"New Tricks" Tender Loving Care (TV Episode 2014) Poster

(TV Series)

(2014)

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7/10
Investigating the murder of a junior doctor
Tweekums28 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
The second case in the latest series sees the UCOS team investigating the murder of a young doctor in 2010. She was found strangled at home after a night clubbing; it is assumed that somebody followed her home but there are also reports of a strange man lurking nearby. As the investigation gets underway several suspects and motives emerge that the original investigation missed. Not long before she was killed she was involved in an operation at left a woman and her unborn child dead and may also have been involved with an older, senior doctor, her family also appear to be hiding something. Away from the investigation Danny is feeling down because his daughter has left for university so the team try to come up with ways to cheer him up.

After a slightly weak series opener we get a better episode; there were plenty of suspects and a similar number of motives which should keep the viewers guessing till the end. There were the usual number of laughs along the way although the opening gag where the men in the team were told they couldn't go into the night club seems very forced; indeed since they didn't do anything once inside it looked like it was only included for that gag! Overall though this was a decent enough instalment in this easy viewing series.
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6/10
A run of the mill layer episode.
Sleepin_Dragon9 January 2023
Junior Doctor Lydia Dryden was killed back in 2010, her killer was never brought to book, a prominent Surgeon is the number one suspect.

I can't say a lot more, other than solid, I don't think Series 11 has started off in the best possible way, compare this, and the previous episode to anything from series 4 or 5, and they are just off the pace.

I think as a story it was distinctly average, good ideas, but the execution could, and should have been so much better, it's just a little bland, not bad, just lacks something.

Nicholas Lyndhurst was perhaps the best and worst of this episode, Danny's incredibly irritating, and his know it all smugness and stroppy attitude are infuriating, however the story about his daughter Holly, was actually pretty moving.

Huge credit to Tamsin Outhwaite, she's been terrific since joining, and is excellent once again, but sadly she's dealing with a pretty weak script.

6/10.
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7/10
Tender Loving Care
TheLittleSongbird13 March 2018
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. "Tender Loving Care" continues the decent but not great standard set by the Season 11 opener "Bermondsey Boy".

While it is charming, witty and likeable, the chemistry between the leads was stronger in 'New Tricks' prime era (Seasons 1-9 when characters that made the show (especially Brian, which the show wasn't the same without when he left) were still there. Prime-era 'New Tricks' also had more spark and freshness.

Agree too that the beginning was a little forced. The case is fun, well paced and intriguing, though not the most twist-filled story 'New Tricks' has ever had and not the most surprising one either.

Sasha is more settled in and more confident as a leader, and Tamzin Outhwaite does a very good job again. She works very well too with the other three leads.

Visually, "Tender Loving Care" 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, with a nice mix of the comedic (Nicholas Lyndhurst has his funniest moment up to this point of the show) and the serious.

Cannot fault any of the performances, which are never less than solid. The leads are great, and while the chemistry as said is far from perfect it works well enough.

Overall, pretty good though not the best 'New Tricks' has to offer. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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Schmaltzy and ...
vryum21 March 2022
I think Outhwaite is okay and it is a difficult position to fill.

It's the tone that bothers me: saccharine and what I call "gimmicky".

But "lithium addict"? Really?
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5/10
Very dark episode, like a lot of season 11
scsaxe23 April 2022
The mystery is fine as far as it goes, but the episode is the most extreme of season 11 in just being really, really dark. Lots of night scenes, and the storyline is quite disturbing. It really makes the whole season, and this episode in particular, harder to watch than equivalent stories.

There isn't much outside story for the characters in this episode, whether good or bad.

The main story of course involves medical issues, personal life issues, and a whole bunch of possible suspects before finally solving the mystery.
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Drugs, hospital patients, family, doctors, boyfriends etc
ctyankee123 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This was interesting but I don't like the way some of the talk was. Strickland is not in this episode Lydia is found dead in her apartment after coming from a bar.

This episode is about Lydia stealing drugs, giving them to her sister and more. Lydia works at a hospital. UCOS thinks she was having an affair with the doctor. It comes out later that the doctor was her real father who caught her stealing drugs. A man married to her mother is said to be her father. The man knows he is not Lydia's father.

Suspects--Lydia's real father, her step father, her sister Katya addicted to Oxycodone, her bouncer friend, a patient's husband who died while Lydia had operated on his wife are some of the suspects.

This episode is so full of PC garbage. The actors are all good. The way they deal with crime though is upsetting at times. It is not treated as serious. Also the UCOS team are sometimes nutty.

Danny who is new and not married has a handicapped daughter named Holly in college who is in a wheel chair has trouble talking and wants her boyfriend to stay over night at Danny's house I suppose with her.

We have a female boss Sasha, black male lover of a white woman, a doctor that looks like he is from India in love with a white woman, Sasha the BOSS is good, this should make the feminist happy. Sasha dresses professional and does not have that mean attitude like her predecessor Sandra. She is younger, blond, tall and thin and thank God we don't have to see her boobs like Sandra's low cut blouses. She does look a little like Sandra. At times she is too understanding about crime when people tell her why they do something. The episode before this one let others off the hook that used stolen jewels to donate money for good causes. Now she says to a hospital employee just tell us what happened we won't tell the hospital about the drug stealing.

Steve is creepy he likes to play games on his phone. He is like Gerry he has an eye for women and gets distracted. They are using electronics more in these episodes. Sasha has a tablet searches her phone and tablet for info on cases and suspects.

The thing that surprises me is that they all drink alcohol when they are on duty in British police stories. UCOS drinks after work but if they visit a house and are offered a drink in other episodes they don't refuse especially Gerry.

So each episode is different.
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