Dennis Waterman has died.

[Fatal paper cut]

"It's alright, it's okay, doesn't really matter if you're old and grey".....loved him on New Tricks. RIP Mr Waterman.

That theme song is so odd, they clearly wanted to use "End of the Line" by the Traveling Wilburys but couldn't for some reason, so ended up making that shameless rip off.

You're absolutely right. Interestingly, the pilot episode of New Tricks shown about a year before the series did indeed feature a cover version of "End of the Line" performed by Dennis Waterman. 

I guess even that was too expensive to clear for the series to use long term, hence the "loving tribute" that they ended up using.