New Tricks Series 5 Spoilers

[Jessie Wallace]

Spare Parts Ep 1/8

Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman and her team return for a fifth season of the acclaimed crime drama, starring Amanda Redman, James Bolam, Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman.

Jack Halford, Brian Lane and Gerry Standing have been brought out of early retirement to reinvestigate murders and cold cases that the Met has previously been unable to solve. They may have old-fashioned ideas about policing and a total disregard for rules and procedure, but their unorthodox methods can get results. It's down to Pullman to keep them on the right side of the law.

The team face their toughest professional and personal challenge yet as Ricky Hanson stands trial for the attempted murder of Jack Halford. In their desire to get justice for Halford and his late wife, Mary, the trio of veteran cops conspire to conceal the truth about events that led to Hanson's attempt on Jack's life. As Hanson's ruthless lawyer, Ian Figgis, aims to systematically discredit them one by one, it is left to Pullman to protect the reputation of the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS).

A chance meeting with an old friend, court clerk Sam Tallis, forces Jack to focus his mind back on the job. Sam asks the team to reinvestigate the murder of wealthy businessman Ralph Wheeler, who left a £3m fortune to former prostitute Carrie Soper. Tallis had helped Carrie secure her inheritance when Wheeler's brother contested the will, but he now has reason to question her original claims.

Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is played by Amanda Redman, Jack Halford by James Bolam, Brian Lane by Alun Armstrong and Gerry Standing by Dennis Waterman. Guest appearances in this episode include David Troughton as Ricky Hanson, James Fox as Ian Figgis, Hannah Waterman as Emily Driscoll, Ian Bartholomew as Sam Tallis and Camille Coduri as Carrie Soper.

[Jessie Wallace]

Final Curtain Ep 2/8

When ex-soap star Catherine Austin writes a biography of her late father, actor Michael Austin, the inclusion of a letter that appears to be a death threat from his rival, Billy Morley, forces the team to reopen the 1992 case into his death, as the acclaimed crime drama continues.

Austin died on stage during the opening night performance of Death At The Masked Ball, in what the original investigation concluded was a tragic accident. But, having been responsible for pulling the trigger of the prop gun that killed her husband, his widow, actress Helen Brownlow, has spent the last 16 years consumed with guilt, only now finding the strength to perform again. Will raking over the past push the already fragile actress over the edge?

DAC Strickland's nephew, James, joins the team to help out when Halford goes missing. A cocky young recruit, being fast-tracked through the Force, James is anything but one of the boys. When he develops a crush on Pullman, Standing and Lane show no mercy.

The case brings out the thespian in Lane who, after unwittingly auditioning for Julius Caesar, believes he has found a new calling. Standing, meanwhile, discovers that you should never meet your heroes when he questions Tommy Jackson, the arrogant star of a Nineties detective show.

Amanda Redman plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, James Bolam plays Jack Halford, Dennis Waterman plays Gerry Standing and Alun Armstrong plays Brian Lane. Kate Magowan plays Catherine Austin, Claire Bloom plays Helen Brownlow, Anthony Calf plays DAC Strickland, Will Kemp plays James Strickland and Dexter Fletcher plays Tommy Jackson.

(Monday 14th July, 9.00-10.00pm)

[Jessie Wallace]

Face For Radio Ep 3/8


Crack sleuthing team Halford, Lane, Pullman and Standing investigate an arson attack on an Eighties music station which resulted in the death of controversial DJ Johnny Deacon, as the crime drama continues. The station's media mogul owner, Sir Max Wyatt, who was already under public scrutiny for ripping off the company employee's pension fund, committed suicide shortly afterwards. Despite suggestions of an insurance scam, the original investigation drew a blank.

When "super geek" and life president of DJ Johnny Deacon's fan club Jeremy Kirkham campaigns for the case to be reopened, the UCOS team not only gains a murder inquiry but Lane also gains a new friend. It is a meeting of minds when Jeremy shows Lane his collection of Deacon's work – including his distressing last broadcast on the night of the fire.

Deacon's producer, DJ Graham Madeley, escaped the fire. But, with his trophy wife, Sarah, and his office now a shrine to his dead colleague, Madeley's loyalty to Deacon seems at odds with how others viewed their relationship.

With Halford still missing, the team is under pressure not only to deliver on the case, but also to cover Halford's prolonged absence. Strickland is keen to find a permanent replacement for Jack, but Pullman and Standing call his bluff, threatening to quit rather than work with someone new on the team.

James Bolam plays Jack Halford, Alun Armstrong plays Brian Lane, Amanda Redman plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, Dennis Waterman plays Gerry Standing, Reece Shearsmith plays Jeremy Kirkham, Danny Webb plays Graham Madeley, Kellie Bright plays Sarah Madeley and Anthony Calf plays DAC Strickland.

[Jessie Wallace]

Loyalties And Royalties Ep 4/8

Gerry Standing meets his heroes, Seventies rock band Bad Faith, when the UCOS team reinvestigate the death of lead guitarist Andy Fletcher, as the crime drama continues. Originally ruled as suicide, the deathbed confession of a witness, die-hard fan Lori Slade, that Fletcher wasn't alone in his house the night he is supposed to have killed himself, prompts the team to reopen the case.

Brian, meanwhile, has more pressing matters on his mind. In a touching reunion he tracks down Jack and, with the aid of an ice lolly and a bit of tough love, he finally persuades his friend and colleague to return to UCOS.

Reunited, the team immerse themselves in the rock 'n' roll world of Bad Faith. Formed in 1974, the group disbanded after Fletcher's death in 1975, having only released one album, but were hailed as rock gods in that short time. Gerry behaves like an overexcited puppy at the prospect of meeting his idols, but 30 years is a long time and the remaining band members don't quite live up to the legends he remembers. Suspicious, paranoid and wrecked by drugs, bass guitarist Danny Jones takes an instant disliking to Gerry and refuses to speak to him; cocky and arrogant lead singer Dave Dalston struggles to disguise his bitterness that, in death, Fletcher has gained hero status; and, on the Shamhana Retreat, drummer Charlie Webber has found religion and now only answers to the name T'An Shin Wangdu.

A visit to Fletcher's mother, however, helps Jack reconnect with his desire to get justice for the victims. Gail Fletcher hands over the precious notebooks her son had sent her containing handwritten lyrics together with a bank statement revealing that Andy withdrew more than £12,000 on the day he died. It also becomes clear that she has never received any of the royalties owed to her son since his death.

The most alarming discovery is that DAC Strickland is not only a fan of Bad Faith, but he is also something of a musician and, to Gerry's horror, he finds himself seconded to Strickland's band as a singer.

Dennis Waterman plays Gerry Standing, Amanda Redman plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, Alun Armstrong plays Brian Lane, James Bolam plays Jack Halford, Roger Lloyd Pack plays Danny Jones, George Costigan plays Dave Dalston, Peter Guiness plays Charlie Webber, June Watson plays Gail Fletcher and Anthony Calf plays DAC Strickland.

[Jessie Wallace]

Couldn't Organise One Ep 5/8

Pullman's professional and personal worlds collide when the team reopens a case originally investigated by bent copper DCI Bobby McAdam, a colleague of her dead father.

Realising that her father, a hero in her eyes, was being investigated for corruption shortly before his death, Pullman uses McAdam to find out the truth about her dad's past. But the truth leads to a discovery that puts enormous pressure on her already volatile relationship with her mother, Grace.

Meanwhile, the boys are enjoying the fruits of their labour at family-run brewery Felspar's, which was rocked when 26-year-old brewery man Graham Thompson drowned in one of the fermentation tanks.

At the time of the original investigation, DCI McAdam had been too busy chatting up the victim's girlfriend, Anna Hodgkiss, to bother taking seriously her claims that Graham was deeply anxious about something at work. Does the answer to Graham's death lie with brewery owner Sir Wilfred "Freddy" Felspar and those working for him, or in the beer itself? While Brian takes on the brewery, Gerry and Jack tackle the brew.

Amanda Redman plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, Donald Sumpter plays DCI Bobby McAdam, James Bolam plays Jack Halford, Dennis Waterman plays Gerry Standing, Alun Armstrong plays Brian Lane, Anthony Calf plays DAC Strickland, Sheila Hancock plays Grace Pullman, Beth Cordingly plays Anna Hodgkiss and Ronald Pickup plays Sir Wilfred Felspar.

[Jessie Wallace]

Ep 6/8

Brian Lane engages in some dangerous mind games in a case that threatens to completely destabilise him, as the crime drama continues. The team investigates the death of Raymond Briers in 1999, who was killed by his wife, Katie, after she had agreed to be hypnotised by illusionist Billy Carse for his television show. Acquitted of his murder, Katie recently started receiving emails from a source known only as Merlin, naming Carse's rival, Brandon Skye, as her husband's killer. Could Skye have sabotaged Carse's act to produce the ultimate trick that would destroy his reputation?

Hailed as the messiah of modern magic and a pioneer of neuro-linguistic programming, Skye immediately gets under Lane's skin. The two men enter a game of intellectual one-upmanship when Lane goes undercover at a corporate motivational weekend run by Skye's girlfriend, Lulu Questor. But Skye is a master of illusion and has one final trick up his sleeve, which is guaranteed to push Lane over the edge.

Gerry, meanwhile, meets his own nemesis in Carse's brother, Guy. No one actually examines Guy too closely because he is in a wheelchair, but Gerry can see beyond that. With Carse dead, Guy seems keen to clear his brother's name and restore his reputation. But nothing on this case is quite what it appears to be.

A visit to Dr Neville Moroni, resident expert at The Magic Circle, has a lasting effect on Gerry. Deeply sceptical, he agrees to be hypnotised by Moroni, with unspeakable results.

Alun Armstrong plays Brian Lane, Amanda Redman plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, James Bolam plays Jack Halford, Dennis Waterman plays Gerry Standing, Kirsty Mitchell plays Katie Briers, Mark Bazeley plays Brandon Skye, Sara Stewart plays Lulu Questor, Sam Kelly plays Guy Carse and Kevin Eldon plays Dr Neville Moroni.