McCrery and Mitchell devised the title of the programme around the proverb "You can't teach an old dog new tricks".

[6] The opening episode of series six was watched by 8.07 million, despite clashing with Five's The Mentalist (1.64M) and ITV's Living with Michael Jackson (3.64M).

In the fourth episode, Denis Lawson joined the cast, as the new character of retired DI Steve McAndrew.

[14] The final episode of the 9th series was a "stealth pilot" with Standing and McAndrew solving a cold case in McAndrew's home of Glasgow, setting up a potential spin-off; the episode was pulled from the BBC's schedule when the Jimmy Savile scandal broke, as child sex trafficking was a major plot point, and aired months later than planned, with the spin-off plan dead by that time.

Only Fools and Horses actor Nicholas Lyndhurst and former EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite appeared in Series 10, which was broadcast in Britain between 30 July and 1 October 2013.

[15] The opening episode of the 10th series gained an audience of 8.86 million viewers, making it the 12th most-watched programme of the year.

Departed star Amanda Redman, criticised the drama for becoming “bland”, adding, “the characters are not being as anarchic as they used to be, which I think is a huge shame”.

Roy Mitchell supports football team West Bromwich Albion and so named numerous characters after their players.

Production music was composed by father and son team Brian and Warren Bennett with technical assistance from Olivia Davies.

The British release of the first series DVD contains a cover version of "End of the Line" sung by Dennis Waterman at the beginning and end of the pilot episode and the second regular episode (the first filmed after the pilot ) Series 1 to 12 of New Tricks are available on DVD on Region 2 (UK).