On the New Tricks good news/bad news front….
For fans of the BBC series, New Tricks, it was welcome news recently that the series had been commissioned for an additional two seasons to be broadcast in 2012 and 2013. For those unfamiliar with the series, New Tricks stars an unconventional bunch of old school ex-coppers brought out of retirement to work on unsolved and open cases. They may be eccentric, bend the rules, follow their hunches and ignore procedure, but they get results. After 8 seasons, the series still reaches approximately 10 million viewers in the UK (36% share) and, at times, is the most watched program of the week so the decision to film two more seasons was, hopefully, a no-brainer.
That’s the good news. Now for the dose of medicine that follows the doughnut…
The BBC announced today that when the series returns for filming this Fall, James Bolam, pictured above 3rd from left behind Amanda Redman, will leave that cast. “We are very sorry to see him go, but fully understand that the time and commitment involved in filming are quite considerable,” says New Tricks executive producer, Richard Burrell. “We are in talks with James about him returning for one episode next year. We are very excited about the return of the rest of the cast.”
Look for season 8 to appear on public television stations in the United States in early 2012 and keep fingers crossed for seasons 9 & 10 down the road. FYI, next time you watch a NT episode, watch for this little-known New Tricks factoid. The theme song, written by Mike Moran, is actually sung by Dennis Waterman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzVm_jh8AkA
