Dennis Waterman may have made his mark as Detective George Carter in iconic 70s show The Sweeney and is now starring as a retired copper in BBC1's New Tricks, but it doesn't mean he's above the law. In fact, it seems some cops go out of their way to nick him.

When we meet at a London club, Waterman shifts into full yarn-telling mode as he explains how his TV copper status has never done him any favours.

"It has had rewards for friends rather than me personally," says the familiar cockney voice.

"I have a manager who put his Roller virtually in a ditch and said, I'm sorry boys, I've been with John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. We've been getting a prize this evening' and they've said, Well, leave the car here and get a taxi'.

"When I've been done, I've had no sympathy at all," he laughs. "Years ago, I was one point over the drink limit and only 500 yards from my house when we were stopped. One guy drove my car home and the other guy drove me in the police car. And I said, Why did you actually stop me?' "He said: He insisted on it. He recognised you and said he absolutely wanted to nick Dennis Waterman'. I lost my license for a little while."

The 60-year-old is on screen playing Gerry Standing in a fifth series of the hit drama New Tricks alongside fellow British TV stalwarts Alun Armstrong and James Bolam.

They play a trio of old-fashioned retired cops back on the job investigating unsolved and cold cases - with Amanda Redman as their detective boss who tries to keep them in check.

The foursome are now firm friends and Waterman believes that's part of the reason for the show's success. Amanda apparently refers to the actors as three naughty schoolboys', whilst they have nicknamed her Boudy', short for Boudicca.

"There are certain women," says Waterman, "who on a film set can be one of the boys but not lose any femininity whatsoever - and Boudy is the top of the pile.

"She's also one of the better readers of scripts, so she's a natural leader, but we are such a team - not just among the actors but with the crew as well. It is a real team effort.

"It's a unique job. The four of us were cast however we were cast and it's just worked unbelievably," Waterman continues.

"We don't necessarily work in a similar way but we always want to get to the same outcome. There are no egos, nobody wants to be in more scenes than anybody else - all we want to do is make the show better."

New Tricks was based on a pilot Metropolitan Police unit who reopened old cases, which was so successful it has now been rolled out around the country.

"Quite often we read about suspect from a rape case who's rearrested and convicted on DNA evidence 22 years later. You hear much more about old crimes being reinvestigated," says Waterman.

"I think the fact that it actually is happening gives the show more impact as well."

the cast get regular feedback from real-life retired coppers, especially in praise of the office banter scenes.

"They say, That is exactly how we were when I was in the murder squad' or whatever. You see so many programmes where it's, We've got to do this case', but life isn't like that.

"Life is actually OK we'll do this and you've got to have a laugh on the way' and a drink together and the ex Old Bill in particular really recognise that."

The show attracts some well-known guest stars, including veteran actresses Sheila Hancock and Claire Bloom as well as Dennis' own daughter Hannah, 32.

She's back in this series as trainee police officer Emily, who believes Dennis' character Gerry is her father.

"We don't really think of each other as father and daughter any more. I think she thinks of me as the stupid younger brother," Waterman says with a laugh.

"Professionally I think she's terrific obviously, but the rest of the crew and cast are so pleased when she comes back. She's so welcomed by everyone, it's smashing."

London-born Dennis got into acting as a child, appearing in the 60s as William Brown in the BBC's adaptation of the Just William books.

He became a household name for his tough-guy roles in The Sweeney and Minder, for which he also sang the theme tune. A brief music career followed as well as more theme tunes for On The Up and New Tricks - a habit which was parodied by Matt Lucas and David Walliams in Little Britain.

There are rumours that The Sweeney is being turned into a film, with Ray Winstone set to play George Carter's Flying Squad colleague Jack Regan.

And reports abound that Channel Five have cast Shane Ritchie in a remake of Minder, the 80s classic which starred Dennis as the ex-con Terry McCann.

But Waterman is not convinced whether the ideas will work.

"If Ray's in The Sweeney, then it's not going to be absolute garbage," he says. "But I would be more interested in reading that script than the Minder one.

"It seems they may make a movie of The Sweeney, but it's kind of sad isn't? They have got to do it right so I don't know if they're going to do it in retrospect, because the Flying Squad isn't what it once was.

"I'm not sure there even is a Flying Squad now," he laughs.

As our chat draws to a close, Waterman is getting nostalgic for a golden age' of television when the writing was better and no one cared about ratings.

"Somebody asked me a little while ago, Why are the public so nostalgic about 1970s policemen? Because of Life On Mars and now New Tricks?" he adds.

"And I said, I don't think they are, I think they're nostalgic about good scripts being well-acted'. That might sound conceited but this is grown-up television."