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New Dogs! Nicholas Lyndhurst Joins Tamsin Outhwaite as a Not So Old Dog on New Tricks

So Nicholas Lyndhurst has officially joined the cast of top cop show New Tricks, with his character hitting TV screens at the end of August.


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So Nicholas Lyndhurst has officially joined the cast of top cop show New Tricks, with his character hitting TV screens at the end of August. But does this changing of the guard represent a change of tact for the UK’s highest rated drama series?

One of the most publicised factors of Alun Armstrong’s departure from the show, after ten years as weathered detective Brian Lane, was that his replacement was veritably fresh faced in comparison; not least because audiences still recognise him as Del Boy’s slow-witted younger brother in Only Fools and Horses.

Nicholas Lyndhurst joins the New Tricks team as Danny Griffin, a former Met Murder Squad, but the beloved actor is just 52 years old.

Now it’s hardly a surprise that a retiring actor at the end of a long and illustrious career would be replaced on a show by a younger model. But it makes headlines on this show since age is so integral to the premise; and the series’ title in the first place.

Britain’s highest rated crime series New Tricks follows the investigations of the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS), which is made up of retired policeman who just can’t let the job go. The show takes its name from the old adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, which led to eyebrows being raised when copper was enlisted who was young enough to still be at work.

But one thing you soon realise upon viewing Danny Griffin’s arrival in UCOS is that the theme of the show is still very much intact.

In fact much of the conflict of the Lyndhurst’s first episodes of the show revolves around the fact that Griffin is trying to teach the old dogs new tricks.

In an interview with The Express, Lyndhurst said of his character’s rivalry with Dennis Waterman’s character Gerry: “They don’t like each other from the off. Gerry is an old-style cop and Danny is more new wave in his thinking and plays more psychological games.

“Gerry also thinks Danny is a mole.”

The introduction made for some cracking entertainment and it looks set to continue. Bringing in Lyndhurst’s Danny Griffin isn’t a ploy to attract a different demographic or change the chemistry of the show. If anything all it serves to do is make a popular show even more popular; and allow a successful comic actor from the nation’s favourite sitcom to prove himself in its current leading drama.

He said: “I turn down 90 per cent of what I’m offered, but I really wanted to do this. It’s a much-loved show and it’s good for me to come out of my comfort zone and go into something new.”

Lyndhurst isn’t the only new face on New Tricks Series 10. He’ll soon be joined by Tamsin Outhwaite who’ll take over as UCOS boss when Amanda Redman leaves the show, as announced earlier this year.

At the age of 42, Outhwaite is fifteen years younger than her predecessor, which means she’s five years younger than Redman was when she started on the show. The dynamic of the show isn’t likely to alter with her arrival. All that remains to be seen is how her character will differ from Redman’s Sarah Pullman.

In the meantime, we can all enjoy new boy Danny Griffing ruffling old favourite Gerry Standing’s feathers.



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 New Tricks
 New Tricks Series 10
 Nicholas Lyndhurst
 Tamsin Outhwaite


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