three retired officers that usually brings the result in the case.

One of the criticisms that could be labelled at the programme is that in each run, there are not a large number episodes produced, which is annoying as this is a good programme.

Overall I would definitely recommend the programme as it is one of the best detective programme on TV at the moment, although the show is not entirely a detective show: as the programme also revolves around the relationship between the four and their each individual home lives. What this makes is an excellent drama programme that is fun to watch.

The new series of the show currently starts on Thursday 16th July.

Summary: Would definately recommend worth watching