New Tricks: Series 7 (2010)

Jack, Brian, Sandra & Jerry

It pains me to say it, but I think that New Tricks has gone on long enough. Although it's a ratings juggernaut and it's always a nice easy watch, I think that the show has become a little tired. I didn't sit down to watch the latest series with the same anticipation, the plots seemed to have become uninvolving, the guest stars uninteresting, and they didn't do a lot with the main characters' development. 

I've enjoyed the adventures of UCOS, the Unsolved Crimes and Open cases Squad, particularly as the cast are all excellent actors: James Bolam and Dennis Waterman do surly and grumpy very well, Amanda Redman's been a favourite since At Home With the Braithwaites, and Alun Armstrong is worth watching whatever he's in. His Brian Lane is the highlight of the show, with his obsessive compulsive ways and photographic memory, and his long-suffering wife Esther, lovingly played by Susan Jameson, Bolam's real-life wife. 

Anne Reid & David Ryall in one of the stronger episodes

The banter between the leads is still the best bit of the show, with the mystery's proving mildly engaging at best, none of which are particularly memorable. New Trick's set up suffers from something Without a Trace doesn't - both programmes involve teams solving crimes that have happened up to many years ago, but where the US drama employs effective flashbacks to fill in the blanks, the British drama resorts to exposition. Because we never meet the murder victims, or many of the people involved in the unsolved crimes and open cases, it's up to Sandra and the team to keep reiterating to the viewer who's who and who did what. This can get wearing after a while, and sometimes I find it a struggle to keep up or care for a victim I only know from a photograph. 

After 7 series, New Tricks needs to shake things up. It's very much the antithesis of Spooks, a youthful, fast-paced, adrenaline ride, with innovative directing techniques that continues to fire on all cylinders, compared with New Tricks' old-fashioned look and feel, which was originally it's charm. In these days of HD TV (which I don't have) New Tricks looks grainy and past it. The cast still makes New Tricks an entertaining prospect, but it needs a Spooks producer to come in and be unafraid to inject some real jeopardy into the stories. Saying this, I'll probably still watch series 8.