Amanda Redman slams New Tricks - Daily TV round-up

BBC1 cop show ‘New Tricks’ has been blasted by cast members who say it has become ‘bland’.

The comments come after Amanda Redman, who plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, announced her departure from the series.

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Speaking about the drama to the Radio Times the actress said, ‘It’s more bland now. The characters are not being as anarchic as they used to be, which I think is a huge shame.’

Co-star Dennis Waterman, ex-Detective Sergeant Gerry Standing on the show, admitted some of the script writing had become a bit stale.

He added, “I don’t think it has become just another police procedural, but there was a danger. It’s partly because of dealing with cold cases.’

Waterman continued, ‘We’re always talking about history and some writers - not all of them - can go on and on about that. You have to remind yourself that people aren’t as stupid as writers think, but that is the way things are going in the industry.’

Alun Armstrong, Detective Inspector Brian Lane in the series, agreed saying, ‘My character has got saner. Which I’m not too enamoured with.’

This is not the first time cast members have commented on the show’s demise - actors have accused BBC chiefs of meddling in the series before.

Last year, after eight series, actor James Bolam quit apparently saying the show had ‘gone stale’.

He was replaced by Denis Lawson who will star alongside Redman and Waterman in the ninth series of the BBC1 hit show alongside Alun Armstrong.

‘New Tricks’, one of the BBC’s most popular dramas often pulling in over 8 million viewers, follows former police officers who have been bought out of retirement to investigate unsolved crimes.

A tenth has already been commissioned and the new series starts Monday at 9pm. [Various]

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