BBC drama as actor James Bolam tires of New Tricks

James Bolam, the star of New Tricks, has pulled out of the popular drama days after the BBC announced that he would appear in a new series.

 

With viewing figures of almost 10 million, New Tricks is the BBC’s most popular drama. However, just days after the corporation announced that it had commissioned the show for two more series with its current “dream team” cast, it has been thrown into turmoil.

James Bolam, who has appeared in all eight series, tells Mandrake that he has pulled out. “James Bolam is not doing another series of New Tricks,” confirms his agent.

The former star of The Likely Lads is said to have told friends that the programme, in which Dennis Waterman, Amanda Redman and Alun Armstrong play a band of old-school police officers brought out of retirement to work on unsolved and open cases, has gone “stale”.

The producers are now desperately trying to persuade Bolam, 76, to return for a cameo appearance. “We are very sorry to see him go, but fully understand that the time and commitment involved in filming are quite considerable,” says Richard Burrell, the executive producer.

“We are in talks with James about him returning for one episode next year. We are very excited about the return of the rest of the cast.”