Fans of hit US sitcom Friends may recall that when Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) criticised the writers of Days of Our Lives, and claimed he wrote most of his own lines, those writers were livid and soon had Joey’s character Drake Ramoray plunging to his death down an elevator shaft…

Well, had Amanda Redman not already announced that she’s quitting the show, New Tricks writer Julian Simpson may have considered a similarly sticky end for her character, Sandra Pullman, after Amanda said of the show, “It’s more bland now. The characters are not being as anarchic as they used to be.”

Likewise, her co-stars Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman also recently criticised the scripts prompting Simpson to furiously write on Twitter, “A New Tricks I wrote and directed airs on Monday.

“I can tell you EXACTLY how much of it the actors wrote: not a f***ing comma…

“I was going to be writing today, instead I’m just going to hand the actors a pad and pen.

“I wish I’d learned this 15 years ago.”

He added, “For my, presumably considerable, sins I’ve written eight episodes of New Tricks – all without the help of any Equity members.

“Worth saying that I get on phenomenally well with the New Tricks cast. Just don’t appreciate actors speaking out of turn and they know that.”

O dear…