Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Tamzin Outhwaite, Dennis Waterman, Denis Lawson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Anthony Calf, Barnaby Kay, Charlotte Cornwell, Patricia Potter, Clare Higgins, Ian Redford, Kika Markham, Rosie Biggs, Stuart McMilan, Amy Jayne, Laura Patch.
In arguably one of the most relevant episodes of New Tricks since the programme was devised, the UCOS team are charged with looking into the distant past and the events of a man’s death on a protest march in London in the early 1980s.
Whilst the events at Greenham Common will almost be like looking through ancient history books to many younger viewers, the brave women who protested and camped out outside the nuclear bases are one of the most abiding memories of the period, their defiance and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and political insanity should stand as testament to those on the verge of was in Europe again in the 21st Century.
As the episode, Deep Swimmer, points out though there were men just as dedicated to the eradication of nuclear weapons on British soil and it was one of those men in which life was about to be cut short one fateful day on a march in London. All is not what it seems though as the foursome find out the true cost of policing at that point of time, the distrust and Government sanction of zealous police work which drove a man to set off an explosion on the streets of the English capital.
The episode deals with the idea of deep undercover work and the risks involved, the very nature of betrayal and treachery and what it does to those you call friends and loved ones.
Deep Swimmer also showed just how bottomless some prejudices can go as in the team’s usual fashion they are split into two distinctive working groups and in Jerry Standing’s time investigating the crime, he comes across his own personal anathema in the form of a very determined and unbowed older Greenham Common leader and inspiring Feminist academic who gives the ever superb Dennis Waterman a glimpse at a life that is just beyond his understanding and tolerance levels. This dynamic was perfectly pitched and showcased the so called war between the genders as much as the cause in which the Greenham Common women fought bravely for.
There may have been those who were worried for the future of New Tricks with the loss of three of its original stars in quick succession but now that the latest series has settled down it is just as good as anything that went before it.
New Tricks continues next week.
Ian D. Hall