Customer Reviews

New Tricks: Series 6

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I've found this series so consistently entertaining through six series I decided to get Series One as a gift for a friend. I was amazed to find it's no longer offered on Amazon.com except as a "market place" item for the better part of $200. Went to the British Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) and got it for $16.06 though, of course, it's a Region 2 DVD and won't play on most American (Region 1) players. It will, however, play on many computers.

Just to be sure my friend would have no problems with it, I also got her an inexpensive Region Free player for Christmas. These range in price from $50 to $80. Now, if she wants further episodes, she can get the Region 2's at the British Amazon where they're cheaper than their American counterparts. In addition she'll have access to a whole new variety of costume dramas, comedies, mysteries, sci-fi, etc. that's generally better written, better acted and more engaging than what's on American TV.

For any who may be interested but are anxious about currency conversion -- when you go through the "checkout", you can easily select to have your purchase displayed in US Dollars.

UPDATE October 2011: Series 6 and 7 are both available at the British Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk), and series 8 will be available on November 11, 2011. Keep in mind these are Region 2's. If you have, or get, a Region Free player you'll find these dvd's cheaper at the Brit Amazon.

THIS SHOW SIMPLY NEVER GROWS OLD. OUR 3 RETIRED DETECTIVES ALONG WITH THEIR FEMALE BOSS ARE STILL DIGGING INTO PAST COLD CASES TRYING TO SOLVE THE MYSTERIES AND SECRETS THEY CONTAIN. THE ACTING AND WRITING HAS NEVER BEEN BETTER. WHAT A TREAT THIS SHOW IS.

Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman heads UCOS, solving previously unsolved crimes from the past. Her team consists of three ex-policemen who for various reasons all opted for early retirement.

If you enjoy "Midsommer Murders", "Pie in the Sky", "Foyle's War", or "A Touch of Frost", you'll enjoy these clever mysteries with a minimum of violence, almost no gore and no sex scenes. The rapport between the characters is exceptional and their ages allow them to bring a fresh perspective to their work.

In the sixth series, the "New Tricks" team members continue to bend the rules, use their own methods and test Strickland's patience to the limits. This time out, the detectives continue to face their demons in both their private and professional lives. More than ever, they pull together and support one another.

Series 6 consists of 8 episodes on 3 disks. This series is currently not available in the U. S. in a Region 1 NTSC version. These are REGION 2 PAL DISKS. PLEASE BE CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE A REGION 2 OR REGION-FREE DVD PLAYER CAPABLE OF CONVERTING PAL SIGNAL TO NTSC.

One-liners and humorous expressions roll faster than finding clues in this fast-paced but retirement age police team. DS Pullman (Amanda Redman-Little Dorrit) guides 3 ex-cops on unsolved crime & open cases (UCOS). This team's personalities & relationships make this award-winning fun. Pullman tough, realistically slightly overweight, but yet sexy. Brian (Alun Armstrong-Garrow's Law: Series One) is an old alcoholic, tech nerd with a photographic memory. Jack (James Bolam-The Beiderbecke Tapes) a widower of a murdered spouse, & Gerry (Dennis Waterman-`Sweeney') aging playboy. DAC Strickland (Anthony Calf-`Upstairs Downstairs') is their often antagonistic boss. And we must mention Brian's wife Esther (Susan Jameson-`The Queen' and voice for Catherine Cookson audios). Expect first name familiarity in New Tricks, like in a family series. They are a cop family. Episodes always have a difficult past crime, plus personal issues of the UCOS team. You will laugh through the sleuthing efforts.

Bonus is a 19 min Behind the Scenes, an awesome sound documentary-effects, music, dialogue; and the bonus has subtitles too.
SUBTITLES are available for all 8 episodes loaded with guest stars
1 The War Against Drugs: Brian's in a monk rehab-last chance to save his marriage & life. He stumbles upon a 9-yr unsolved clinic death. Richard Wilson plays Fr. Bernard without once saying "I Can't Believe it!" (One Foot in the Grave). Br. Raymond by Malcolm Storry. Anna is Fay Ripley (Reggie Perrin Set 1).

2 Death of a Timeshare Salesman: Confession of ex-hooker Alice (Naomi Bentley) reopens a case. Suicide could be murder. Does Widow Pam Scott (Claire Rushmore) know more than first reported?

3 The Truth Is Out There: Ex-cop Brooker, with an ex-wife Cheryl (Glynis Barber), failed proving an unusual case. Was a journalist killed by Americans to stop exposure of a UFO crash? Murder? Air Base Col Norton (Michael Brandon) denies all. Raquel Cassidy plays a lover, Mark Rice-Oxley (Land Girls Series 2) ex-airman.

4 Shadow Show: Internet posted clip, Shadow Show, appears long after the producer was fatally scissor stabbed and leading lady Eva (Imogen Stubbs) disappeared. Dir Maddox (Stanley Townsend) offers little help. Then another suspicious death. Hannah Waterman appears here and in #5 as Emily, a cop. She's real-life daughter of Dennis playing Gerry.

5 The Last Laugh: 2 political activists disappeared 25 yr ago. A niece gets UCOS searching sexist/racist comedian Ray (John Henshaw) and a Nazi supporter group infiltration. Clues lead to a cop (Phil Daniels), Ricky Hanson (David Trougnton) who ran over Jack's wife, and his son Luke (Joe Absolom-Doc Martin). Doc Martin: Series 4 is a must view.

6 Fresh Starts: Gerry helps Fleeting (Samuel West) search for his wife-18 mo dead. UCOS exhumes into a puzzling case. Brian has different problems. Also see Hugh Dennis, Georgina Leonidas (Harry Potter), and Daisy Beaumont.

7 Blood Is Thicker Than Water: UCOS stumbles into an old case where a riverboat accident (5 deaths) may have been sabotage. The boss's friend Dudley (Clive Francis-The Queen) and team see a fight involving the daughter of Neville (Rob Spendlove) blamed for the accident. A victim's son and wife, Carole (Barbara Flynn) are questioned.

8 Meat Is Murder: Best episode of the series with woven intrigue and surprise. A butcher's dissected body is discovered 33 yrs after another body was found handing in his shop's freezer. Cold blooded murder? David Calder & Christopher Fulford as Gerry's cousins, Jan Harvey as Dr. Carson, Diana Quick (Brideshead Revisited) as widow of the victim, and Tom (Jo Stone-Fowlings).

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I am very happy with this edition of new tricks. A good cop story told by retired sometimes funny people.

After Six Seasons - and still going - this team of British Detectives still keep me in stitches. The BEST and SMARTEST Television detective show ever!

If you've clicked on this review knowing that it is the SIXTH season for this absolutely fabulous BBC detective series, then you have probably watched the previous five seasons. If not, I recommend that you go back and find Season One and start from the beginning. There are two reasons for this: 1) Though each 55-minute episode (unlike the US, the BBC is non-commercial and does not insert commercials in its shows) contains a different crime to be solved, the four main characters' lives evolve over the run of the show. And 2) You'll be missing some great acting in the earlier episodes.

As I said in my reviews of previous season's DVDs, "This may be the best TV series ever - in my opinion." Thanks to Acorn Media in the US, this volume (Season Six) is available in the US as NTSC format, these were the episodes aired in the UK in 2009 but they don't seem dated at all.

These episodes are like potato chips, you can't stop devouring them once you have started. (But these shows are healthier for you than those chips - or "crisps" if you are in the UK).

The last moments of the last show in Season Five did not provide the "cliff hanger" in that ended Season Four but the series still carries through with certain plot threads. Though the guy who killed Jack's wife was revealed and captured in the previous Season he returns in the plot. So does Jerry's daughter - played by actor Dennis Waterman's real life daughter.

One of the episodes this season takes place at the studio where the James Bond films are made and film buffs will get a kick out of that one.

I will not go into the plots of the episodes - they are detailed elsewhere, though I highly recommend that you don't read them in advance. Even when watching I skip the "plot outline" shown at the beginning. It's more fun to "let it happen".

While a few of the plots in this volume get a bit too confusing - I find it makes me play them again to see how the crime - usually a murder - took place. But these crimes are only there for the four lead actors to use their own unique personalities and expertise to work together. If there is an underlying theme here it is "teamwork works!:.

Like the end of Season Dive , this volume ends with a fairly emotional episode that will stick with you for days after watching it.. Whenever I finish a Season of this show I go through "New Tricks" withdrawal, knowing that it will be another six months before the next season appears on DVD. But since the show is already into Series Eight on British TV, Acorn should be releasing Series Seven in Fall 2012 soon. (I'll try to post a note when I know the date.)

UNLIKE the first four seasons, there is a "bonus feature" this time. (There was one on Season Five also ). This time it's a 19-minute "Behind the Scenes" featurette about the "sound crew" and the music used in the film. The show's composer - assisted by his son for some of the music - was a member of The Shadows, Brit-rocker Cliff Richard's backing band and worked with film composer John Barry!

So keep on buying this series so that Acorn will keep releasing them. And "Thank you Acorn" for giving us in the US a chance to see one of the best shows on TV.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Once again, Season six (6) of "New tricks" entertained me greatly. On three (3) discs, I was entertained for hours by this superbly written, directed and acted series.

Once again Sandra Pullman (brilliantly acted by Amanda Redman) is a "short-fused" and at times hysterically funny boss of three (3) retired but very good detectives that solve some horrendous "cold cases". The three (3) retired detectives are not the easiest bunch to work with being not so politically correct, having personal problems (I.e., alcoholism, many wives, deep sense of loss at the death of a loved one trying to communicate with the departed, etc) and a refusal to embrace new technology sticking with old methods (their way) to solve the "cold cases". (Although, in Season Six, two of the geezers are relying a great deal more on computers). That said, this "cold case" team in Season six (6) solve some wonderful and highly mysterious "cold cases" most brilliantly.

I am a severe fan of "New Tricks" and after viewing Season six (6), I look forward to future seasons.

My husband and I enjoy New Tricks very much. Very entertaining and love the characters and the way they usually end.

My husband and I are both great fans of British mysteries and drama, in general; however, New Tricks is, as the name implies, a new take on an old, established formula. We find it completely engaging. The premise is based on the strong female lead of Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, played with depth, subtlety, and humor by Amanda Redman. She's gotten herself into a lot of trouble with her bosses after her gung-ho attitude turned a sensitive operation into a big embarrassment for the Met. As a result, Pullman is reassigned to head up a new cold cases unit. No doubt her superiors regard this not only as a humbling punishment for the headstrong Pullman, but also as a way to sideline her until she fades into obscurity. Cost cutting considerations also rear their head and Pullman is told she may staff her new unit only with retired cops -- it's much cheaper for the Met. After a dispiriting series of interviews, she finally pulls together her new team of old duffers -- and they are a marvelous, quirky, irascible, lovable bunch of characters. James Bolam, Dennis Waterman, and Alun Armstrong -- wonderful, veteran actors all -- portray their characters with superb ability Over the course of the series, these often cantankerous personalities (and that includes the younger Pullman) forge not only an effective and successful team, but a caring bond of professional camaraderie and deep, personal friendship. They come to each other's aid as each suffers set-backs, illnesses, and crises in their private lives -- all of them have been wounded, either physically or mentally -- as a result of their jobs. Ironically, it's their return to the job that helps to save them all. Precisely because of their flaws and their sometimes awkward ways of dealing with each other, these characters resonate humanity, courage, and credibility. Lest this sound like a grim viewing experience, I can assure you, it is not -- there is a great deal of gentle humor in each episode. I realize I haven't actually touched upon the mystery element of this show. Of course, there are a series of cold cases that the team must tackle and, by using their more "old fashioned," traditional policing methods, the team manages to rack up an impressive success rate. These cases often involve timely issues, are well-plotted, and keep the viewer guessing until the end. This series has it all -- it is a complete recipe for viewing enjoyment. Highly recommended.