The
lowdown: 'Minder' ran for 10 seasons on ITV1, from October 1979
to March 1994, including a number of specials.
It initially starred George
Cole as dodgy entrepreneur Arthur Daley and Dennis Waterman as his minder/bodyguard,
although
Terry usually ended up minding
other people as Arthur hired out his services. Waterman eventually left
the series and was
replaced by Arthur's nephew
Ray Daley (played by Gary Webster) for the final three seasons. 'Minder'
blended comedy, drama
and the odd bit of crime,
with a sucession of police officers trying to nick Arthur for one crime
or another. While 'Arfur' was a
bit of a rogue, he was definitely
in the small-time league of London crooks.
Patrick Troughton was one
of the many guest stars who featured in 'Minder' during its 108 episodes.
He appeared in two
episodes as Joe Mancini,
a businessman and the patriarch of a British-Italian family. His first
appearance was in 'Windows',
the ninth episode of the
fourth season. Terry helps Roddy Allan (played by Stephen Rea) to find
his wife Laura and his young granddaughter. Laura is the daughter of Joe
Mancini, who has brought shame upon her family and been barred from the
family
home as a result. However,
the Mancinis' domestic problems threaten to jeopardise Arthur's latest
business venture, an
aerobics studio. Janet Fielding
also features in this episode, as one of the aerobic instructors in one
of her first roles after
'Doctor Who'. Troughton
reprised his role as Joe Mancini in the fifth season episode, 'Give Us
This Day Arthur Daley's Bread',
as did Fielding.
Another
of my favourite TV shows during my formative years, 'Minder' has aged a
bit over the decades (the fashions alone
show
that it is very much a product of the 1970s and 1980s (anyone for flairs?).
However, it is still a very entertaining
series
and deserves to be a success on DVD. If you have never seen 'Minder', or
remember it fondly from all those years
ago,
it is definitely worth another look. And you can always play 'spot the
guest star who later became more famous'...
Trivia:
The 'Minder' theme song, 'I Could Be So Good For You', was sung by Waterman,
and made it into the top 5 of the UK
music
charts in 1980.
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