New Tricks - Series 7 episode guide
Amanda Redman, Alun Armstrong, James Bolam and Dennis Waterman return to BBC One in September for a seventh season of New Tricks, the drama following a team of ex-policeman brought out of retirement to investigate unsolved cases from the past.
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> Catch up with our Series 6 episode guide.
Episode 1: Dead Man Talking
Friday 10th September 2010
When psychic Sebastian Carter reveals to his client, Vicky Anderson, that there is some unfinished business surrounding her father's death, the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad (UCOS) reluctantly reopens the investigation.
Douglas Anderson, a wealthy financier based in Hong Kong before retiring back in the UK, died of a heart attack after disturbing an intruder and an ensuing struggle at his home two years ago. On the surface, Anderson appears to have been a well-respected and honourable man who even took in his friend, John Plummer's, daughter Penny when Plummer was imprisoned for a multi-million-pound fraud in Hong Kong.
Deeply sceptical of Carter's "gift", Pullman attends a consultation with Vicky. Far from walking away believing Carter is a con man, Pullman is spooked when he challenges her about a conflict in her own personal life involving her newly discovered brother, Tom. The boys are less convinced by Carter's credentials and are keen to prove that his knowledge of unreleased details surrounding Anderson's death is less to do with his ability to connect with the spirit world and more likely down to cold guess-work.
With doubt being cast over the conclusion of the original investigation that the burglary at Anderson's home was random, the team digs deeper into his business affairs. They discover he and his family left Hong Kong under a cloud with unproven allegations linking him to the fraud for which Plummer was incarcerated. The millions were never recovered and, when Plummer died in prison, Anderson became Penny's legal guardian. With a second burglary attempt on the Anderson house, the team think they've found a motive but they're still missing a suspect and, indeed, the money. Could Plummer have confided in his estranged daughter, Penny, or his cellmate, Simon Beswick, before his death?
Episode 2: It Smells Of Books
Friday 17th September 2010
Having been barred from his noisy, disorderly public library for causing a disturbance, Brian Lane finds solace in the old-fashioned, respectful and tranquil surroundings of The London Library. When he discovers that a membership card is listed among the personal affects of a cold case victim, he wastes no time volunteering to go undercover there.
The Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad (UCOS) reinvestigate the death of university professor Dr Richard Symes, who died falling from the roof of his college three years ago. As Lane relishes his relocation to The London Library, immersing himself in Symes's specialist field of the history and philosophy of science, Pullman and Standing visit Symes's widow, Paula.
An antiquarian bookseller, Paula is less than happy about the case being reopened. She is, however, keen to point out that while she believes her husband committed suicide, she blames college principal Jeremy Ventham for pushing him to the brink. A conflict of old and new teaching methods saw Ventham axing Symes's department, shutting down the college library and forcing Symes into early retirement.
However, when Halford visits the scene of Symes's death and speaks to Ventham, he learns that the early retirement package was merely a polite way of sacking Symes after discovering he was caught stealing books from the college library. But why would a man so passionate about books and their importance in education steal them? Could Paula's business have benefited from the thefts?
Lane is finding that life as an academic at The London Library isn't all reading, researching and quiet contemplation. He becomes distinctly uneasy in his peaceful retreat when Symes's former colleagues, retired college lecturers Jasper and Sophie Urquhart, take an unhealthy interest in him and his reading material.
Episode 3: Left Field
Friday 24th September 2010
Notorious paedophile John Davies admits to the abduction and murder of a five-year-old boy, 25 years ago. UCOS are so suspicious of Davies's motives that they find themselves in the unusual situation of reopening the case to prove his innocence.
John Davies has only recently been released from prison and is struggling to adapt to life outside. His confession appears to be an attempt to return to the relative safety of a prison cell.
Five-year-old Yasser Blackledge disappeared while on a demonstration with his parents, left-wing activists Anne Gorton and Fred Blackledge. At the time, a media "witch hunt" against Anne and Fred clouded the investigation and, while John Davies was known to the couple through various freedom rallies and meetings, it couldn't be proven that he had abducted their son.
Fred and Anne separated shortly after Yasser went missing and, while they both followed different paths, they are clearly still living with the guilt of what happened that day. Is John Davies telling the truth or does someone closer to home know what really happened to Yasser?
Episode 4: Dark Chocolate
Thursday 30th September 010
When a recent rape at a bakery is linked to two similar attacks at a chocolate factory 10 years previously, the UCOS team reopen all three unsolved cases. However, they find themselves stretched to the limit as they discover an unreported murder during the course of their investigation.
Helen Vestry was attacked a year ago at the bakers where she works. As with the attacks on Jean Saunders and Eileen Harrison at the Pyramid Chocolate Factory, Helen didn't see her attacker but recalls his distinct smell. While Helen has succeeded in moving on and not allowing her attacker to ruin her life further, the two other victims haven't been so fortunate. Jean Saunders has since died of cancer and when the team visit Eileen they discover a virtual recluse whose life appears to have stopped since the attack.
Factory boss Duncan Miller describes his business as "one big happy family". However, when Gerry Standing and Brian Lane speak to factory supervisor Tilly Shaw and her volatile husband Mick it is clear that Miller runs anything but a happy ship. With two rapes at the factory within a week of each other, Mick blames Miller for cutting back on security to save money. He claims that Miller put the factory girls' safety at risk, and when Tilly reveals that a third employee, Nisha Kumar, committed suicide four months after the attacks, the team fears she could have been another victim.
There is yet more scandal associated with Miller's "happy" factory. The team discovers that production was ceased on Pyramid's biggest-selling brand, the Nudger bar, when a severed finger was found in one. With all staff, visitors and contract workers DNA tested during the original investigation, how could a serial rapist have slipped through the net? And whose finger nearly destroyed the company's reputation?
Meanwhile, after a visit to his doctor Gerry decides to give up smoking. Eschewing self-help books and patches, Gerry takes the alternative approach of enlisting a "fag buddy", someone sympathetic who can support and encourage him. She may not seem the natural choice, but Sandra Pullman is delighted to help. Wheezing and highly irritable, it's only a matter of time before Gerry's resolve is tested, with almost disastrous consequences.
Episode 5: Good Morning Lemmings
Friday 8th October 2010
The team reinvestigate the death of celebrated graffiti artist Danny "Flak" Tyler when graffiti claiming "I Killed Flak" starts appearing in different London locations – including where Danny's body was found four years ago.
Originally part of graffiti gang the Maze Crew, Danny went solo, hitting the big time when wealthy art patron Sir David Bryant decided to support his work. Danny's departure from the Maze Crew and his subsequent success caused tensions within the gang which led to them disbanding shortly after he left. But could one of the gang have held a big enough grudge to have killed him?
Pullman and Halford visit Sara Hamlyn's gallery where she is holding a retrospective exhibition of Danny's work. His death has sent prices for his canvases rocketing with individual pieces fetching more than £200,000. Sir David Bryant appears to have been his greatest investor, but recent financial problems have forced him to sell all but two of Danny's works. Every picture tells a story and it is Danny's elusive final painting which could provide the team with the answer to his death.
Meanwhile, Brian Lane proves you're never too old to "tweet" when he embraces the popular phenomenon of social networking via Twitter. Giving himself the unlikely tag of TopCop999, he keeps his followers up to date with regular instalments on the life of a gritty detective. However, TopCop999's latest hobby isn't going down well in the office.
Episode 6: Fashion Victim
Friday 15th October 2010
A retrospective exhibition of the late fashion designer Ritchie Levene's work prompts the team to reinvestigate his murder. Since Ritchie was stabbed to death at his 40th birthday party three years ago, his ex-wife Sarah has been campaigning for the case to be reopened and uses the exhibition to increase pressure.
Ritchie was a brilliant designer, but he wasn't a businessman. He left his financial affairs in the hands of his brother Adrian, who ultimately inherited the company on Ritchie's death. While Ritchie's relationship with his brother was tempestuous his other personal relationships were equally challenging. Ritchie's new wife Alison's junkie ex-boyfriend had moved in with them; his PA, Melanie, was infatuated with him; and his ex-wife Sarah was struggling to come to terms with the end of their marriage.
Sarah makes it clear to the team that she believes there can be only one outcome to their investigation – the arrest of her former brother-in-law Adrian. He certainly had the most to gain from his brother's death – professionally and personally – but is Adrian really a cold-blooded killer?
The world of high fashion isn't the most natural environment for three ageing ex-coppers, but the case has a surprising affect on Gerry. Enlisting Emily's help, he decides it's time to update his image, the results of which aren't to everyone's taste.
Episode 7: Where There's Smoke
Friday 22nd October 2010
The UCOS team are drawn into a serious criminal underworld when they reopen the investigation into a fatal fire at Ealing's Union Club in 1996. Originally ruled as accidental, new information from Dawn Abbott, one of the club's former employees, suggests that the fire was a targeted arson attack. But since Dawn is volunteering this information having just been arrested on a drugs offence, the team are suspicious of her motives.
Among those killed by the fire was Mark Johnson, well-known to Gerry Standing for running a shady family business. Dawn tells Sandra Pullman and Gerry that death threats had been made against Johnson just days before the fire. While the original investigation concluded that the spread and intensity of the blaze was caused by flammable materials left in a room by decorator Derek Ross, Dawn is certain the room had been cleared before the fire.
Mark's brother Karl is pleased the team are re-examining the case but would prefer that they leave the dispensing of justice to him. It is probably this knowledge that encourages all involved with the fire to keep their recollections to themselves, no matter how badly scarred by the event.
Faced by a wall of silence, the team consider the case from a forensic perspective. When they take counsel from the original fire investigator, George Mackie, it triggers an explosive sequence of events.
Episode 8: Coming Out Ball
Friday 29th October 2010
In 1983, at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy British arms manufacturer was abducted from the season's Debutante's Ball and held to ransom. At the time, a dissident Irish Republican group, the Republican Front, took responsibility for the abduction, but – despite the ransom being paid – Barbara Linden-Warner was never returned to her family and her body never recovered, leaving her father a broken man.
UCOS reopen the case when Fintan MacEntee, former leader of the Republican Front, claims they weren't actually involved in Barbara's kidnap, but saw it as an opportunity to raise their profile. The team are deeply suspicious of the timing and motive of such an admission since Fintan is currently on the campaign trail, having reinvented himself as a politician and man of peace, but nevertheless decide to pursue the case. They investigate whether the late Sir Kenneth Linden-Warner's business activities could have made Barbara a target, and if she had any enemies within her close circle of friends.
Barbara's mother, Lady Elizabeth, is still distraught by her daughter's disappearance and while Barbara's brother, Michael, seems to have loved his sister, he also appears to have had the most to gain from her going missing, most notably taking control of the family business. Lady Elizabeth reveals that Barbara was the apple of her father's eye and paints a picture of a happy debutante attending her first ball with her very suitable boyfriend, Greg, and friends Amy and Kate. Life was perfect. But the team discover there is one person, Sir Kenneth's suffocatingly loyal PA Miss Jones, who was privy to the darker side of the family's affairs.
Episode 9: Gloves Off
Friday 5th November 2010
The UCOS team reinvestigate the murder of a talented young boxer when the gun used to kill him is discovered at the scene of an armed robbery 15 years later.
Twenty-one-year-old Eddie Mayfair was shot dead one week after a victorious fight that left his opponent, Milton Joseph, seriously injured and unable to continue his boxing career. Milton was considered to be the chief suspect, but as UCOS delve deeper they discover a darker side to professional boxing in a case that causes conflict and friction among the team.
When the team speak to Eddie's friends and family no one has a bad word to say about him. All are keen to point the finger at Milton or one of his gang, believing that Eddie was killed in revenge for destroying Milton's career.
Eddie's trainer, Doug Palmer, is still visibly distressed at losing his young protégé, blaming himself for not being at the gym at the time of the shooting. Eddie's manager, Harry Gallo, echoes the praise for his young fighter, but Pullman and Lane are surprised to discover that Eddie's mother, Ronni, is now working as Gallo's PA. Eddie's fiancée, Eve, has since married his friend and sparring partner Danny Branston, but it is clear that marriage and a big house haven't filled the void left by losing the love of her life.
Milton Joseph paints a very different picture of the much-loved Eddie Mayfair. Defensive and bitter, his hatred towards Eddie is palpable, suggesting the rivalry between these two promising young boxers extended beyond the ring. But, as the team discover, boxing isn't just about the glory of the fight; it's a money-making business where everyone involved wants their pound of flesh, whatever the cost.
Episode 10: The Fourth Man
Friday 12th November 2010
When the team reinvestigate a 30-year-old safety deposit robbery, they find themselves unwittingly drawn into a case involving high-level police corruption that threatens the future of UCOS.
Retired former DI Frank Patterson rattles a few cages when he returns to UCOS with information about the getaway car used in the robbery. The classic S Type Jaguar has turned up at auction and Patterson thinks it could lead them to the mastermind and only survivor of the four-man team, Michael Denby, and, in turn, the missing millions.
Patterson had been on the original investigation, but his interest in reopening the case runs deeper than professional pride in wanting to solve it. Nailing Michael Denby for the robbery and the murder of his three accomplices isn't Patterson's only motive. He believes that a high-ranking officer was in on the job and this is his last chance to prove it; but at what cost to UCOS?
