New Tricks

Masonic from , 22nd November, 2009

What a great idea! A senoir female police officer being 'punished' for making a mistake is given three retired old-school coppers to try to solve years old crimes. You would have expected this ti have run out of steam by series 5, but this just gets better and better. The four main characterr, Sandra (Amanda Redman), Jack (James Bolam), Gerry (Dennis Waterman) and Brian (Alun Armstrong) are perfectly cast and make the characters believable. The storylines are clever and both funny and dramatic. Although it is difficult to pick a favourite character, Alun Armstrong excels in his role and, as always, plays his part with the utmost professionalism. A wonderful performance in every episode. Dennis Waterman is so well known and well loved and you could almost accept that his character is Carter, from the Sweeney days, now retired. No-one could play the part of Jack better than the great James Bolam. He brings irony and a slight bemusement to the part but still manages to let the viewer know that he is the one really in charge. Amanda Redman is one of the UK's great assets in the profession. Her wonderful acting and obvious enjoyment in doing it, comes across as a polished and very watchable perfomance in each episode. As if that isn't enough, she's slightly intimidating (in character) and naturally beautiful. A great team and a brilliant series. Long may it reamain so.

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