New Tricks: Series 6 - Episode guide
Starring Amanda Redman, Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam as a team of ex-coppers brought out of retirement to investigate unsolved cases from the past, New Tricks returns to BBC One for a sixth series.
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Episode 1: The War Against Drugs
Thursday 16th July 2009
The Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad (UCOS) face a difficult professional and personal dilemma when Brian Lane is forced into rehab to treat his alcoholism and stumbles on a case involving the death of a heroin addict.
Following the dramatic climax to series five, Brian is drinking in the last chance saloon as far as his wife, Esther, is concerned. She books him into the Trinity Clinic, an addiction centre run by monks and, blaming UCOS for his decline, she appeals to Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman for the team to leave him alone to recover. Distrustful of the clinic's methods and dangerously under-occupied, Brian is looking for any kind of distraction. He finds it when a chance remark by Father Bernard about an incident at the clinic nine years ago sets his detective's antennae twitching.
Drug addict Robert Smith died in a suspected fall 12 days after arriving at Trinity in 2000. His neck was broken and, despite the clinic's strict ban on substance substitutes, there was methadone in his body. The team has a case, but Pullman has made a promise to Esther and feels honour-bound to leave Brian out of the investigation.
Gerry's solution is to go undercover, posing as a sex addict. Believing himself to be an expert in this field, Gerry's apparently inspired plan begins to unravel when the one-to-one sessions with sex therapist Anna Greening get a little too up-close-and-personal for comfort. Despite the air of spiritual calm at the clinic, Robert's death begins to seem anything but accidental. As Brian reluctantly edges closer to confronting his demons, will the clinic reveal its own secrets?
Episode 2: The Truth Is Out There
Thursday 23rd July 2009
Conspiracy theories and government cover-ups face the team when they reopen a case involving the suspected suicide of respected journalist Peter Edelmann. Halford is rattled when confronted at the funeral of a colleague by his widow, Cheryl Brooker. She plans to drag her former husband's name through the mud in order to contest his will, proving he wasn't of sound mind when he wrote her out of it. It's a question of honour and Halford is determined to protect his friend's name – even at the cost of his own reputation.
Former policeman Derek Brooker was obsessed with the circumstances surrounding Edelmann's death. Written off as suicide, Brooker was convinced Edelmann's involvement with a UFO-tracking group was behind his unexplained death in woods bordering a US Air Force base. Brooker devoted his retirement to trying to prove that Edelmann was silenced by the US government because he had evidence suggesting they were communicating with extra-terrestrial life forms.
With the help of Edelmann's girlfriend, Susannah Morton, and geeky UFO-spotters Beaumont and Thaxted, the team discover that Edelmann had witnessed a mysterious air crash near the perimeter fence of the military base. With the base now decommissioned, the team track down two of the original personnel – base commander Colonel Norton, who claims there was no such crash, merely a military training exercise, and Leonard Kuziak, who soon has reason to regret cooperating with the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad.
Episode 3: Fresh Starts
Thursday 30th July 2009
When Gerry Standing notices a man behaving suspiciously at a children's playground, he is quick to act and have him arrested. The accused, David Fleeting, isn't a pervert, though – he's a desperate man who believes he has seen his dead wife among the other parents.
Victoria Fleeting died 18 months previously in a car accident, leaving her sister, Sarah, to identify the body and make the funeral arrangements. David now believes there has been a mistake and wants Victoria's body exhumed. The team decides to look into it, if only to give David some sort of closure. However, the investigation creates more questions than it answers. David is proved right, the body isn't Victoria's. So, who is it and where is Victoria? Is she alive or dead and how could her sister bury the wrong person?
When the team identify the body as that of missing Turkish immigrant Sefika Yilmaz, they discover she was one of Victoria's legal clients at Sanctum UK, a charity providing immigration advice.
Since Sefika's disappearance, her daughter Kiraz has been temporarily cared for by Reverend Tony Granville. Kiraz is a troubled teenager and, when told of her mother's death, she lashes out, particularly at Pullman, who has to break the news. These two feisty females then form an unlikely bond as Pullman tries to find out why Sefika was driving Victoria's car and what pushed Victoria to fake her own death. Brian Lane, meanwhile, has his own domestic problems when his wife, Esther, bans him from his latest DIY project. Just how hard can it be to find a handyman?
Episode 4: Shadow Show
Thursday 6th August 2009
When clips of actress Eva Roderick being assaulted in the 1990 film noir Shadow Show are posted on the internet, the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad reopens the investigation into producer Max Stone's death and Eva's subsequent disappearance.
Shadow Show was the last film of cinematic auteur Don Maddox's career. He was known for his bullying of leading actresses and the clips, which feature Maddox and Eva, are disturbingly realistic and make for uncomfortable viewing. Filming was halted by producer Stone, who was later found murdered in his Pinewood Studios office. Eva disappeared that same night and, with a history of depression and failed suicide attempts, it was concluded she had taken her own life. Her body was never found.
Now doing commercials and voiceover work, Maddox appears to have problems distinguishing fact from fiction when questioned by the team. He is clear, however, about one thing – he may have been married to celebrated actress Gloria Wakefield at the time, but it was new young starlet, Eva, who was the love of his life.
Pinewood's operations manager, Lottie Davenport, gives the team access to the Studios and the original crime scene. However, when the body of a potential witness is discovered there the investigation takes an unexpected twist.
Lane and Halford are seconded to the murder investigation team handling the live case. They enter the world of mixed economy policing which, as expected, reveals everything they hate about the modern police force. Reporting to their new action manager they are delighted to see a friendly face, Emily Driscoll, only to discover she is the action manager. In a world of movies and make believe, where everyone is pretending to be someone that they're not, can the team find out the truth behind Shadow Show?
Episode 5: Death Of A Timeshare Salesman
Thursday 13th August 2009
When former escort girl Alice Hill finds God and decides to confess her sins, the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad team find themselves reinvestigating the death of well-known timeshare magnate Dean Scott.
Alice reveals that she had been with the legendary "Lord of Lanzagrotty" the night he died and had seen someone force their way into the house as she left. This news casts doubt over the original theory that Dean had committed suicide.
Dean's widow, Pamela, has fallen on hard times since her husband died. Having been ripped off by his business partner, Mike Barnes, she was left with debts of more than £2m and has been forced to swap her lavish lifestyle for a modest flat in a high-rise block. Despite a reputation as a dodgy timeshare dealer, Dean had no known enemies, but Pamela is convinced he was murdered.
Back from the Canaries, Barnes is now enjoying success running property millionaire seminars. In his fifties, hair dyed just the wrong side of apricot and a tan to match, Barnes has the appearance of a small-time crook. However, when a fingerprint match links Barnes to notorious criminal Johnny Tevis, the team realise they are dealing with something bigger than a rip-off timeshare enterprise.
Episode 6: The Last Laugh
Thursday 20th August 2009
Emily takes a reluctant Gerry and the team to a comedy club to celebrate Gerry's birthday. Racist, sexist and homophobic comedian Ray Harris isn't everyone's cup of tea. Gerry's enjoyment is certainly at odds with a group of hecklers who cause such a commotion that they are manhandled out of the gig. Somewhat affronted by their treatment, Pullman intervenes and discovers that the most vocal of the hecklers, Jo, is the niece of a political activist, Sarah Jones, who went missing with her boyfriend 25 years earlier after waging a campaign against Harris and his act.
Warming to the feisty Jo, Pullman agrees to reinvestigate Sarah's disappearance. But it is a case that opens up a very dangerous can of worms for the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad (UCOS). They discover that Sarah and her boyfriend, Daniel, had infiltrated an extreme right-wing group, the 20/4s, and were acting as informants for Gerry's former colleague and love rival DCS Frank Paterson. Gerry's old snout, Polish George, also reveals a direct link between the 20/4s and Jack's nemesis, Ricky Hanson.
Hanson has proved himself almost untouchable having managed to completely discredit UCOS during his trial for Jack's attempted murder and having got away with the murder of Jack's wife, Mary. How the team act on the revelation that he is possibly involved in this case is crucial. If they get it wrong they could potentially destroy UCOS. But with Hanson once again in their sights, will the boys be able to stick to the rules?
Episode 7: Blood Is Thicker Than Water
Thursday 27th August 2009
Team drinks on board DAC Strickland's sailing boat are rudely interrupted by a heated argument on a neighbouring gin palace. There's drama on the high(ish) seas, as wealthy property developer Lawrence Fisher receives a drink in the face and some choice words from a young woman, before she is bundled away. Gallantly, but ill-advisedly, Halford intervenes – only to get a bruised shin and torn jacket for his efforts.
After the woman calms down, Halford learns that she is Leanne Sweeting, the daughter of a waterman whom she believes was set up by Fisher. She tells Halford that her father, Neville Sweeting, was made a scapegoat when there was a disastrous collision between his tug and a luxury cruiser owned by Grant Milburn, one of Fisher's business rivals. Five people, including Milburn, died in the collision and it made the headlines.
Though he was cleared in the original investigation, crippling guilt, coupled with a successful civil action brought by Milburn's widow, Carole, have left Neville a broken man. But Leanne is determined to clear his name and claims that she has a new witness who can prove that Fisher sabotaged Milburn's boat. The team's interest is aroused and all are surprised by Strickland's keenness to investigate his sailing chums.
Episode 8
Thursday 3rd September 2009
Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman faces a shattering revelation about her own past in the final episode of the current series. When the dismembered body of Smithfield butcher Harry Eldridge is discovered 33 years after he went missing, the Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad are called upon to reinvestigate the murder of Dr Simon Lockhart, who was found hanging from a meat hook on Eldridge's stall on the day he disappeared.
Gerry is unusually reluctant to take on the case and it is only when the team visits the original murder scene, Smithfield Market, that they discover why. Much to their amusement, Gerry finds himself reunited with his butcher cousins, Barry and Sid Lestade. It is not so much the family's profession that he'd wanted to keep quiet, but their French ancestry.
The meat market is a close community and, since Eldridge's disappearance, various stall-holders have rallied to help his widow, Julia, and son, Tom, keep the business afloat, including Eldridge's meat-cutter Vernon Murnaghan, butcher David Snow and even the Lestades. But far from being the well-respected butcher apparently liked by everyone, Eldridge had a much darker side, as the team discovers. When DNA tests on Eldridge's remains reveal a match to an unidentified person who they know to be related to Pullman, the detective's own family secrets leave her reeling.
