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Jack--so civil, even when he’s about to murder you.

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A brief introduction to Gerry Standing. A perennial theme throughout the seasons.

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Brian Lane’s more than a little excited about his work.

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Teach old dogs new tricks? Ha! Good luck with that.

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The guys enjoying a good insult.

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Me, talking to my professors.

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Wait, did you think they were talking about a police investigation? Or college?

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This is the blog I needed just after watching NT for the very first time... but I'm still glad to find it now! Can't wait for more analysis!

Thank you! I’m very excited that you are enjoying it! I just got done my first watch of NT a little while ago, and I was eagerly looking for fan content, but was disappointed to find so little. And the show is funny and clever and there are so many wink-wink moments, so I thought, to heck with it. Let’s build a fandom and they will come. Please feel free to join in and we can get NT some of the love that it deserves.

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questions from the UCOS Basment, pt II

Jack Halford retired in 1997. Brian Lane retired in 2000. Gerry Standing retired sometime in the mid-1990s. The UCOS unit is started in 2002. Jack’s been retired for 5 years, Brian for 2, and Gerry for something like a 8-10 years. How on earth are they so unfamiliar with computers, HOLMES, and etc? For that matter, how is possible that they think the sort of interrogating that gets them in trouble in s1e8 is okay? AND the DNA thing? The Met started using DNA seriously as evidence in 1987--so Brian and Jack at least should have close to a decade of exposure to it. Sigh. Yes, half of British detective shows is either Real Life is too Boring for TV or Rule of Cool, but it seems like all of them should be reasonably up to date with what procedure is. I mean, Brian seems to know the entire penal code of the United Kingdom backwards and forwards, so he should know how to be a policeman. They haven’t been retired that long. That just might be the appeal of the show, though.

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Personnel File: Brian Lane, Detective Inspector (ret)

JACK: “Ex-DI Brian Lane, Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman.” BRIAN: “Pullman. Sussex University, accelerated entry, 1987. Bramshill, ‘92. DI, Murder Squad, ‘92-’95. DCI, Armed Robbery Squad, ‘95 - ‘98.”

Our first introduction to Brian Lane, Detective Inspector (ret) shows us three key character traits about Brian: his photographic memory, his indifferent social skills, and his obsessions, but with detective work in general. As a character, Brian most closely resembles the defective!detective trope in mystery fiction--or the brilliant but insufferable genius: he’s the Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot of the team. His nickname is “Memory” Lane because his memory is really that good. He knows the record of every officer in the Met for the last thirty years. He apparently knows every crime and criminal in the files also. He’s a computer database but better. He’s brilliant, and a brilliant detective (Jack says that he’s a “first-rate detective,” and coming from Jack, that’s the highest praise.) He works best by coming at puzzles from a different angle, by seeing patterns that no one else sees. The problem is, while he can see the most obscure patterns clearly, he can’t see the ones that are in front of his face. It shows up most in the show with Esther, his long-suffering and loving wife, but it also shows up with the rest of the UCOS team. Brian misses social cues, has difficulty with conversations and manners that other people take for granted, has a need for certain rituals and patterns of stability in his life.

Esther is his cornerstone; Jack and the UCOS team are important supportive bricks. DO NOT TOUCH HIS DESK. Brian specifically says that he has OCD, he’s a recovering alcoholic (sober 2 years, 2 months, 8 days as of the pilot.) And it’s strongly coded although never specifically spelled out that he may be on the autism spectrum. In the pilot, he mentions both a car and grandchildren: in later episodes he doesn’t drive and has no children.

Brian is a deeply flawed but very appealing character. He is capable of deep friendship, loyalty, and generosity to the people he cares about--he can be extremely sensitive to other people’s feelings--but he can also be oblivious, selfish and a downright pain. He goes off on obsessive hobbies, and has terrible personal grooming habits. He doesn’t like wearing a suit, and likes wearing dress shoes even less. (It’s interesting to chart how “comfortable” Brian is by what he’s wearing.) He’s depressed, obsessed, and paranoid (a paranoia that can become downright delusional when he isn’t on his medication), and the crux of his personal wounds are his guilt and regret over the man he let die in his custody. There’s always been more to the story, he insists. And we desperately want to believe him. Part of his character arc over the seasons is watching him come to grips with, and grow from his mistakes. Jack’s a big part of that, but Esther, Esther is always his guiding light.

“Our customers?” He asks. Who are the Met’s “customers?” Brian, like the other two old dogs, has a biting sense of humor (see his one-liner to Gerry in the Pill Scene: “Pale blue, lozenge shape. Well, you know what that’s for. Go on, it’s not hard.”). He’s also represents the third leg of the working class background: he’s made it half-way up the Met’s pecking order, but no further. He’s an old-fashioned copper, out-dated and out of touch with policing methods, but  not at all past his prime. In some ways, UCOS, with it’s stable environment and team connections makes him a better detective than he ever was with the Met.

“You mean, he did it, let’s prove he did it, then we can say we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this inquiry?” Brian does his own fair share of techno-speak, but he can speak just as clearly and simply as Jack and Gerry. He has no guff with press-speak or police jargon.

ESTHER! Dear God, loving kind Esther, has been married to Brian for at least thirty years as of the pilot. She’s his anchor. With her, he falls to pieces, and no matter how oblivious or selfish he’s being, he really deeply cares about her. He loves her, and the best signs of how he loves her is how he tries to make himself a better man because she asks him to. She’s worried about him rejoining the Force, even as a civilian. “Brian, I don’t want you doing this—for your own sake. Next time you might not just crack, you might break.” But being a detective is his life’s work -- and being in UCOS gives him a chance to figure out how he was scapegoated for Antony Kaye’s death.

Yes, he is exactly that orderly. Later on he will display his obsessive organization and memory to Sandra and Jack again: “I’ve arranged the case evidence alphabetically. I’ve also listed it with the trial notes chronologically. That way you can cross-reference it more easily.” SANDRA: “I don’t suppose you know the contents of her stomach, do you?”

BRIAN: “Fish, peas, spinach. But no potatoes, which seems odd.” The team will quickly get used to Brian knowing everything; it turns up as a plot point when he doesn’t.

Soon Brian will discover the marvelous world of computing, but not quite yet.

That is HIS coat hanger, and don’t you forget it. Brian doesn’t share easily. We learn later on that he has some good reasons for that, but for now we just think he’s a bit compulsive.

Yes, he does label his things.

Yes, Brian’s manners need some polishing. (Other fabulous one-liners in this scene:  “Don’t smoke the filter, Mrs. Collard. I used to do that, now look at me.”)

Nice pocket knife, Brian.  “Corns, bad. Do you get them?” “I don’t like public transport. I get people to give me a lift.” Gerry, Jack and Sandra will spend a lot of time over the next decade giving Brian and his bicycle a lift. Although Jack is about a decade older, Brian arguably has just as many health problems. It is vaguely suggested that he might be something of a hypochondriac--but it might just as easily be a side effect of the medication. Brian takes pills for sciatica, lumbago, arthritis, rheumatism in his shoulder, as well as anti-depressants. In the pilot, he’s apparently only taking one medication for depression. By the next few episodes, Brian will start taking a lot more depression medication. It suggests that he had a pretty rough and tumble career as a police officer. At the time of Kaye’s death in 1997, he was having therapy for his depression.

Like all the men on UCOS, he carries a tape recorder and knows how to use it.

GERRY: “You know Jack, is he mad?” BRIAN: “No. But I am.”

“He was black. Like you. Which automatically made things more difficult, more political. I found him face-down, having apparently choked on his own vomit. I was the arresting officer. I’d left him for less than two minutes, but no one else saw me in that time. I was being treated for depression. The Union advised me that I should submit a doctor’s report, pending the investigation. It wasn’t flattering. In fact, it basically said I was barking mad. Which gave the Met their get-out. Problem is, I think Antony Kaye was killed—and not by me. He was murdered inside that station. The Met are shielding someone, and I’m gonna prove it. Then we’ll see who’s mad, and who isn’t.” Brian’s soliloquy in this part of the pilot is heartrendingly good. (Alun Armstrong’s performance is bravo.)

GERRY: “Isn’t it all just a bit busy inside your head?”

BRIAN: “There’s probably a lot more going on than in yours”

“Nobody touches this desk. Right? I’ll know if you have. AND my God is a jealous God and He shall smite thee severely.”

Brian loves Esther. It’s a marriage with its ups and downs, but Brian loves Esther. Full stop.

 “I don’t break the law. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I take my medication. And you know what? My mind’s on fire.” Brian has two loves: Esther and detection. One of those comes first.

 “This DNA new forensics lark, makes our job easier, does it?” Brian, hanging a lampshade on police work in the 21st century.

THE file. Someday, we will know the truth of what happened; more importantly, Brian will, and will be at peace with himself. And the character growth of a decade will be complete. JACK: “No, no you don’t. You only think you know what happened to him.” (Jack’s right. Jack’s always right.)

BRIAN: “That’s why I left it at home.”

 SANDRA: “Home?!? You brought evidence home?”

 BRIAN: “How else was I gonna get it all filed?”

 SANDRA: “You do realize that if they find out you did this, we’ll get crucified.”

 BRIAN: “Why? Who’s going to tell them?” They do things differently at UCOS. And Sandra, aside from realizing that she’s going to have to deal with a new kind of person in Brian, also realizes that he’s right. No one on UCOS is going to betray UCOS. That’s the loyalty and trustworthiness that will let Brian learn to grow and give back.

Brian, the big eater; Brian, with his silly napkin; Brian, who loves a free lunch. 

Brian, with his toast. Someday, sometime down the road, Brian will figure it all out, and be at peace. He’ll be a good husband to Esther, a good father and grandfather, and a good friend to Jack, Gerry and Sandra. This time, he’ll know the truth, and leave on his own terms.

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PSA: Streaming on Hulu

New Tricks is currently available as streaming on Hulu or pay per episode on Amazon. Please bear in mind that the Hulu episodes are all cut. Each episode is missing approximately 8-10 minutes. I suspect Hulu acquired their license from a per-watershed agreement, as mostly the darker or more suggestive dialogue tends to be left out. However, this not always the case: s5e4, “Loyalties and Royalties” has an important three minute stretch of dialogue between Jack and Brian cut out at the beginning. The Amazon episodes are the DVD release version. Some of the other episodes available online elsewhere are also the cut ones. You used to be able check off SpringfieldSpringfield.com but the site is down. caveat lector

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Three good reasons to watch New Tricks right there. Prime comedic appeal, and why I love the three of them.

God I love these guys!

New Tricks (BBC)

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The Hiring Scene

In which every single detective trope gets lampshaded.

“Before we start -- this new unit -- no blacks, obviously.” Our first prospective detective hire for UCOS, and our first Detective Trope: Bigot with a Badge.

That’s a definite no.

“No bloody idea at all.” Our second prospective hire for UCOS, and our second Detective Trope: Drunk Detective.

Sandra is watching her new unit go down in flames already.

“Police and Criminal Evidence Act? Mistake. I mean, being able to threaten, intimidate, and cause pain to a suspect are the chief weapons in a copper’s arsenal.” Our third prospective hire for UCOS, and our third Detective Trope: Dirty Cop who enjoys beating up suspects under his power.

The By-the-Book Cop and the Old-Fashioned Copper do not approve.

“Oh shite.” The Noodle-Incident Detective.

We still don’t know what this was about, but we blame Jack.

“I don’t take no bloody crap from no one.” Our fifth prospective hire for UCOS, and our fifth Detective Trope: Female  Cop who wants to outdo the boys. A distaff version of the dirty cop trope.

Even Sandra is turned off by this.

It’s either the Welsh accent, or Jack looks a little taken aback.

Everyone’s smiling at our sixth prospective hire for UCOS, and our sixth Detective Trope: Dying on the Job. (I’m tempted to suggest this is a small pastiche to DCI Morse (who was so ably played by the late John Thaw).

That’s terrible technique, Jack. Good thing Sandra has an ambulance on the phone.

“Ex-DI Brian Lane, meet Sandra Pullman.”

Our seventh prospective hire for UCOS, and our seventh Detective Trope: Defective Detective. But it’s also Brian, and by the standards of everyone else who showed up, he looks like a good hire.

“Aaah, an ashtray.” Our eighth prospective hire for UCOS, and our eighth Detective Trope: Cowboy Cop. But it’s also Gerry, a thief-taker,  and just like Brian, by the standards of everyone else who showed up, he looks like a good hire. Guess who Sandra picks?

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Personnel File: Jack Halford, Detective Chief Superintendent (ret)

 JACK: “Was he armed?”

SANDRA: “Who?”

JACK: “The dog.”

Our first introduction to Jack Halford, Detective Chief Superintendent (ret.) shows us that he must have been an absolutely first rate detective and policeman. He knows exactly what has happened to Sandra, and knows more than enough about human nature to throw her off balance from the get-go. He’s as good a detective as Brian, in part because his knowledge of human nature helps him predict how people react and why they do the things they do. He’s the best interrogator on the show--frequently Sandra lets him do all the talking. He does his paperwork neatly, makes the tea and buys rounds. In fact, as many villains throughout the series remark, in his prime, Jack was the best there was. But now he’s an old man, and more importantly, the loss of his beloved wife Mary has all but broken him. As a character, he’s a forerunner of the Ace!Detective who is wounded by the Death of his Beloved Wife. (Other notable examples include DCS Christopher Foyle (Foyle’s War 2002), DCI George Gently (George Gently 2007) and DI Robbie Lewis (Lewis 2006).)

Jack is characterized by gentleness, civility, and kindness, which are fairly odd traits for a policemen, but he’s also keenly intelligent and intuitive, incredibly thorough, deeply understanding of human nature and is the father figure for everyone on the team.

He always wears a suit and tie to work (in restrained colors, and bordering on old-fashioned.) He’s got a black raincoat with changeable layers he wears year round. He dislikes people who are rude--and having poor manners riles him. He’s a deadpan snarker, and frequently mimics people to make fun of them. Behaving rudely is a seriously out of character moment for him, and any time it happens, the team is very concerned. Hobbies: golf, drinking scotch, talking to Mary, gardening, classical music, literature, beer, winning at poker. Used to play word games on car trips with Mary.

Is he mad, or isn’t he? Jack’s habit of talking to the grave of his dead wife, Mary, in the back garden, and just generally mean that there’s always a question if Jack is actually mad. Of course, he knows that Mary is dead. But he still talks to her. A sadly unfulfilled plot line is that he stops talking to her after “The Last Laugh” (s6e6). Possibly because he is, as he often says, old-fashioned, he has a soft spot for women--or perhaps because he was so happily married. He’s willing to investigate them, of course, but if there’s a woman in danger, particularly at the hands of a man, Jack is ruthless and capable.

Jack’s question to Sandra is a key theme in the pilot, and a key theme throughout the series: “Do you want to do the job properly, or do you just want to look nice?” He says about himself that “I told you, there are detectives who solve crimes, and those who just want to clear them up.” He puts himself in the first category, of course.

Doing the job properly is important to Jack. The desire for justice is a key character trait. Nothing makes him more angry than the revelation of another corrupt copper. And when Ian Lovett, in this scene, accuses him of corruption, Jack is furious. He also reacts angrily to being told he’s past it, or that he’s washed up, as occurs in several episodes. His anger is also roused by the idea that UCOS is pointless, or that solving old crimes isn’t necessary. Jack was a policeman, but he’s also the widower of a murdered wife. And he never forgets that people left behind by crimes are also wounded by them.  “If we affect a satisfactory conclusion, we’ll not only be bringing justice to that poor woman’s door, she’ll be at peace. It’s never a waste of time.”

"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man." — Kvothe, The Name of the Wind Jack’s a quiet and calm man -- and more than willing to physically threaten, intimidate and cut any corrupt copper down to size. “You didn’t need to set Wringer up, you just needed to be a good detective. Now I want you to think about the real murderer now--think about that killer you allowed to go free--but most of all, I want you to think about Anna Dubrovski and her family--the victims you betrayed for over twenty years....We know that none of us has anything to gain by the exposure of yet another corrupt ex-copper, but I promise you, if our paths ever cross again, it won’t be your pension you’ll be desperate to cling onto.”

He isn’t above tricking authority figures, either. He’s very good at the ‘yes sir’ ‘no sir’ game while doing whatever he wants. In accordance with good manners, he always calls them sir -- but that doesn’t mean he respects them.

Jack reveals the mystery. Like all good detectives, he likes revealing his hand in a theatrical way. Moreover, he’s frequently the one to call the others on their bullshit. Very few things slip past him, and when they do, you know it’s serious.

Not only because of his rank, but also because both Brian and Gerry respect and trust him, he’s the leader of the retirees. And, because he’s Sandra’s mentor, he’s the glue that holds the New Tricks band together. One of the most unsatisfying things is that, while Jack is dispensing advice and helping everyone else, he rarely accepts their help. Perhaps it’s pride. Perhaps he’s simply reserved. We do know that he’s not as comfortable helping emotionally to comfort other people as was Mary, that he relied on her for that.

Brian and Gerry make sure that Jack’s well out of it.

Jack’s not actually a policeman anymore, remember? Of course, Jack also has some helpful tips here about being in a scuffle. One of the more interesting quirks of the show is that Jack always seems to be on the receiving end of being in brawls--not only because he rarely, if ever, actually punches anyone else, but also because he’s the oldest and most lightweight of the team.

Jack appreciates fine wine.

And does a perfect job pouring.

Jack’s my favorite character, and the saddest episode in the series for me is ‘A Death in the Family.’ (s9e1). I find it hard to move past that episode. Notably, he’s the highest ranked character in the New Tricks band (except for the DACs, who don’t count.) Sandra, his protege, never surpasses him. As Jack says, “Not bad for a bunch of sad old men.”

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“Ian Darby.”“Do you know him?” “Yeah. He’s dead.”

“Allen Evans.” “Dead.” “DI John Farrelly. Oh! I know John, he worked–” “Dead.” “But he only left last December.”

“Heart attack swimming in the sea off Malaga. Serves him right, the place is full of villains. 65% of CID officers are dead within 5 years of leaving the job.” [silence]

“Dead. Dead. As good as. Alive–but he bores for England. Retired, but currently under investigation by the CPS. Ditto the DTI. Dead. Alive, but don’t leave him alone with your kids. Retired sick – well – insane, really. Dead. Dead. Would be if I got hold of him. No–I think you’d better advertise.”

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An accurate description of a Monday morning, on any given week.

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questions from the UCOS basement

The UCOS office is apparently in the sub-sub basement next to the garage. So where did Jack get this carafe of coffee from? And don’t they want it back? I headcanon that they make secret raids into departments or squads they don’t like and steal their coffee, tea, and biscuits. At least until they all get fed up with having to hike a mile to get their coffee or tea and just buy their own. Gerry gets fed up and brings in high-end coffee. Jack buys the biscuits. Brian eats the biscuits, and occasionally splurges on tea.