New Tricks, Series Nine, Episode Four: The Girl Who Lived

We’re jumping in to New Tricks with Denis Lawson’s first episode, part-way through the ninth season. If you’d like a little bit of background about the show and the characters who we’ll meet, I’ve written up some introductions, but honestly—you could start here, and be fine. It’s a solid procedural, with excellent characters, great writing and some fab directing—for most of its run, it was a BBC flagship show and that shows in the production quality. This is a great introductory episode, where Steve McAndrew joins the team to investigate a case he failed to solve nine years ago: the disappearance of Georgia Wright.

About

The fourth episode of series nine of New Tricks (the first one containing Denis Lawson and therefore, the first relevant to this blog), ‘The Girl Who Lived’ aired 17th September 2012 on BBC One. The series was created by Roy Mitchell and Nigel McCrery and this episode was written by Roy Mitchell and directed by Matthew Evans.

It stars Denis Lawson as ‘Steve McAndrew’, Alun Armstrong as ‘Brian Lane’, Amanda Redman as ‘Sandra Pullman’ and Dennis Waterman as ‘Gerry Standing’. Guest starring this episode are Anthony Calf as ‘Robert Strickland’, Sean McGinley as ‘Ken Wright’, Daniel Ryan as ‘Barry Flint’ and Michelle Duncan as ‘Georgia Wright’. Readers will remember Sean McGinley for playing a grieving father in slightly different circumstances in The Ambassador: Cluster of Betrayals.

Availability: Available for purchase in the UK on DVD and digitally. Episodes also occasionally pop up on iPlayer, and television reruns are common—be aware that broadcast reruns are often cut down to fit in the hour timeslot with advertisements. Also available on DVD and digitally in the US.

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New Tricks: A Summary

New Tricks is a UK police procedural, based around one very simple premise: what if the Metropolitan Police used retired policemen to try and close unsolved cases? It ran for eight seasons without a major cast change until James Bolan left the show in 2012.

That would be where Denis Lawson comes in.

I’m of the firm belief that you can start watching the show with his first episode and you’ll be just fine—his character’s introduction means everything you need to know about everyone else in the show is explained as you go. I certainly watched it all completely out of order when I started and managed along just fine. But in case you’d like to know a little bit more about the show’s history and the characters we’ll be meeting, please read on. Continue reading “New Tricks: A Summary”

The Ambassador, Series One, Episode Six: Playing God

There’s trouble afoot as the threat level is raised at the British Embassy. The arrival of an MI6 officer throws forces John to reassess where his true loyalties lie, and Harriet has a difficult decision to make about the interests of a friend.

About

The sixth episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Playing God’, aired on the 8th February 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Christopher Russell and directed by Ken Grieve, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, and Alison McKenna as ‘Jennifer’. Additional guest stars this episode include Tom Connolly as ‘Sam Smith’, Sara Markland as ‘Becky’, Philip Jackson as ‘Douglas Milburn’ and Frederick Treves as ‘Sir Robert Beauchamp’.

Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD—currently in print from Simply Media as of 2016. Available digitally from Amazon in the United States—both series are included in Prime and are additionally available for purchase separately.

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The Ambassador, Series One, Episode Five: Trade

This week on The Ambassador, a British Minister gets himself into a spot of trouble and calls on John to sort the situation out. But things aren’t as simple as they seem, and John finds himself caught between covering up a crime and coming clean.

About

The fifth episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Trade’, aired on the 1st February 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Julian Jones and directed by Syd Macartney, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, Owen Roe as ‘Kevin Flaherty’, William Chubb as ‘Stephen Tyler’ and Alison McKenna as ‘Jennifer’. Additional guest stars this episode include Dominic Mafham as ‘Julian Wadham’, Michael Angelia as ‘David McNaughton’ and Su Lin Looi as ‘Lau’.

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