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Post by mybodyguard on Sept 16, 2015 20:14:24 GMT
I haven't watched this in a while, but from the start after hearing how Terry was locked up because of Arthur, the whole episode just had a weird vibe to it. I'd have to watch it again to see if I'd put it on the worst episode list.
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Post by jno on Sept 27, 2015 16:48:40 GMT
One of George's own bits of memorabila - currently on ebay, for sale at 39.99 GBP. Nice bit of info regarding a specific filming date: 15th September 1988. Lots more stuff like this in link: The Minder Vault.
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Post by newishminderfan on Oct 10, 2015 23:16:41 GMT
It's too much to hope for though, it's a shame that Ofcom don't ban repetitiveness, but how this will ever be implemented is beyond me! Maybe they could set a minimum spend for original programming for channels or something? But yeah, I am not sure. As for the episode, yeah, the whole Terry going back to prison thing didn't really do it for me. Out of the two Minder specials, I find that this is the weaker of the two. They had some good bits, agreed, especially with Chisholm going into private security and losing it at the end, but Arthur selling dodgy contraceptive pills and supplying old military surplus gear to a paramilitary leader seemed too far-fetched for my tastes. Just out of curiosity, what happened to Dave's motor? If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the only motors we've seen him driving - it's a Ford made in 1980, think it might be an Escort MK II, registration number PLC 702W. According to the DVLA website, it has been untaxed as of the first of March, 1996.
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Post by pr1 on Aug 21, 2016 20:58:10 GMT
What does it mean when Terry says he spent eighteen moons in the shovel? I know shovel is a reference to prison.
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Post by jno on Aug 21, 2016 21:35:43 GMT
Terry has 18 months in prison - used to explain why the series has been off air. I assume moons has something to do with lunar months.
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Post by pr1 on Aug 21, 2016 21:38:25 GMT
Terry has 18 months in prison - used to explain why the series has been off air. I assume moons has something to do with lunar months. Cheers mate! Minder and this forum are very educational.
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Post by pr1 on Aug 21, 2016 21:47:01 GMT
I liked the first half of this quite a bit. Arthur has some great lines. As jno says this is sort of a reintroduction to the series and characters. In that respect the first half works well.
Over all this is too long and goes over the top. In the second half, I didn't like seeing Chisholm turned into a buffoon. It was nice to see George Sweeney play someone likeable after seeing him play a total psycho on The Sweeney.
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Post by syrupapplesnpears on Nov 6, 2016 19:13:34 GMT
150 grand each - a nice little earner! So glad it came back!
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Post by Zimbo on Nov 6, 2016 19:39:17 GMT
Interesting that he says Euston wanted to finish Minder after series 6. I'd have thought George and Dennis were the ones who wanted to move on.
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Post by syrupapplesnpears on Nov 19, 2016 21:38:18 GMT
18 moons in the shovel - 18 months in the nick (Shovel and pick). Bit of a rum do this one - Peter Bowles would indeed have been good in Briers' role - but how about Lionel Jeffries? ("P-O-S-H POSH!") Don't know what to make of this. Seems like they got carried away with the bigger budget and went, "Mansion! Helicopter! And...everything!" Wonder if they did the prison thing not only to explain the time-lag between series but also set up the animosity between Tel & Arfur that would lead naturally to Waterman 's departure at the end of the series? Not one of the best. There's a great exchange between T & A though: "Don't do this". "What?" "This". "This what?" Would have worked better as a normal-budget ep, to be honest.
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Post by jno on Nov 19, 2016 21:42:24 GMT
Wonder if they did the prison thing not only to explain the time-lag between series but also set up the animosity between Tel & Arfur that would lead naturally to Waterman 's departure at the end of the series? Not one of the best. First bit .. yes, second bit, no. The special was a special for Christmas, albeit this was filmed last, the last ever Dennis Waterman episode to be filmed, which might have had something to do with him thinking things had changed a little too much, who knows?
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Post by barrythebook on Dec 4, 2016 23:38:21 GMT
18 moons in the shovel - 18 months in the nick (Shovel and pick). I knew 'shovel' meant prison but never knew what it was derived from. Learn something new everyday - cheers syrup
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Post by yoyopickles on Jan 13, 2017 20:06:40 GMT
I remember seeing this when it was first broadcast, because of the repeats of minder in the summer evenings at primetime on ITV that year, I did not realise it was a "comeback" as such. It was exciting to see Maidstone nick, as it is near where I live. For some reason I laughed when the button on the stereo came away in Terry's hand, as my uncle Arthur had bought me a new fangled midi hi fi for my recent 13th birthday,no doubt from a stall in bethnal green road, and that had a wonky knob that came away off I'm your hand when you changed from AM to FM too!
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Post by yoyopickles on Jan 14, 2017 9:17:14 GMT
I think AOAACS does not feel like "proper minder" it is very similar to when sitcoms of the 1970s got made into movies and did not have that same feel as the programme did, saying that, the last scene with Arthur trying to put his arm around Terry as they are walking along is priceless!
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Post by jno on Jan 14, 2017 10:54:19 GMT
I think you're right yoyo.
It's a shame Dennis had to leave after doing this one. There is certainly a dislike for this episode and I can certainly understand Dennis's comments in the past about Minder becoming the Arthur Daley comedy hour. The final part of this is exactly that. It's also a real shame that this sticks out as such a sore thumb when many episodes in the final series are actually very good and very well written.
What is really good in this one is Rycott and Jones teaming up. They really should have used this a bit more during Dennis's final series - it's clear that Jones can wind Rycott up just as much as Chisholm.
I think most fans of the show will enjoy the first 45 minutes of this one but it sadly soon descends into utter farce, which is a real shame.
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Post by yoyopickles on Jan 14, 2017 14:37:19 GMT
Thinking about what you were saying about the first 45 minutes, I think that is another factor. Minder is great as a 45min/one hour show, but anything more stretches it a bit far. MINDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is the exception to this, probably because of the high profile cast and setting.
I guess the two Aussie episodes could be edited together as a 90 minute TV movie, but they do work fine as separate episodes
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Post by karlbrookes on Feb 2, 2017 16:44:09 GMT
Strange one this Caplan and his Secret Army seem like something more out of "The Professionals" or "The New Avengers" than "Minder".
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Post by yoyopickles on Feb 2, 2017 19:11:59 GMT
Strange one this Caplan and his Secret Army seem like something more out of "The Professionals" or "The New Avengers" than "Minder". I think you have hit the nail right on the head there! Its almost as Arthur is a surrogate John Steed in this!
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Post by karlbrookes on Feb 2, 2017 19:42:27 GMT
Strange one this Caplan and his Secret Army seem like something more out of "The Professionals" or "The New Avengers" than "Minder". I think you have hit the nail right on the head there! Its almost as Arthur is a surrogate John Steed in this! With Terry as Mike Gambit and Angie as Purdey
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Post by Arch Stanton on Jun 17, 2017 7:18:42 GMT
I saw this last night and thought it was a perfectly good effort. The continuity (Terry in the shovel at the start etc) left some to the imagination. I would have liked to see Angie chin Briers herself at the end. George Sweeney should've reprised his role as Clifton Fields (All About Scoring, Innit?) instead of this new, mystery minder. It would have been a nice nod to previous episodes. More could've been made of Briers' loony green grocer. I think the story was a good one. Arthur's dodgy gas masks at the end causing their downfall I liked it, overall.
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Post by glazbury on Jun 29, 2017 22:42:32 GMT
I find it a bit odd how this Minder Special is so poor (IMO) compared with series 7 which was of a very good quality throughout.
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Post by Wynn Chester on Jun 30, 2017 9:05:05 GMT
I must have watched this less than 6 time.. which says it all really. Its so out of kilter with the rest of the series, its embarrassingly poor and its only spared from being marked as rubbish by one or two funny lines
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Post by billyfarmer on Jul 12, 2017 17:26:53 GMT
I can remember watching (and recording on to VHS), An Officer and a Car Salesman, when the episode, was first shown on TV, on December 26th 1988, long time since I've seen An Officer and a Car Salesman, but I remember thinking that the episode, wasn't a patch on Minder on the Orient Express, but at least there were some good guest stars - Richard Briers (I thought his character, at times, came across, as being crazy), Diana Quick, Mark McManus and Simon Williams, the episode, was worth watching, and there are some funny moments, I can remember laughing at the scene, where Rycott spotted Arthur, driving an Army vehicle, and Rycott, then caused traffic chaos, in the process of following Arthur & Terry, I thought Jones & Rycott, were good together, in this episode, a shame that Patrick Malahide's final appearance in Minder, couldn't have been more memorable.
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Post by Zimbo on Aug 15, 2017 14:56:43 GMT
I think it's an enjoyable episode and I don't mind Richard Briers in his role. The rest of the cast were very good too. Like jno, I thought Rycott and Jones worked well together and had this been filmed before series 7, they might have gone with this partnership. Jones also had a decent haircut at last. The scene where Rycott spots Arthur and Terry in the tank is one of my favourite scenes in the series. The main blot for me is Chisholm's breakdown at the end, which was too OTT.
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Post by Celvin on Sept 23, 2017 12:17:50 GMT
Have to agree with several people here that this episode is really poor. A few things don't make sense - Arthur having what appears to be a larger, more legit, business (complete with employees) for one. 'Minder on the Orient Express' is also a bit stretched into a movie length episode but is more convincing.
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Post by thewoodster on Feb 18, 2018 16:57:52 GMT
This isn’t a up there with the best episode of Minder, but as other members have said before, there are good bits of humour and banter, so as a Minder fan, it still gets a watch from me.
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Post by incapable on Aug 9, 2018 21:56:16 GMT
Just watched this episode for the first time and have to say I was disappointed. For me Minder is best when it's gritty and the story lines are are real enough that you don't have to suspend belief to engage with it. This started off ok, but descended into a quite cringeworthy farce to be honest. The only interaction between Arthur & Terry is Terry telling him to sod off. Chisholm is also poorly represented.
There were a few good bits, but overall this has to be the weakest Terry episode by some distance.
So am I right in thinking this was the last Terry episode filmed - even though it was shown before series 7? When you watch it, you kind of feel Dennis Waterman was justified in his decision to quit as Terry, he was starting to look very old and soft around the edges and the idea of him being the most feared minder on the manor was losing credibility. A character that relies on his physical prowess - ie being bit tasty and a bit of a bird bandit - has a limited shelf life.
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Post by jno on Aug 10, 2018 5:38:36 GMT
So am I right in thinking this was the last Terry episode filmed - even though it was shown before series 7? Yes, filmed in September 1988 after series 7 proper had finished filming. I agree with everything you say there incapable - it starts of ok but as you say (and this is disappointing for me), Chisholm is indeed poorly represented and way too OTT. If there was ever a 'Carry on Minder' the last part of this is it.
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Post by pr1 on Sept 2, 2018 15:35:10 GMT
After Arthur leaves Terry's welcome home party, Terry tries to liven up the mood by saying "is this a moriarity or what?" I get what he means from the context but in terms of the slang used on Minder is it rhyming slang? Does anyone know the origin?
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Post by swainy on Sept 2, 2018 17:11:16 GMT
I think it’s just Cockney rhyming slang for party.
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