New Tricks-Series 10 (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Behind The Scenes Featurette-Making Of Filmographies-Cast Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	590
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
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, ten seasons of this series have been made and this three disc set includes the entire tenth season consisting of 10 one hour episodes. This tenth season continues with the changes started in Season 9 without losing the quality that this show has had since it started. According to what I read Season 11 is on the way.

     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 Brian Lane in episode 4, replaced by retired DI, Dan Griffin (Nicholas Lyndhurst) who is introduced in the 5th episode. He is a quite different character and adds a new flavour to the squad. Late in the series Sandra Pullman makes a big decision about her future which brings DCI Sasha Miller (Tamzin Outhwaite) to the team.

     Besides the change in the team, this season features the first double episode of the entire series and is also the first episode set outside the UK, in Gibraltar. That double episode is excellent and kicks off this series in style. The fourth episode where Brian moves on is also excellent, involving Esther in the case and the rest of the series is of the usual high quality.

     The main returning characters are:

• Det Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) - She is a tough cop who has been divorced and has great difficulty maintaining relationships.
• Steve McAndrew (Denis Lawson) - Retired Scottish DI Steve McAndrew, introduced in Season 9.
• 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 over the last couple of seasons by the addition of new cast members 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 it was effected by some of the artefacts mentioned below. Shadow detail was good without being spectacular.

     The colour was very good although there was some chroma noise at times.

     From an artefacts perspective there was some MPEG grain at times 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.

     These DVDs contain 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

     Small selection of extras.

Menu

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

Behind the Scenes (13:36)

     This featurette focuses on the two actors leaving the show after 10 years, Amanda Redman and Alun Armstrong with some behind the scenes footage. Worth watching.

New Tricks in Gibraltar (9:57)

     A featurette on the double episode which starts the series which was the first outside the UK and the first double episode. Worth watching.

Cast Filmographies

     Selected filmographies for the main cast in text screens.

Photo Gallery (1:20)

     Stills from the series.

    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.

    A few minor extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall