Denis Lawson joins New Tricks

Denis Lawson joins New Tricks
Denis Lawson joins New Tricks (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Denis Lawson is to join BBC1's New Tricks. The 64-year old Scottish actor, best known for the film Local Hero and dramas Bleak House and Criminal Justice, will play Detective Inspector Steve McAllister, and will join the UCOS team of retired police investigating unsolved crimes. But the new recruit won't be a smooth fit. McAllister is described as 'a bundle of energetic optimism with a tendency to get personally involved in the cases he’s working on', the complete opposite of pessimist Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong). He will immediately rub people up the wrong way with an 'unorthodox and sometimes unprofessional approach to policing', reports Radio Times. Denis said: “I’m delighted to be joining Amanda, Alun and Dennis on New Tricks. I’ve long admired the show and love its ability to be warm, humorous and gritty simultaneously. I’m really looking forward to being part of it.” Denis's character will fill the gap left by the departure of original cast member James Bolam. The 10-part ninth series of New Tricks will screen on BBC1 later this year.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.