Watched this one on You Tube last night , as hadn t seen it for a while . A brilliant episode for comedy scenes & dialogue between Arthur & Terry , also one of the few that steers away from the usual London locations . However , I have to agree that it does appear to lack something . One of the main factors being , no interaction with Dave in The Winchester & also no involvement from either Chisholm or Rycott .
The scene with Terry trying to get to sleep , with the horse farting , still has me laughing out loud . Terry s line about the china figures being knocked up by a bunch of Pakistanis , in a shed behind Orient football ground , would most certainly be cut from tv showings today .
I also have to agree that someone like Ken Hutchinson , should have had more limelight in the episode & perhaps we could have seen more of Liza Goddard s character . The summary states the episode was filmed around April 1980 , which would explain why Ken Hutchinson , looked absolutely frozen , in the final scenes , when he ended up in the water . The fire in the stables looked pretty fierce & I am sure it would have taken more than just one fire extinguisher to put it out . However , reading previous reports , I believe the blaze was much bigger , off screen !!
Most of the car spotting in this episode , involves a large assortment of background vehicles , in the racecourse car park . Near the beginning , Arthur & Terry walk passed a first generation Audi 100 , a pond green Rover SD1 & a couple of Renault 20s . Later on we see an old grey Morris Oxford , a white VW Beetle & a nice red Jensen Healey . Not forgetting of course , the usual collection of ancient Bedford TK horseboxes .
We also see O Brady transporting the hay bales in a Mini Moke & Jocelyn & Everitt share a mustard coloured Range Rover . An " OLD " friend ( in more ways than one ! ) , turns up at the end , to take away a rather soggy Birkett , the regular MK2 Escort panda car , that appeared in just about everything , at the time .
I am surprised Liza Goddard didn t turn up again in Minder , playing a different character . In the mid 1980s , we were more used to seeing her , as re occuring Bergerac villain Philiipa Vale . Surprisingly , we never saw her in The Sweeney or The Professionals .
7/10