[14] Waterman, best known for his roles in The Sweeney and Minder, who played Gerry Standing in the police procedural comedy-drama series, died on 8 May 2022, aged 74, in La Manga, Spain.
The team discovers the victim was a respected but outspoken scientist with a knack for rubbing people up the wrong way – was strongly opposed to the museum's sponsorship deal with a large fuel company, Mondial Oil.
In their first case without trusty colleague Jack, the team reinvestigates the disappearance of PE teacher Jason Bowe when the remains of a body are discovered near the elite public boarding school where he taught.
Unfortunately, their snooping could not have come at a worse time for the staff, who are preparing to welcome a local MP to open their new computer centre – but what they do glean tells them the dead man seemed very much a loner.
Retired detective Steve McAndrew arrives from Glasgow to help reinvestigate one of his original cases, when the DNA of a young girl who went missing in 2003 after a university disco is found at the scene of a petrol station robbery in Clapham.
They soon find several people with motives for her murder, including her coach Nick and agent Anthony, but it seems the one with the most to benefit from the girl's demise was her great rival Fawn Brammall – a shy and subdued player who proves difficult to question.
As Lane comes to terms with life after UCOS, Esther asks him to help one of her book club friends find her missing brother – but will his nose for the truth get him into further trouble?
As recently retired cop Dan Griffin joins the UCOS team, a young woman's paternity test leads to the reopening of a notorious murder case from the seedy underworld of 1980s Soho in which the prime suspect was mysterious ex-jazz chanteuse Angela Gold.
Sandra seizes the chance to solve a murder that she believes is linked to her first ever case, and the team start putting together a jigsaw puzzle of suspects from a photograph taken in a London park in the 90s.
An unexploded World War II bomb is unearthed on an urban allotment in west London, dredging up a long-hidden murder weapon, and the team find themselves investigating a ritualistic killing of an Italian immigrant from 25 years ago.
In true UCOS spirit, the boys throw away the rulebook and uncover something much bigger than just a straightforward murder, involving some top officials, a multinational drugs company, and signs of a huge cover-up.