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This page is about Gerry Standing, one of the main characters.
You may be looking for his grandson of the same name, found here.
Look, I've been a cop my whole life. And I've always done the job as best as I can. I mean look at me sitting here, I couldn't even quit when retirement came along. But I've never taken any money, I've never turned a blind eye and I never ran away from anything.
 
— Gerald Standing, Last Man Standing, Part Two


In-Universe Page
Gerald Standing I
Gerry Standing
Alive
Physical Information
Name Gerald Standing
(né Gerard Lestade)
Born 1945[1] (aged ~79)
France
Status Alive (Officially Declared Dead)
Portrayed by Dennis Waterman
Unknown Actor (as young boy)[2]
Samuel Oatley (younger police officer) [3]
First Appearance The Chinese Job
Final Appearance Last Man Standing, Part Two
Appearances see list
Occupational Information
Occupation Metropolitan Police Officer (before 1983[3]-before 2003)
Title Detective Sergeant (retired)
Police Branch CID[4] (??-??)
Vice Unit[5] (??-??)
Pedophile Unit[6] (??-??)
UCOS (2003-2015)
Family Information
Spouse Alison (8 years[7]; div.)[6]
Carole (div.)[8]
Jayne (div.)[9]
Father Norman Lestade[10]
Mother Valerie Maud Lestade[11]
Children Paula Standing
Amelia Standing
Caitlin Standing
Emily Driscoll (non-paternal)
Other Gerald Standing II (grandson)
Charles Standing (grandson)
Sid Lestade[12] (cousin)
Barry Lestade[13] (cousin)
Harry Lestade (second cousin)[14]
Gary Lestade (second cousin)[15]
Larry Lestade (second cousin once removed)[16]
Terry Lestade (first cousin once removed)[17]
Danny (cousin)[18]
Robin (son-in-law)

Gerald Standing I, possibly better known as "Gerry Standing", was a Detective Sergeant for the Metropolitan Police Service, retiring sometime in the 1990s. In 2003 he decided to join UCOS in order to better finance his familes. He remained there for 12 years eventually becoming the longest, and final, member from the original team. In 2015 he was officially declared dead; however, this was faked and he is currently residing in the United States.

Biography[]

Working for the MET[]

Last Man Standing, Part One

March 1983, Gerry transfers to a new police unit.[3]

UCOS Recruitment[]

...

Wrongly Suspecting Scott Bunce[]

In 1997 Gerry was part of an investigation into the murder of Lauren Bunce. It was his belief, as well as a majority of others (including her daughter), that her husband, Scott Bunce, was responsible. Sixteen years later in 2013 Scott Bunce was released from prison leading to UCOS re-open the case and reinterpret the evidence much to Gerry's dismay who still stands by his belief. To his surprise he is reunited with a former colleague, Mike Flemming, who also worked on the case and is working with UCOS to help solve it. During the investigation Brian Lane discovered vital evidence having gone missing - a set of keys - and follows up on it which eventually leads to him ruling out Scott Bunce as the suspect - Gerry is still unconvinced however. It is not until observing Sandra Pullman's interrogation with Bunce that he notices something odd about his answers, he then realises that he has made a huge mistake and that he was wrong for the past 16 years - it was not Scott Bunce who murdered his wife but rather Mike Flemming, the family liaison officer. Feeling bitterly ashamed of himself, he goes to arrests Flemming and later apologises to Bunce.[19]

Gerry shocking discovery

Gerry makes a shocking discovery regarding Mike Flemming[20]

Arrest[]

In 2015 he was arrested by his boss, DCI Sasha Miller, after it was discovered that he was connected to the disappearance and murder of DCI Martin Ackroyd. He was presumably automatically suspended from UCOS.[3]

Sasha miller arresting gerry

Sasha Miller arresting Gerry Standing in relation to the conspiracy over the disappearance and murder of DCI Martin Ackroyd

Personal Life[]

Family[]

His father is revealed to be Norman Lestade however he would later change his name to "Gerald Standing"[21].

Standing has been married, and subsequently divorced, three times. One of his partners out of wedlock was Trisha Driscoll - she had a daughter, Emily Driscoll, whom she thought was fathered by Standing but died of cancer, years after they separated, before she could find out for certain. Emily would later track down the man that her mother spoke of.

Standing has three children - Paula, Amelia and Caitlin. He was later confronted by another woman, Emily Driscoll, who claimed to be his fourth daughter after having a relationship with her mother, Trisha Driscoll, but DNA tests disproved this[22], however he still considers her to be his daughter none-the-less.

He has a grandson from Paula, Gerry Standing, whom she named after his grandfather.[23]

Gambling Addiction[]

Sometime in the 1970s, Standing drew up a debt that was large enough to cost him his life. He was later bought out by loan shark, Danny Paye.[24]

Trivia[]

  • Gerald Standing is the only character to appear in all episodes between the show's pilot episode and his leaving episode. This equates to 99 episodes making him the most seen character.
  • Gerry Standing was the last remaining member of the original UCOS team and is therefore the longest serving member overall - Jack Halford left in A Death In The Family, Brian Lane left in The Little Brother and Sandra Pullman, their former leader, left in The One That Got Away. None of the new team had that many episodes either, as Steve McAndrew made 36 appearances.
  • Hannah Waterman, Dennis Waterman's real-life daughter, portrays Standing's surrogate daughter, Emily Driscoll.
  • Dennis Waterman and his on-screen counterpart, Gerry Standing, have coincidentally each been divorced three times.
  • One of his nicknames is "Last Man Standing", as he was the only person in his old squad to not be bought out by gangster, Bobby Small.[25] It is a coincidence that this nickname ties in to him being the last remaining member from the original team. This nickname would later be used as the title for his final episode.
  • He claims the worst time in his life was when he was sent to Coventry - he hated it so much that he put in a request to transfer to VICE.
  • He worked under DCI Karen Hardwick, who he attempted to flirt with on her first day, during his time at the Pedophile Unit.[26]
  • Dennis Waterman very nearly decided to leave New Tricks in 2013 after his co-workers did the same, but later decided to stay because he enjoyed it so much.[27] He would later decide to leave at the start of Series 12 in 2015.
  • He is allergic to Granola cereal.[28]
  • Standing inherited Jack Halford's desk at UCOS upon his resignation - he would later justify this by claiming to be "the most senior member" for the team.[29]
  • The first time he went to Scotland was on 14th February 1973 to attend the England VS Scotland rugby game, England won 5-0. It was almost 40 years later that he would return to Scotland to help set up Glasgow UCOS.[30]
  • He has clear signs of feeling insecure about being abondoned - examples include his friends leaving him in the woods when he was a young boy[31], getting divorced three times[32], acting hostile towards Steve McAndrew[33], Danny Griffin[34] and Sasha Miller[35] on their respective first days and becoming paranoid that, with Jack and Brian gone, he is next on the list to go.[36].
  • He has Hylophobia, a fear of woods and forests.[37][38][39] In 2013, Steve recommended him to a psychiatrist where he discovered the reason behind it was down to his friends abandoning him in a forest when he was a young boy.
  • His unpaid tax bill amounts to £17,433 as of 2012 - it would seem that Whitehall are aware of this, but do not care enough to pursuit, due to Stephen Fisher using it as a means of blackmail.[40]
  • He strongly disapproves of pet funerals and is disgusted when he finds out Brian is having one for his recently deceased dog, Scruffy.[41]
  • He is officially declared deceased however this was faked by DAC Robert Strickland in an attempt to give Standing a clean slate. He is now residing in the United States.
  • After blowing up his iconic Triumph Stag to aid in faking his death, he purchased a red Ford Mustang (it was also from the same era as its predecessor).

Gallery[]

References[]

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