Not new at all. Another programme that feels like it’s been on forever, and with more justification, since the new series is the eighth. What would be terrible with a lesser cast and dull writing is actually quite fun, though visibly just as much for the actors as for the audience. It’s not going to take you anywhere unexpected, and probably not anywhere you don’t want to go, which is part of its charm. It does its stuff just well enough to be an amiable diversion, and if you watch TV to see good actors, then the regular and guest cast are usually worth the hour. Brian, Gerry and Jack are pretty well-defined as, respectively, the reformed alcoholic visibly on the autism spectrum; the bluff, womanising, chain-smoking old-schooler (ok, Dennis Waterman combines his roles in 'The Sweeney' and 'Minder' here, even singing the theme tune, but hey) and the mostly gentle but curmudgeonly widower. They are anchored, sometimes almost literally, by boss Sandra, who despite looking much too glam for the job, is just about as convincing a detective as Jane Tennison.
Just don't expect it to be TWNH-free. If the cases veer regularly into the wildly unlikely, however, at least it's done with less hand-wringing angst than the thematically similar 'Waking the Dead'. Enjoy it while it lasts because despite its popularity with viewers, it's one of those programmes the BBC seems uneasy about. The Beeb appear to think it appeals to the same age range as the cast, i.e. not everybody's target audience of adolescents (of any biological age). Since we're apparently an ageing population, according to their reckoning this series is headed for a ratings explosion. Meanwhile, I'll just fetch my slippers, plump up the cushions and wait for Dennis's dulcit tones....
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