Things Can Only Get Better

Have always been a big fan of detective/mystery shows from a fairly young age, well since starting secondary school.

'Inspector Morse', 'A Touch of Frost', 'Midsomer Murders' (in its prime), 'Law and Order', 'Inspector George Gently', 'Criminal Minds', 'Murder She Wrote', you name them to name a few. 'New Tricks' has also been a favourite from the start (despite not being the same without the original cast in recent years). Although it can be corny at times (in an endearing sort of way) it has always been perfect for helping me relax in the evenings. Something that was needed during all the hard times endured in school.

'New Tricks' was past its best by now, with integral characters no longer with us, but was certainly not an unwatchable period.

Danny is starting to gel quite well with the team, if not quite fully settled (it's early days yet), and he is getting more interesting and likeable all the time. Nicholas Lyndhurst also plays him charmingly. Again, the problem is that it is still not feeling right without Brian, such a huge part of 'New Tricks' success and him not being there leaves something of a gaping hole.

Case-wise, "Things Can Only Get Better" is entertaining and intriguing with some nice, if at times familiar (with a few unexpected ones of course), twists and a denouement that satisfies enough.

Visually, "Things Can Only Get Better" is slick and stylish as ever. The music is a good fit and the theme song (sung with gusto by none other by Dennis Waterman himself) is one of the catchiest for any detective/mystery show and of any show in the past fifteen years or so.

Writing is intelligent, thought-provoking and classy, while also being very funny and high up in the entertainment value. This is all mixed adeptly with a seriousness without being overly so that it doesn't feel like 'New Tricks'.

A huge part of 'New Tricks' appeal is the chemistry, which is so entertaining and charming with some nice tension.

Denis Lawson, Dennis Waterman and Amanda Redman all give their reliably strong performances, and Lyndhurst may lack Alun Armstrong's presence but is nonetheless charming. Jason Durr is the supporting cast standout, seeming to enjoy himself as an arrogant character. Everyone else is solid, if not outstanding.

Overall, another well done episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Murder of a political aide/researcher gets reinvestigated. Surprisingly, very little spy/conspiracy/interference with UCOs comes into play.

Case itself is good, involves a lot of different tracks with a sensible overall story. In a previous episode, Albanian immigrants were the thing, this time its Bosnians. Not much happens in outside of work storylines. Danny after 3 episodes is fully settled into the crew.

The UCOS team investigate the death of Ben Ransley, a young researcher for Labour MP Liz Jackson, who was murdered.

Such a good episode, this was so different to recent episodes, a change in pace, a change in tone. Not often did we get to see political thrillers on New Tricks, but that's exactly what this is, it's a very good, intelligent watch.

The Bosnian angle added something very different, I really did enjoy Hannah's story, her scenes with Sandra were terrific. Pacing was excellent here, visually it was tremendous. Actually a very sad story, so well written.

Some great location work here, the scenes around Westminster looked fantastic, heaven knows how they managed to close roads off to film those scenes.

Jason Durr and Stephen Greif were both excellent in their respective roles, giving commanding performances, both had real presence.

8/10.