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New Tricks Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
7 Episodes 2003 - 2004
Episode 0
The Chinese Job
Sun, Jan 26, 200387 mins
After an attempt to rescue a kidnap victim the officer in charge, Supt. Sandra Pullman, who also shot a dog during the raid, is reassigned. DAC Donald Bevan puts her in charge of UCOS, a new unit focusing on unsolved cases. There are no resources available, but Sandra is authorized to hire retired detectives and turns first to her old boss and mentor, Jack Halford, who quickly signs on. Together, they interview a number of ex-policemen and settle on Brian Lane, a reformed alcoholic who retired after a prisoner in his custody died, and Gerry Standing, who seems to know as many criminals as policemen and who won't hesitate to cut corners if it will get him a result. Their first case is that of Roddy Wringer, who is released after 21 years in prison when one of the officers on his case is found to have been corrupt. Bevan is convinced Wringer is guilty and makes it clear that he expects Sandra to prove that. As the investigation progresses, however, it appears that Wringer may not have committed the murder that put him in jail and that the investigating officer knew that but withheld evidence.
Episode 1
ID Parade
59 mins
The team reinvestigate the unsolved murder in 1987 of policewoman Kate Daniels, who trained at Hendon College with Sandra. The sole witness, then a little girl, is optician Patricia Lee, who still has nightmares about the man running from the scene. The trail leads to Philip Sheppard, known for stalking blondes like Kate, but Brian believes the case is connected to Kate's lover Nick Gilbert, who dropped out of police college. Whilst Gerry takes drastic action to help Patricia identify Sheppard in a line-up, Brian breaks the rules in his efforts to trap Gilbert, jeopardising his career and his marriage in the process.
Episode 2
Painting on Loan
59 mins
Sir Timothy, curator of the Royal art collection, calls in UCOS when one of the paintings is found to be a fake. Art expert Totty Vogel-Downing pinpoints the forgery to have been created in 1978, apparently by a forger who killed himself after his studio was destroyed in an arson attack aimed at a Kurdish sweatshop. The arsonist, Pat the Rat, has connections with George Wilson, the criminal who effectively ended Gerry's career, and Gerry is taken off the case. However, he pursues his own enquiries, leading him to believe that, whilst he may charm Sandra, Sir Timothy is not all he seems to be.
Episode 3
1984
58 mins
When Frank Fox is sentenced to Broadmoor for murder, the team reopens the death of his colleague Josh Livesey, killed at a NATO base where the two men and their group were planning a protest twenty years earlier. All the campaigners, when reinterviewed, claim that Josh was killed by the Secret Service, which Brian accepts especially after a film shows that a section of the wire at the base was replaced the night Josh died. Charming Special Branch Officer Greg Johnson admits to Sandra that his people disposed of Josh's body and the murder weapon to avoid publicity, but he denies involvement in the killing. At the same time, secrets amongst the campaigners also come to light, leading to several likely suspects.
Episode 4
Good Work Rewarded
58 mins
Sandra returns early from her Italian holiday to find the office in chaos and a new case waiting to be reopened: the murder of ten-year-old Jimmy Spencer at a golf club twenty years earlier. Teenaged suspect Ken Rodger, arrested for indecent exposure, killed himself in the cells after being charged with the murder, but policewoman Diane Loveless is convinced of Ken's innocence, and saliva found on Jimmy's clothes is not Ken's. For the sake of Ken's dying father and amid unwelcome press intrusion, the team take DNA samples from golf club members, revealing two skeletons in the cupboards of supposedly respectable citizens as well as the identity of Jimmy's real killer.
Episode 5
Home Truths
59 mins
UCOS re-opens one of Brian Lane's old cases, the 1971 disappearance of Donna Adamson and her 6 month-old child William . Her husband, a medical student at the time, had reported them missing and he is today a consultant in genetics. Brian thinks Paul is the most likely suspect but when they interview a friend of Donna's, Rick Brewer, they learn that his wife Jill disappeared the same day. The police however didn't connect the two cases however. A third disappearance just a few blocks away around the same time leads them to believe they are dealing with a serial killer. Several men knew all of the women but the solution proves elusive.
Episode 6
Talking to the Dead
58 mins
Jack Halford has been visiting a psychic in the hope of contacting his late wife, Mary, but gets information on another case. As a result, the UCOS team reopens the murder of Caroline Stillman. Some 20 years before, the young woman had been abducted and was subsequently found dead, having been locked in a shipping container on the docks and starved to death over a period of 42 days. They get little help from the dead woman's sister, Sarah, who wants to put the entire event behind her. As they interview those who were involved in the original investigation, they meet Martin Lombard, a clairvoyant who knew information that he should not have known. The original investigating officer, now an assistant deputy commissioner, thought Lombard had something to do with the girl's death, but everyone now seems to be more concerned about being embarrassed than finding a solution to the crime. Meanwhile, Brian, Gerry, and Jack must undergo mandatory psychological and physical testing for all employees over the age of 50.