Series
New Tricks began as a one-off episode, broadcast on 27 March 2003. This attracted sufficient viewers for the BBC to commission a series of six episodes, which began on 1 April 2004. Eight-episode series were subsequently commissioned for 2005, 2006 and 2007. A fifth series was commissioned by the BBC after the audience share rose week upon week for the previous series. In 2007, an episode from the fourth series received viewing figures of 9.25 million, becoming the second most watched programme on BBC One that week, and the most watched New Tricks episode to that point. The fifth series continued this good run - on two occasions it was the most watched programme in Britain for the week, and the seventh episode gained a new series high rating of 9.36 million - second only to the X Factor that week. The fifth series aired from 7 July to 25 August 2008. The sixth series finished location filming on 8 May 2009 in Central London and began airing on 16 July 2009. The opening episode of series six was watched by 8.07 million, despite clashing with Five's The Mentalist (1.64m) and ITV's Living With Michael Jackson (3.64m). The second episode clashed with The Mentalist and the relaunch of The Bill on ITV, and was watched by 7.59 million.
Series 7 and 8 were commissioned by the BBC in September 2009, ensuring the show would run until 2011. The seventh series began airing on 10 September 2010 and completed its run on 12 November. The eighth series opened on 4 July 2011 with 9.2 million viewers, the show's highest rating for three years, and the first since the fifth series to break the 9 million barrier. The third episode of series 8, "Lost in Translation," was the show's highest rated episode to date with 9.7 million viewers, becoming the most watched television programme of the week in the UK. Episode 7, "The Gentleman Vanishes," surpassed this figure with 9.87 million viewers, and was again the top programme of the week.
New Tricks will return for two more series, to broadcast in 2012 and 2013. Both will contain ten episodes. James Bolam, who played the part of Jack Halford, has left the show, claiming it had "become stale": he made his final appearance in the first episode of Series 9. In the fourth episode Denis Lawson joined the cast, as the new character of retired DI Steve McAndrew. Prior to the ninth series premiere, both Amanda Redman and Alun Armstrong announced they would be leaving the show after the tenth series. The first programme of series nine was broadcast on 27 August 2012, and gained 8.52 million viewers, which was the highest rating of the week. Nicholas Lyndhurst has been confirmed for Series 10.
The series is broadcast in at least twenty-five countries, and is also available on DVD and via online streaming. New Tricks is produced by Wall to Wall Television for the BBC.
Read more about this topic: New Tricks (TV Series)
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