4.11 A Well Fashioned Fit Up

[casper]

I was looking on www.imdb.com when Sara Sugarman's name cropped up. Remembering her name from 'Minder' I clicked on her profile and it turns out she is now a film director. There are also a couple of pictures of her directing Lindsay Lohan in someDdisney guff. She hasn't really changed much in the last 23 years.

[steve99]

I recall seeing Sara Sugarman in a film about the Spurs team of the early 1960s, but it's been so long since it was shown, I couldn't comment on her performance.

What always makes me laugh in a Well Fashioned Fit-Up is Arthur's face when Shyvers says he wouldn't like to think there might be psychopaths with sawn-off shotguns creeping about the premises when Arfur's guarding them.

That and Arthur's reaction when he finds out Shyvers called him a "spineless old dollop".

[winchesterclub]

Sara Sugarman used to be in a soap called "Radio Phoeinx"which was shown in the early eighties ,it was a TVS production so i"m not sure if it went out nationwide?
The series did"nt run for long and i"m not sure if it"s available to buy(not that you would want to, as it had production budget on par with crossroads!)
I can see why she was in a film about Spurs! as she was a nice jewish girl
all replies welcome ;D

[Mournful]

The film about Spurs in the 60s she appeared in was called Those Glory Glory Days. Funnily enough, have just ordered a copy off www.play.com. It was made in 1986 for tv, think it might even be a Film4 production. Based on a true story, about a lady sports journalist who always wanted to meet her hero Danny Blanchflower. And the film starts where she gets in a taxi and he is in there. Quite a good film I think, and should be shown more than it is.
Not a well known cast really, except for Julie Mackenzie and a teacher that used to be in Grange Hill, but worth a look.

[thomascrown68]

Wasn't she in 'A Taste Of Honey"?

[winchesterclub]

Not sure if you mean the the 1961 film"A taste of honey" thomas crown68,that starred Dora Bryan and Rita Tushingham mind you this film is really worth checking out as it is a classic "kitchen sink" drama,
As for Julie/Julia Mackenzie she unfortunatley starred in Fresh Fields & French Fields during the 80"s
All replies welcome ;D

[thomascrown68]

No the film it was a BBC schools play in the early 70s.Barry Foster and Diana Dors were in a version too.

[Albert Wendell]

I saw "A Taste Of Honey" with Dora Bryan and Rita Tushingham in school as we did the book for GCSE.

I remember the comedian Victoria Wood saying about how that film was suppose to be:

"very forward for the time and all about sex, but after seeing it I thought you could get pregnant if you walked along a canal or somebody played the harmonica!!"

[jno]

Link to episode on minder.org: www.minder.org/episodeguide/S04E11_AWellFashionedFitUp.htm

[Albert Wendell]

I have decided to revisit three episodes from my WH Smith video tape that I had in the early 90’s it contained this episode Get Daley and A Number Of Old Wives Tales.

This is another quality Series 4 episode. Some good comedy moments provided by Terry here the ‘lord help us’ joke, ‘that cigar doesn’t half pen & ink’ and ‘that’ll look great with all the Wimpy & McAlpine donkey jackets’. As a viewer you instantly get a feeling that Ronnie Shyvers is a horrible person, Terry is quick to notice this too but Arthur can’t see it. I’ve mentioned before that although Arthur is very shrewd and cunning he is also a bad judge of character this is where Terry is smarter than him as Terry can spot someone who is not genuine straight away when Arthur can’t, this happens in many other episodes. Sara Sugarman is perfectly cast as Zoe she in both style and mannerisms comes across as a very arty type of girl, I think this may be true in real life as I remember reading somewhere that she lived a sort of nomadic lifestyle moving from flat to flat in London, she moved in one flat with white walls and she painted all of the walls vibrant colours as she hated the white. Her part in Shyvers office appears dubbed and while the lips match the words the sound quality is poor. The fight at the Blarney Stone is one of those memorable Minder moments (‘always gets them on their feet that one’). I thought Kevin O’Hara was a good character and one that I would have liked to see return. Also it would have been nice to see Nigel have a speaking part. I felt Carole Harrison was under used they could have given her given some more lines.

A well thought out plot and an unusual one that sees Arthur doing the minding, the viewer doesn’t get to see whats going on until towards the end.
Very enjoyable with strong well written and believable characters.

5/5

[daz]

Gave this a watch tonight to conclude series 4, and a nice little episode to wrap the series up with. For starters I liked the characters Billy (played superbly by the underrated Chris Fulford)and Nige, just something very appealing about them. Ronnie Shyvers is played brilliantly by Stanley Meadows, an actor well known for appearing in other forum favourites The Professionals and Sweeney. I loved the fight scene in the "Irish" pub, especially the end where the band leader says straight faced to Terry about the tune they played always gets them going. To top it off we get to see Arthur minding the shop, where George Cole comes into his own playing Arthur superbly, the part where he walks into the dummy and puts his hands up is priceless, the bus stop scene was good also, the inner snob came right out of Arthur. If I had one complain it would be Zoes accent did grate a bit.

[pr1]

A top knotch episode to end Series Four on.

[Zimbo]

A little bit like an episode from the early series to finish series 4 (was it widely known that they were already filming series 5?) Stanley Meadows in one of his final acting roles, is good as the villainous Ronnie Shyvers. An early role for Christopher Fulford, he would appear alongside Dennis Waterman in an episode of New Tricks in 2009.
Highlight for me is Arthur discussing "Christine Dior" with Dave.
"Christian"
"Well, I dunno. Could be, she seems like a nice lady".
Great performances from everybody.

[jno]

Apr 19, 2017 23:16:03 GMT Zimbo said:

(was it widely known that they were already filming series 5?)

Yes, series 4 and series 5 were filmed as a single block between late 1983 and mid 1984, with a break for Christmas. I have a copy of the poster used to advertise the Christmas 1983 party for the crew. As far as I can tell to date, this episode was the last of the first block to be filmed.

Keep an eye out in this one for Arthur's series 7 lockup as Billy & Nigel do the robbery where Euston films were now based.

Apr 19, 2017 23:16:03 GMT Zimbo said:

An early role for Christopher Fulford, he would appear alongside Dennis Waterman in an episode of New Tricks in 2009.
Great performances from everybody.

Totally agree Zimbo. Christopher Fulford is a superb actor and has been in a stack of stuff over the years - a notable guest star in very many major British TV series from the 1980s through to the 2010s still. A memorable performance for me was his appearance in the 80s show 'King & Castle' called 'Kicks', which is a show not a million miles away from Minder.

Billy & Nigel are superb characters and were definitely two that needed a return visit to the show in a future episode. Without wanting to wander off topic it is interesting that plod were regulars but the villainous types in Minder only existed in the single episode bubble, with the exception of very few like Scotch Harry and arguably Des and Arnie.

[pr1]

It's always nice when an episode is even more entertaining and enjoyable the second time you watch it.

[thewoodster]

Great finalie to series 4

[westldner]

Predictable at the end, knowing that the fashion line were going to be recovered. I'm surprised that it occured so quickly. It was funny seeing Arthur enter that night and thought the mannequin was someone and the fight at the Irish bar was entertaining also.

[jno]

Now they don't come much scarcer than this. 

Once again, a massive thank you to camera grip, our very own NickP for finding this in his box of tricks. At the end of series 4 (December 83), this gets given to cast and crew as a bit of fun.

You might need to know your Minder crew/behind-the-scenes names to fully appreciate this, all printed out like a regular Minder call sheet for a regular Minder episode. The original looks just like any other bit of Minder paperwork from the time.

Nerdy point from me: The Pavilion pub mentioned is the same as the 'Blarney Stone' pub in 'A Well Fashioned Fit Up', the last episode of series 4 to be filmed before Christmas 1983, the final episode Nick worked on.

I think they all had a lot of fun making this show. 

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[barrythebook]

Very good, someone's having a laugh.

[thewoodster]

Fantastic piece of Euston history.

[bensonrad]

Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing

[busli]

It's interesting to watch this now on modern equipment. Zoe was obviously dubbed in the early scene which wouldn't have been noticeable on the 26" Ferguson tv with it's 4 inch mono speaker back in the day.

[tinman]

Dec 6, 2015 19:33:54 GMT daz said:

 If I had one complain it would be Zoes accent did grate a bit.

Ditto.

I thought it was being dubbed at first.

[jjmolloy]

One of the best, great lines and characters..

Arthur, getting increasingly exasperated while trying to shift a dress to a doubtful Dave: '' I seem to be talking to someone who's a bit of an expert....''

Dave; '' Yeah, well I do like to thumb through the pages of Vogue from time to time...''

Arthur; '' Well in that case have a butchers at them button holes.. hand stitched..''

Dave; ''Stitched up more like...''

Arthur; ''Now... would I do that to you Dave?''

[VAT]

Some great hairstyles on offer in this one in the Blarney pub 

[Twin2]

Dec 6, 2015 19:33:54 GMT daz said:

 If I had one complaint it would be Zoes accent did grate a bit.

Oh boy it certainly did!

[Shot By Both Sides]

On now and repeated later today on ITV4.

[Twin2]

Nov 13, 2019 10:07:03 GMT Shot By Both Sides said:

On now and repeated later today on ITV4.

It was on yesterday afternoon, the episode on later is Goodbye Sailor which will be repeated tomorrow morning if they are running true to form

[jno]

Nov 13, 2019 13:24:50 GMT Twin2 said:

Nov 13, 2019 10:07:03 GMT Shot By Both Sides said:

On now and repeated later today on ITV4.

It was on yesterday afternoon, the episode on later is Goodbye Sailor which will be repeated tomorrow morning if they are running true to form

ITV4 and form? 

No mention here yet of Graham Cole aka The Bill's Tony Stamp in early extras role in this one. He's an extra in lots of other things too and had a nothing part at the start of The Bill which began around this time.

[jno]

Press photo from inside 'The Blarney Stone', a right bull and cow imminent.