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Post by jno on Sept 29, 2015 15:11:58 GMT
Link to episode on minder.org: www.minder.org/episodeguide/S08E09_TheGreatestShowInWillesden.htm
The Greatest Show in Willesden
While Arthur's at the barber talking about the good old days of entertainment, Ray is playing snooker with his dodgy old school pal Barry, who Ray refers to as 'Barrel'. Barrel tries to recruit Ray to help promote his karaoke business in local pubs and clubs. Ray takes Gloria along to a karaoke evening at the Rose & Crown. Barrel is not a particularly nice character and he treats his right arm man 'Trev' very badly - Trev just seems to do whatever Barrel asks him without question (both pictured here).
When Arthur gets wind of the karaoke business, he gets himself down to the Rose & Crown and surprises them all. His plan - to check out what's what and before long Arthur is totally sold on the idea of karaoke and entertainment in pubs. He soon tries to convince Dave this would be a good idea at the Winchester, but Dave isn't buying.
Before long Arthur and his pal Monty Hinchcliffe have tracked down Tommy Pickford, a former ventriloquist who Arthur loved back in the day. Arthur wants to try and bring back his old act 'Mystic Mickey' and combine this with some karaoke at failing British Volunteer pub, where the landlord is a pal of Arthur's. Arthur borrows a karaoke machine from Mrs Gabadini, who together with her sons are a renowned tough criminal family in West London.
Overall - I like this one. There are not too many laughs, but it is very enjoyable nevertheless. There are one or two moments of humour, such as when Colin Stamp appears at the audition singing of "Fair Moon, To Thee I Sing".
Some top lines:
Dave to Ray (about the audition process): This is getting right up my hooter!
Arthur to Ray (when his karaoke machine gets stolen): Thanks to your nocturnal activities with the fair sex, I am now deep in the stilton with one of the more vicious families of West London. I only hope this wil be a lesson to you, women are trouble.
For me this is very representative of the time. I remember going to the pub in the early 90s and having to suffer karaoke which was gaining in popularity at this point in order to attract punters. This has such a great early 90s vibe about it. One notable point for me is the second karaoke singer at the Rose & Crown wearing a 'bum bag' down to the pub! This isn't the greatest episode of Minder but I do enjoy watching it - what it lacks is seeing what the Gabadinis do at the end in order to balance their books with the karaoke machine that Barrel has nicked. It would have been so nice to see him and Trev getting their comeuppance.
Some more history about 'Stables Market' and 'Stanley Sidings' where Mrs Gabadini's warehouse is located here: www.locallocalhistory.co.uk/ctown/p150/pages166-170.htm
Potential dialog blooper - listen carefully when Gloria turns up 44m38s - does Ray call Gloria 'Nina' ? Fair play, Emma Cunningham as Gloria, wow - she is very nice in this one.
For me this is one of the better ones from series 8 I think - shame there is no punch up though: 7/10. 
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Post by Celvin on Dec 29, 2015 19:39:34 GMT
Arthur is often shown to be a sentimentalist about the 'old days' and this is a good example.
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Post by daytona355 on Jan 1, 2016 18:53:57 GMT
I like this one, the snooker club scene always reminds me of the film with the Kemp brothers about the Krays, when they take out the Maltese! Nice to see the Mafiosi boys move in, you know barrel is going to get rolled, and his dopey mate will run like the wind!
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Post by daz on Jan 6, 2016 19:49:42 GMT
No matter how iffy the script is GC just raises the bar and sees it over the finishing line. I think Dave plays a more prominent role in the RD episodes also, which is good, as always like seeing Dave on screen.
The Greatest Show in Willesden is one of my favourite episodes of Minder.
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Post by daz on Jan 7, 2016 8:13:18 GMT
Watched this last night in my quest to complete the box set and it really is an enjoyable episode in my opinion.
It is great TV seeing all that great character actors in the one scene at barbershop reminiscing about days gone by.
I think Dave is great in this episode also and how big a sleezebag is the character Barry, you know from the off he's a wrong'un. Good to see him get his comeuppance
Arthur Daley being nice to old Tommy at the end was a nice touch as we don't often see the nice side of Arthur, although it could have been a folded up paper in the envelope.
You are correct about the blooper jno, Ray does call her Nina/Gina.
When I was at School I used to get my haircut at a Barber's shop like the one shown in this episode. It was run by an ex RAF guy and was full of old ex service guys. Even though I was in the shop every 4-6 weeks you never got to speak much as it was full these old guys speaking about their days in the services and there was never any point in stating what hairstyle you wanted as you got one, short, very short! Not sure if he served up special coffee though.
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Post by pr1 on Oct 17, 2016 2:50:14 GMT
I enjoyed this and found Mystic Mickey amusing. I was surprised to hear Hey Jude during the kareoke scene. I found George Cole especially wonderful when reminiscing about the old days of entertainment and speaking to Mickey. A brief bit but a gem nevertheless.
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Post by jno on Oct 17, 2016 3:28:41 GMT
I enjoyed this and found Mystic Mickey amazing. I was surprised to hear Hey Jude during the kareoke scene. I found George Cole especially wonderful when reminiscing about the old days of entertainment and speaking to Mickey. A brief bit but a gem nevertheless. I agree, the scene where Arthur talks to Mickey alone is really pretty magical - a true nostalgic at heart. |
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Post by pr1 on Oct 17, 2016 3:30:56 GMT
Ahhhh! I meant to type that I found Mystic Mickey amusing.
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Post by yoyopickles on Jan 11, 2017 21:27:49 GMT
Funny thing is, my local chippy was a bit like the barbers! I had been going in there years and the asian blokes who ran it were the same age as me, born here in England so were very westernised and the fact I know a smattering of urdo meant that we were good mates, in the late 90s/early 00s it was quite usual for me to go round there on a Saturday night, and stumble back home a couple of hours later, with a now cold portion of chips and good deal of "off the back of a lorry vodka" consumed, that one of their delivery drivers got for them! That stuff was your proper falling down juice! My mum used to say "been to the chippy again have you!"
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Post by westldner on Oct 18, 2017 1:49:20 GMT
I thought it was nice how they really used the equipment in this episode. How they made it like very bizarre to begin with. Doesn't feel high tech or anything.
It was a nice episode. No punch up but it was nice to see how it worked out towards the end. It was nice to see Gloria back again
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Post by Albert Wendell on Nov 1, 2017 0:16:26 GMT
A neat little episode that showed the softer side of Arthur, looking back to the old days with his friends (and not trying to flog them something), insisting that Tommy took his money and not being too cross with Ray for leaving the karaoke machine in the "Y reg Transit" overnight. However I did feel Dave was tougher than normal saying no to Arthur's theme night and to Ray's offer of a quiz machine plus being abit cross about the auditions.
When we see the shot of the shelf in the Transit where Arthur kept his cigars & bag of 10p's did you notice what was on the shelf? It was a Ford badge and looking at a later scene the Ford badge on the rear door of the Transit looked discoloured or damaged so possibly a replacement waiting to be fixed on.
On the subject of barbers in the late 80's to mid 90's I used to get my hair cut in a tiny barbers shop that was situated at the back of a sweet shop the barber was in his 50s and he had taken over the business from the previous owner who'd trained him as a boy. It was like going back into the 1950s, old leather bench sofa (with a copy of The Sun for customers to read on it), wood paneled walls, old red leather barbers chair, ancient sink with old taps, a black & white TV with the sport on and a cockatiel in a cage. They'd always be around 4/5 men normally in their 60's with comb overs waiting for a trim. The room would be filled with cigarette smoke and even the barber would smoke a small cigar whilst cutting your hair and engage in conversation (normally about sport with those in the room) and get this after cutting your hair he would remove the barbers cape a drop into your lap an old beer towel to wipe your neck, the same beer towel for every customer he obviously got them free from the pub but you'd think he could stretch to some small hand towels.
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Post by jno on Oct 26, 2018 16:06:53 GMT
Trev? Drinks! I got one!  I have to say, I like the Trevor character in this one, here's an edited video with all his scenes in ... now get that darn ya screech!  Ray Daley is .... the comical koala! |
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Post by pr1 on Nov 18, 2018 22:36:08 GMT
When Arthur and his cronies are discussing old Music Hall acts in the barbershop, someone mentions a joke about recognizing Hitler. I couldn't make out the joke. Can some one please tell me what it is? Thanks.
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Post by jno on Nov 19, 2018 10:28:11 GMT
When Arthur and his cronies are discussing old Music Hall acts in the barbershop, someone mentions a joke about recognizing Hitler. I couldn't make out the joke. Can some one please tell me what it is? Thanks. I believe it goes like this: Around 3 minutes in ... Arthur says "Sid Field" then comes the following dialogue: "Now for me, no one came near Rob Wilton"
"Well, now you're talking"
"The day war broke out"
"But how are you going to know which one is Hitler?"
Together (with an 'up north' lilt): "I've got a tongue in my head, haven't I woman?" I am still not sure what the gag is though. |
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Post by pr1 on Nov 19, 2018 23:08:53 GMT
When Arthur and his cronies are discussing old Music Hall acts in the barbershop, someone mentions a joke about recognizing Hitler. I couldn't make out the joke. Can some one please tell me what it is? Thanks. I believe it goes like this: Around 3 minutes in ... Arthur says "Sid Field" then comes the following dialogue: "Now for me, no one came near Rob Wilton"
"Well, now you're talking"
"The day war broke out"
"But how are you going to know which one is Hitler?"
Together (with an 'up north' lilt): "I've got a tongue in my head, haven't I woman?" I am still not sure what the gag is though. Thank you. I don't get the joke either. |
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Post by thewoodster on Jan 7, 2019 0:18:28 GMT
This is a pretty good watch from the Ray years.
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Post by bodiesstuntdouble on Jan 26, 2021 13:53:51 GMT
I believe it goes like this: Around 3 minutes in ... Arthur says "Sid Field" then comes the following dialogue: "Now for me, no one came near Rob Wilton"
"Well, now you're talking"
"The day war broke out"
"But how are you going to know which one is Hitler?"
Together (with an 'up north' lilt): "I've got a tongue in my head, haven't I woman?" I am still not sure what the gag is though. Thank you. I don't get the joke either. Wilton (who was related to my mate (😉) Robin Askwith) was a very popular comedian of the 30s/40s and possessed a dry wit. During the war years his act often took on the persona of a Home Guard volunteer chatting with a comrade , "The day war broke out" became a catchphrase. Here's another example of his typically self-deprecating but gently patriotic and morale boosting humour - "So , Harry and me were on duty among the sand dunes keeping watch with one rifle and two bullets between us , when Harry spots something out to sea" "Heaven help us Rob ! there's a fleet of Jerry landing craft heading for the beach there must be at least 1000 soldiers , what are we going to do ?!" "Calm down old son , you're forgetting we've got the element of surprise !" Well it made me chuckle anyway 🙂 |
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Post by bigaitch on Feb 4, 2021 21:03:29 GMT
Barry played by Steven O’Donnell who appeared as ‘Spudgun’ in ‘Bottom’....
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Post by ramone on Feb 12, 2021 14:14:55 GMT
Barry played by Steven O’Donnell who appeared as ‘Spudgun’ in ‘Bottom’.... Yep, was trying to think if he was Dave Hedgehog or Spudgun. Enjoyed this episode again today. AD to Ray as they go to meet Mrs Gabbadini: ”She’s the ‘arrods of ‘ounslow” |
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Post by pr1 on Mar 15, 2021 13:16:54 GMT
Watched this again last night and enjoyed it a great deal. Arthur alone with Mickey is still a nice moment in the series.
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Post by bigaitch on Apr 29, 2021 18:56:23 GMT
Probably my favourite episode of Minder. There is some great comedic moments and some really great characters including all the fellas reminiscing with Arthur in the barbers. The character of Professor Pickford was brilliantly played by the late John Cater and there was some real pathos in the way this highly regarded entertainer from days gone by was living what appeared a lonely life in a West London flat.
Also great to see Barrell and his sidekick Trevor come unstuck in a very clever way courtesy of Arthur and Ray. Really enjoyable episode.
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Post by azza200 on Apr 29, 2021 21:41:45 GMT
Barry played by Steven O’Donnell who appeared as ‘Spudgun’ in ‘Bottom’.... I watched this ep recently too and couldn't place where i recognized him from Is a good episode |
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Barrel
One Of Your Own
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Post by Barrel on Dec 15, 2021 0:34:50 GMT
Cracking return to form for season 8.
Reassured me,on my binge watch,that this season isn't going pear shaped like Pritti Patel below the neck.
Arthur has some great lines the best being
Arthur: "It was dreadful"
" How can you say that Arthur? The boys got the voice of an angel"
Arthur: " And he'd very quickly end up as one singing like that down at the volunteer"!
The whole x factor 15 years before the X Factor scene in the Winchester shows how great a man of vision Arthur really was.
So many fantastic scenes such as Mental Mickeys stand up routine in the club full of young sceptics who are than won over was nice .the barbershop scene of Arthur and his buddies reminiscing... and Barry looks an interesting character a hard nose pony tailed yuppie very much of the time.
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Post by jno on Dec 15, 2021 4:55:06 GMT
Barry looks an interesting character a hard nose yuppie very much of the time. Is this the episode you got your nickname from barrel? Sorry, I mean barry!  |
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Barrel
One Of Your Own
Posts: 130
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Post by Barrel on Dec 16, 2021 2:45:33 GMT
Barry looks an interesting character a hard nose yuppie very much of the time. Is this the episode you got your nickname from barrel? Sorry, I mean barry! Lol nice one! Id be up for that if you could change my user name to barrel ! Or can I do it myself without a site admin?:-) I had no idea too that it was the same guy who played spudgun in bottom! What a great character actor you'd never think it was the same two people...the whole look lf barrel was paul e dangerously a manager character in wcw wrestling |
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ned
One Of Your Own
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Post by ned on Oct 3, 2022 16:59:56 GMT
Love this episode. Tonally very different to what had gone before, with Arthur nostalgic for times past. A rare example of an episode that wouldn't have worked with Terry and one of the best of the Ray years for me.
Odd that ITV4 repeats to this start with the old Thames fanfare and ident. This had been retired a good three years earlier.
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Post by steve99 on Oct 3, 2022 18:35:43 GMT
Haven't seen this one in a while but I recall Arthur telling Ray to shift the hokey cokey machine. What also made me laugh was when Arthur thinks the dummy's talking. A local barber pays tribute to the old days by charging a fiver for a trim and I have to say paying a tenner or more doesn't get me a better haircut. Been a long time though since I was asked if I wanted something for the weekend. Who wants cut-price tickets for the swimming baths anyway.
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Post by Portland Road on Oct 6, 2022 5:55:28 GMT
Odd that ITV4 repeats to this start with the old Thames fanfare and ident. This had been retired a good three years earlier. Did it always have the Thames ident & fanfare on this episode - was it there as part of the 'nostalgia feel'? |
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Post by swainy on Oct 6, 2022 14:08:50 GMT
No, Thanes were using this ident in 1991: Although I think that all the DVD releases also use the more classic Thames ident. The last two series (9 & 10) had Carlton idents at the beginning (even though they didn’t produce the series) as Thames had lost their franchise. The early Carlton idents used a verity of Londoners announcing “This is Carlton, Television for London” and this guy was used more than anyone else for Minder.  |
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Post by ontheslate on Oct 7, 2022 8:59:03 GMT
You’ve brought back some memories there Swainy I remember the Carlton idents I was fairly young at the time and there was a lot of excitement over Carlton getting the franchise.To begin with it was a younger and fresher feel than Thames, like most people there is only one Thames ident that sticks in my mind and it’s the river reveal that was on so much classic shows
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