Overview: Recruited out of various stages of retirement are the deeply gifted English character actors James Bolam (playing recent widower Jack Halford), Alun Armstrong (terrific as the obsessive-compulsive Brian Lane, who left the force after a nervous breakdown), and Dennis Waterman (a former sergeant and hothead who likes his liquor). Indeed, 'New Tricks' is part police proceduralas well as a humorous work dramedy!

DVD Verdict: Again, and for the record, I love this UK TV show! Have done since the very first season and cannot wait for season eight to make its way to DVD over here. And, for those interested, the BBC has commissioned a ninth series to air in 2012 and a tenth series for 2013, which will contain ten episodes each, just like the two previous ones!

My favorite episodes from this ten-episode box-set are actually moreover the top-loaders in the seventh season. In 'Dark Chocolate,' the season opener, Gerry is trying to give up smoking amidst an inquiry into a set of rapes back a few years ago. Two at a Chocolate Factory, one at a bakery in the high street. A bit of a plodder in the mdidle, it truly does have a nice twist come the end. In 'Good Morning, Lemmings,' Brian find (and fast becomes addicted to) Twitter - and tweeting his work thoughts hourly therein. The case revolves around a dead graffiti artist known as Flak, whose work is now worth millions and whose tag is being sprayed on high profile buildings around town. This one stars one of the UK's greatest ongong stars, Simon MacCorkindale as a rich art collector.

In 'It Smells of Books,' a delicious tale of a dead college teacher, stolen priceless books, and out-dated visa's is unwound before us. Whilst searching in the library, Brian also uncovers more to the case than was first thought. In 'Coming Out Ball,' an 18 year-old debutante goes missing, presumed kidnapped by the Irish Republican Front; who took credit for it at the time and then retracted it soon thereafter. Some 27 years on and they are investigating an arms dealer seemingly linked to the case now. This one also stars the wonderful Annette Crosbie ('One Foot In The Grave').

In 'Gloves Off,' a boxer (James Grogan), who was shot a few years back, but without a weapon nothing could be done about it, suddenly gets his case reopened when the gun used to murder him shows up some 11 years later. In an armed robbery, of all places! So, UCOS are drawn into the darker side of professional boxing here. And, as much as you learn quite a lot out about the team, it also causes some weird conflict between them too. In the series finale, 'The Fourth Man,' as the team re-investigates a 30-year-old safety deposit robbery, they find themselves unwittingly drawn into a case involving high-level police corruption - that threatens the future of UCOS. Who is to be believed, who is to be trusted, and more importantly, is what they uncover also going to end their careers?! These are all Full Screen Presentations (1:85.1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Behind-The-Scenes Featurette (8 min.)
Bloopers (10 min.)