Series 10 and the cast

Given all the change thats been happening recently in new tricks, with James Bolam leaving,Denis Lawson taking over, Amanda Redman and Alun Armstrong set to leave in the 10th series and Nicholas Lyndhurst set to take over from Mr Armstrong i decided that i'd like to know the wide fan opinon of the changes.

Are they a good thing? Are they giving the show a breath of fresh air or has it become stagnant?

For me i loved the 9th series,Steve McAndrew was a great addition to the cast and i loved that Gerry got a lot more to do this series than normal.

I kind of thought that for a while the show had begun to revolve a little to much around Jack Halford with a few episodes revolving around him in the 8th series. Don't get me wrong, i loved the charcater of Jack, but in a way i'm glad that the cast is changing; your getting new characters and with them new relationships and back grounds.

I will admit,however, that some episodes did seem to be more about the case the team were working on rather than the characters themselves in the past few years.
for example
Jack talking to his dead wife, which all but stopped after the fifth series with a "cameo" in the sixth.
Gerry and his wifes, who last appeared in the 4th series and haven't appeared since, the only person from Gerry's personal life to appear has been his eldest daughter, his youngest daughter last appearing in the 3rd series and his middle daughter hasn't appeared since the pilot.

The scenes with Brian and Esther still remain, but they appear in fewer frequency than they used to and aren't always as expansive or funny.

For Brian and Jack, i felt that becuase of this their characters had been exausted somewhat, whilst i feel there is still some more character development to be given with Gerry, I,E the friendship he started up with Steve, as i felt the series did not often focus on him, usually only with an episode devoted to his character.

i also like the expansion that the character of Strickland has been getting in recent years, showing a bit more of a likeable character than he was in earlier series.

For the replacement of Sandra, i think they will need another female lead as it just seems to be right to have a woman in charge of these old buggers.

I have to say that i am really looking forward to Nicholas Lyndhurst joing the team and to see what kind of character he'll play

For me i am personally looking forward to the 10th series of New Tricks and i hope it will be a brilliant step forward.