New Tricks-Series 9 (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Behind The Scenes Interviews-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	590:00 (Case: 603)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jon East Graham Theakston Jamie Payne Paul Seed
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Amanda Redman Alun Armstrong James Bolam Dennis Waterman Anthony Calf Denis Lawson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Nigel Hess Martin Phipps Rohan Stevenson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     New Tricks was first shown on the BBC in 2003 and is also shown locally on the ABC. So far, nine seasons of this series have been made and this three disc set includes the entire ninth season consisting of 10 one hour episodes. This ninth season is somewhat of a departure from the previous seasons and it is great to see an old stager trying something new.

     The premise of the show is that a high flying Detective Superintendent on the way up stuffed up a major case by blowing a kidnap rescue situation. Accordingly she was reassigned to start up a new squad to re-investigate old cases which need to be looked into for a variety of reasons. They are to be called UCOS - The Unsolved Case Squad. She took the job before realising that the 'squad' would be made up of three old retired detectives. In this season, the makeup of the squad changes with the exit of Jack Halford in episode 1, replaced by retired Scottish DI, Steve McAndrew (Denis Lawson) who is introduced in the 4th episode.

     Besides the change in the team, this season seems grittier and more substantial in terms of writing than some previous seasons, with interesting and potentially dangerous cases sometimes involving guest star Tim McInnerney as Intelligence agent, Stephen Fisher. The humour of previous seasons is still present but takes more of a back seat to the stories and cases. Strangely, Steve McAndrew is referred to as Steve McAllister on the back of the case.

     The main returning characters are:

• Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) - She is a tough cop who has been divorced and has great difficulty maintaining relationships. She learns a secret about her father during this series.
• Jack Halford (James Bolam) - He was once Pullman's mentor in the murder squad. He is now retired and his wife, Mary has died. He decides to retire permanently to France in Episode 1 of this new season.
• Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong) - An obsessive compulsive with a computer like memory for information. He has a long suffering wife, Esther.
• Gerry Standing (Dennis Waterman) - A top policeman in his time who left the force with suspicions that he was corrupt. He has three ex-wives and three daughters, one by each.
• DAC Strickland (Antony Calf) - The squad's boss who has over time become someone they have respect for, and he for them.

     This is an excellent English cop show which has been improved and reinvigorated by the addition of a new cast member and grittier stories. Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is good.

     The series is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

     The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout although the picture had a harshness to it at times perhaps driven by a reasonably low bitrate and some edge enhancement. Shadow detail was good without being spectacular.

     The colour was very good with no issues to report.

     From an artefacts perspective there was some MPEG grain at times, some mild blocking and some motion blur.

     There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack.

     Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

     The music includes two songs sung by Dennis Waterman and incidental music by Brian and Warren Bennett. Both do their job well.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Couple of small featurettes.

Menu

     The menu was still but included music and the ability to select episodes and subtitles.

New Cop on the Block (6:33)

     Denis Lawson & Dennis Waterman discuss the new character joining the show, the departure of James Bolam, their characters and working together. Not bad.

The Day of the Stunt (5:08)

     Behind the Scenes for the stunt sequences in Episode 9 including interview segments with the cast.

    This set is available in the same format in Region 2 and is not available in Region 1.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    Couple of minor extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall