Minder

Minder is a comedy/drama revolving round the exploits of Arthur Daley (George Cole) - a 'businessman' trading in goods of a rather questionable origin - and his 'Minder'(bodyguard) ex-boxer Terry McCann (Dennis Waterman). Although the series made a rather unpromising start - first delayed by the 1979 ITV strike (see History), then receiving a luke-warm response from the viewers - it was destined to become one of Euston Film's most popular series. The poor viewer reaction to the first series can probably be attributed to the public's continued perception of Dennis Waterman as George Carter from The Sweeney. Viewing figures did improved for the second series however, and in 1980 the series received an award from the Writers Guild. Thing's looked even brighter during Series 3, as it began to make regular appearances in the 'Top Ten' chart - twice reaching 'No.4'. It's popularity increased still further for Series 4 when it reached 'No 2' on two consecutive weeks. While Series 5 saw it finally reach 'the top' by appearing in the 'No.1' slot on three occations. By this time of course Minder had become, what Arthur Daley might call, 'A Nice Little Earner' for both Euston (it was sold to over twenty six countries), and it's two stars (they were reported as being the highest-paid actors in Britain). In 1991 Dennis Waterman declined to continue with the series and many predicted it would have to end, but a new character - Arthur's nephew Ray Daley (Gary Webster) - was introduced to replace Terry, and the series continued until 1994, clocking up a grand total of: 105 episodes of 52 mins, 1 episode at 120 min (Minder on the Orient Express), 1 episode at 90 min (An Officer and a Car Salesman) and a 'clips' show (Minder Christmas Bonus).

Roll the Credits...

Episode List...

	Prog.	Episode Title	Written by	Directed by	First Broadcast
Series 1	1	Gunfight at the OK Laundrette	Leon Griffiths	Peter Sasdy	29 October 1979
	2	Bury My Half at Waltham Green	Paul Wheeler	Chris King	5 November 1979
	3	The Smaller They Are	Leon Griffiths	Roy Ward Baker	12 November 1979
	4	A Tethered Goat	Murray Smith	James Gatward	19 November 1979
	5	The Bounty Hunter	Bernie Cooper	Peter Sasdy	26 November 1979
	6	Aces High and Sometimes Very Low	Leon Griffiths	Roy Ward Baker	3 December 1979
	7	The Bengal Tiger	Leon Griffiths	Peter Sasdy	10 December 1979
	8	Come in T-64 Your Time is Slowly Ticking Away	Tony Hoare	Francis Megahy	17 December 1979
	9	Monday Night Fever	Leon Griffiths	Mike Vardy	1 January 1980
	10	The Dessert Song	Andrew Payne	Roy Ward Baker	7 January 1980
	11	You Gotta Have Friends	Leon Griffiths	Ian Toynton	14 January 1980
Series 2	12	National Pelmet	Willis Hall	Martin Campbell	11 September 1980
	13	Who's Wife is it Anyway	Tony Hoare	Roy Ward Baker	18 September 1980
	14	You Lose Some, You Win Some	Jeremy Burnham	James Gatward	25 September 1980
	15	Don't Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here	Paul Wheeler	Dennis Abey	9 October 1980
	16	Not a Bad Lad, Dad	Tony Hoare	Ian Toynton	16 October 1980
	17	The Beer Hunter	Willis Hall	Tom Clegg	23 October 1980
	18	A Nice Little Wine	Stanley Price	Chris Menaul	30 October 1980
	19	All Mod Cons	Andrew Payne	Ian Sharp	6 November 1980
	20	Diamonds are a Girl's Worst Enemy	Paul Wheeler	Chris King	20 November 1980
	21	The Old School Tie	Jeremy Burnham	James Gatward	27 November 1980
	22	All About Scoring, Innit?	Willis Hall	Martin Campbell	4 December 1980
	23	Caught in the Act, Fact	Tony Hoare	Terry Green	11 December 1980
	24	A Lot of Bull and A Pat on the Back	Tony Hoare	Terry Green	18 December 1980
Series 3	25	Dead Men Do Tell Tales	Tony Hoare	Robert Young	13 January 1982
	26	You Need Hands	Andrew Payne	Ian Sharp	20 January 1982
	27	Rembrandt Doesn't Live Here Anymore	Dave Humphries	Tom Clegg	27 January 1982
	28	Looking for Mickey	Tony Hoare	Tom Clegg	3 February 1982
	29	Dream House	Andrew Payne	Tom Clegg	10 February 1982
	30	Another Bride, Another Groom	Willis Hall	Mike Vardy	17 February 1982
	31	The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs	Leon Griffiths	Ian Toynton	24 February 1982
	32	The Son also Rises	Paul Wheeler	Francis Megahy	3 March 1982
	33	Why Pay Tax?	Leon Griffiths	Roy Ward Baker	10 March 1982
	34	Broken Arrow	George Day	Roy Ward Baker	17 March 1982
	35	Poetic Justice - Innit?	Tony Hoare	Terry Green	24 March 1982
	36	Back in Good Old England	Andrew Payne	Francis Megahy	31 March 1982
	37	In	Leon Griffiths	Ian Toynton	7 April 1982
Christmas Special	38	Minder Christmas Bonus	Various	Various	26 December 1983
Series 4	39	Rocky Eight and a Half	Leon Griffiths	Ian Toynton	11 January 1984
	40	Senior Citizen Caine	Andrew Payne	Robert Young	18 January 1984
	41	High Drains Pilferer	Dave Humphries	Robert Young	25 January 1984
	42	Sorry Pal, Wrong Number	Leon Griffiths	Terry Green	1 February 1984
	43	The Car Lot Baggers	Trevor Preston	Francis Megahy	8 February 1984
	44	If Money Be the Food of Love, Play On	Tony Hoare	Terry Green	15 February 1984
	45	A Star is Gorn	Tony Hoare	Ian Toynton	22 February 1984
	46	Willesden Suite	Andrew Payne	Francis Megahy	29 February 1984
	47	Windows	Geoffrey Case	Robert Young	7 March 1984
	48	Get Daley!	Andrew Payne	Ian Toynton	14 March 1984
	49	A Well-Fashioned Fit Up	Barry Purchese	Jim Hill	21 March 1984
Series 5	50	Goodbye Sailor	Andrew Payne	Francis Megahy	5 September 1984
	51	What Makes Shamy Run?	Leon Griffiths	Terry Green	12 September 1984
	52	A Number of Old Wives' Tales	Tony Hoare	Francis Megahy	19 September 1984
	53	The Second Time Around	Geoffrey Case	Francis Megahy	26 September 1984
	54	Secondhand Pose	Tony Hoare	Roy Ward Baker	10 October 1984
	55	Long Ride Back to Scratchwood	Leon Griffiths	Terry Green	17 October 1984
	56	Hypnotising Rita	Alan Janes	Terry Green	1 January 1985
	57	The Balance of Power	David Yallop	Ian Toynton	?
Christmas Special	58	Around the Corner	Tony Hoare	Roy Ward Baker	26 December 1984
Series 6	59	Give Us This Day Arthur Daley's Bread	Andrew Payne	Francis Megahy	4 September 1985
	60	Life in the Fast Food Lane	?	?	11 September 1985
	61	Return of the Invincible Man	Leon Griffiths	Roy Ward Baker	18 September 1985
	62	Arthur is dead, Long Live Arthur	Tony Hoare	Terry Green	25 September 1985
	63	From Fulham With Love	Tony Hoare	Francis Megahy	2 October 1985
	64	Waiting for Goddard	Leon Griffiths	Roy Ward Baker	9 October 1985
Christmas Special	65	Minder on the Orient Express	Andrew Payne	Francis Megahy	25 December 1985
Christmas Special	66	An Officer and a Car Salesman	Tony Hoare	Roy Ward Baker	26 December 1988
Series 7	67	It's a Sorry Lorry, Morrie	Tony Hoare	Roy Ward Baker	2 January 1989
	68	Day of Fines and Closures	David Yallop	William Brayne	9 January 1989
	69	Fatal Impression	Anita Bronson	Terry Green	16 January 1989
	70	The Last Video Show	Andrew Payne	Roy Ward Baker	23 January 1989
	71	Fiddler on the Hoof	?	?	30 January 1989
	72	The Wrong Goodbye	?	?	6 February 1989
Series 8	73	The Loneliness of the Long Distance Entrepreneur	David A. Yallop	Diarmuid Lawrence	5 September 1991
	74	A Bouquet of Barbed Wine	Kevin Sperring & Bernard Dempsey	Diarmuid Lawrence	12 September 1991
	75	Whatever Happened to Her Indoors?	David A. Yallop	Roger Bamford	19 September 1991
	76	Three Cons Make a Mountain	David A. Yallop	Mike Vardy	26 September 1991
	77	Guess Who's Coming to Pinner	David A. Yallop	Diarmuid Lawrence	3 October 1991
	78	The Last Temptation of Daley	William Ivory	Diarmuid Lawrence	10 October 1991
	79	A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in Shepherd's Bush	David A. Yallop	Roger Bamford	17 October 1991
	80	Him Indoors	Iain Roy & Chris Kelly	Roger Bamford	24 October 1991
	81	The Greatest Show in Willesden	Kevin Sperring & Bernard Dempsey	Derek Banham	31 October 1991
	82	Too Many Crooks	Tony Jordan	Alistair Hallum	7 November 1991
	83	The Odds Couple	Tony Jordan & Liane Aukin	Keith Washington	14 November 1991
	84	The Coach That Came in from the Cold	Kevin Clark	Richard Standeven	21 November 1991
Christmas Special	85	The Cruel Canal	Kevin Sperring & Bernard Dempsey	Keith Washington	25 December 1991
Series 9	86	I'll Never Forget Whats'ername	William Ivory	Lawrence Gordon Clark	7 January 1993
	87	No Way to Treat a Daley	Tim Firth	Lawrence Gordon Clark	14 January 1993
	88	Uneasy Rider	Geoff Rowley	Diarmuid Lawrence	21 January 1993
	89	Looking for Mr. Goodtime	David A. Yallop	Gordon Flemyng	28 January 1993
	90	Opportunity Knocks and Bruises	Chris Kelly & Iain Roy	Diarmuid Lawrence	4 February 1993
	91	Gone with the Winchester	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	Lawrence Gordon Clark	11 February 1993
	92	How to Succeed in Business Without Really Retiring	William Ivory	Richard Standeven	18 February 1993
	93	The Roof of All Evil	William Ivory	Gordon Flemyng	25 February 1993
	94	Last Orders at the Winchester	Gary Lawson & John Phelps	A. J. Quinn	4 March 1993
	95	Cars and Pints and Pains	David A. Yallop	Lawrence Gordon Clark	11 March 1993
	96	The Great Trilby	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	Roger Bamford	18 March 1993
	97	A Taste of Money	William Ivory	Roger Bamford	25 March 1993
	98	For a Few Dollars More	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	Roger Bamford	1 April 1993
Series 10	99	A Fridge Too Far	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	Charles Beeson	6 January 1994
	100	Another Case of Van Blank	William Ivory	Ken Hannam	13 January 1994
	101	All Things Brighton Beautiful	Tony Hoare	Gordon Flemyng	20 January 1994
	102	One Flew over the Parents' Nest	?	?	27 January 1994
	103	The Immaculate Contraption	William Ivory	Gordon Flemyng	3 February 1994
	104	All Quiet on the West End Front	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	Diarmuid Lawrence	10 February 1994
	105	The Great Depression of 1994	Arthur Ellis	Gordon Flemyng	17 February 1994
	106	On the Autofront	William Ivory	Baz Taylor	24 February 1994
	107	Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley	Bernard Dempsey & Kevin Sperring	John Stroud	3 March 1994
	108	The Long Good Thursday	Tony Hoare	Lawrence Gordon Clark	10 March 1994

Euston Films
Programme Library