Thu 8 Oct 2020
A British TV Episode Review: NEW TRICKS “The Chinese Job†(2003).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[12] Comments
NEW TRICKS “The Chinese Job.†BBC, 23 March 2003. 90m. Amanda Redman, James Bolam, Alun Armstrong, Dennis Waterman. Guest Cast: Jon Finch, Jill Baker. Created by Roy Mitchell and Nigel McCrery. Screenplay by Roy Mitchell. Director: Graham Theakston.
“The Chinese Job†was the pilot for this long-running TV program, being shown one year before the series began. It was on for 12 seasons, with most if not all of the original cast having moved on before it finished. I think the basic premise, one that even younger viewers could relate to, is one that suggests that older people need not be put out to pasture, so to speak, even though they’ve retired. And, even more, and simply put, they can learn new tricks.
It begins at first as mostly a public relations gimmick, but the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (or UCOS for short), a division within London’s Metropolitan Police Service tasked with re-investigating unsolved crimes. Headed by a fully active superintendent slash supervisor, three ex-detectives are brought in, as civilians to begin working on such cases. To wit (copying and pasting liberally from Wikipedia):
Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) (2003–2013): Sandra is the head of the unit. She was an up-and-coming officer in Greater London’s Metropolitan Police Service until the shooting of a dog during a hostage rescue, which is a running joke during the early series. Her career consequently stalled and she is made to take charge of UCOS, initially against her will.
John ‘Jack’ Halford (Ex-Detective Chief Superintendent) (James Bolam) (2003–2012, 2013): The highest-ranking retired officer on the team, and the first to be approached by Sandra when setting up UCOS, Jack Halford is the unofficial second-in-command. He is Sandra’s mentor on numerous occasions, having been her boss on the murder squad.
Brian Lane (Ex-Detective Inspector) (Alun Armstrong) (2003–2013): Brian ‘Memory’ Lane is an exceptional detective, possessing a keen attention to detail and a remarkable instant recall memory for obscure details regarding cases and officers who investigated them. Brian is socially inept and eccentric, a recovering alcoholic with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Gerry Standing (Ex-Detective Sergeant) (Dennis Waterman) (2003–2015): He is nicknamed “Last Man Standing”, because of his refusal to take backhanders (bribes) when his squad were paid off by a gangster. A ‘Jack the lad’, Gerry is an old-school police officer. He was a ‘thief-taker’, who passionately enjoyed catching criminals, but nevertheless mixed easily with them, leading to allegations of corruption. Although he always denied this, he quit before he could be disciplined.
The case they first get their teeth into is that of a mob boss (Jon Finch) who’s already served twenty years for killing a young girl, but who has now been freed on a technicality. UCOS’s charge: find additional, untainted evidence that he really did do it. The problem: the more they investigate, the more apparent it seems that he did not do it. That he was framed, and worse, by the chief investigator in charge at the time.
I’m not sure how it happened this way, but I’d already watched seasons three, four and five, before I got back to this one, but in a way, I’m glad I did. It was quite fascinating to see the contrast, but looking backward, not forward. How it was when the squad began, when most of them did not know each other, nor their various strengths and weaknesses, and above all, their foibles – and how to get along together. In all likelihood, the writers for the show did not know exactly where they were going, either, not where they would be two or three seasons yet to come.
In this the pilot episode, quite a bit of it has to do with how these three retired gents learn what new toys – computers, DNA sampling and the like – they now have at their disposal, while they continue with their old ways of bending rules when they need to to get the results they want – while not really breaking them. All the while Sandra, their nominal boss, finds out very quickly that herding cats is not the easiest job in the world.
By the time I started watching the series, the Squad was working like a well-oiled machine. Here in the pilot they were still working the kinks out, and I enjoyed watching it happen.
October 9th, 2020 at 5:29 am
I agree with you. We liked the series enough to watch it, start to finish. Only Dennis Waterman stayed all the way through to the last series, though even he “retired” before the end. Another running gag with him was his various ex-wives and daughters turning up from time to time.
The replacement detectives over the years were played by Denis Lawson, then Nicholas Lyndhurst, and finally Larry Lamb, with Tamzin Outhwaite replacing Amanda Redman. Anthony Calf came in as the unit’s boss Robert Strickland, though he wasn’t in every episode. According to the Wikipedia count, the ones who appeared in most episodes were:
Waterman 99
Redman 84
Armstrong 80
Bolam 69
Calf 64
October 9th, 2020 at 10:58 am
Thanks, Jeff. It will take me a while — I have a lot of catching up to do — but I’m planning to watch them all also.
And for reference purposes, to put the episode count into perspective, there were a total of 107 in all.
October 9th, 2020 at 1:19 pm
This is a favorite series of several of my friends.
I have only seen a few episodes. Particularly liked an episode about libraries:
It Smells of Books (2010)
October 9th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
Since that one’s Episode 2 of Season 7, it will be a while before I get to that one, unless I decide to start jumping around again. I’ll keep it in mind, though.
In general, I find the mysteries above average, but seldom outstanding. It’s the characters themselves, and the interplay between them, that puts this series in a Must Watch category for me.
October 9th, 2020 at 4:01 pm
Yes, for most of its run in Australia it was the ABC’s most popular series. Generally the last three seasons weren’t as good as the earlier ones, but even then there would be individual episodes that were really good. Also watching the first or pilot episode after you’ve been watching a show for a while is something I like to do. It’s fascinating for the reasons mentioned.
October 9th, 2020 at 4:38 pm
In the early part of this centruy we watched some of these, and while they were diverting, not compelling enough to seek out more.
October 9th, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Armstrong is a selling point in just about anything.
October 9th, 2020 at 7:05 pm
Yes indeed. I am watching PRIME SUSPECT: TENNISON at the moment in which he plays a hardened criminal and out-and-out bounder. You’d hardly believe it’s the same actor.
October 10th, 2020 at 7:03 am
I, too, watched all the episodes of New Tricks and enjoyed them. I always, though, felt a nagging disappointment that the dark undertones of the pilot were mainly rejected in favour of a more comedic approach.
October 10th, 2020 at 9:13 am
I’ve had the same reaction too. Not often, but every once in a while. The comedic approach worked well for them, and I’m happy they took that direction, but on occasion I felt let down when they didn’t follow through on how I thought the same episode on LAW & ORDER (say) might have gone.
October 10th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Let’s not forget Armstrong’s theater work, including originating the role of Thenardier in LES MISERABLES, plus playing SWEENEY TODD in London, among many others.
Susan Jameson, who played Brian’s wife in the series, is married in real life to co-star James Bolam.
January 14th, 2021 at 8:31 am
Three retired policemen brought back to solve old unsolved crimes does not sound like a promising long running serial. This feature length pilot is a cracking start to what is one of the great long running programs of British television. The end title song sung by Dennis Waterman (End of the line by The Travelling Wilburys) confirms that the theme song for New Tricks was an homage. DS Sandra Pullman’s fast track career is derailed when a Chinese kidnap rescue goes wrong as a dog is shot dead and the victim jumps out of the window in all the commotion. Just watch when the police tells everyone to put their hands up, even the cockerel raises its feet. Pullman has now been put in charge of a new unit to focus on unsolved cases. Her first recruit is her mentor and old boss, Jack Halford. After finding that many decent retired cops are dead they settle on Brian Lane, a former alcoholic with depression who retired after a prisoner in his custody died and Gerry Standing, who was always regarded as bent with so many ex-wives to maintain and known for cutting corners. They investigate the wrongful imprisonment of Roddy Wringer, freshly released after 21 years in prison when one of the officers on his case is found to have been corrupt. Sandra is expected to prove that Wringer did kill the victim but their investigations turn out to be more murky. What makes the pilot episode work is the chemistry and humour between the four main players and seeing old school policemen working inside the modern Metropolitan police with their crafty techniques. The episode balances humour and drama. The mystery is complex enough with plenty of different leads uncovered and it is multi layered with story lines that would be explored in future episodes.