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Post by swainy on Jul 5, 2020 14:59:46 GMT
Got to ask, was it ITV4 that you watched it on? Minder has been cut so much on ITV4 that a lot of the time the story hardly makes sense.
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Post by jjmolloy on Jul 5, 2020 15:32:24 GMT
Got to ask, was it ITV4 that you watched it on? Minder has been cut so much on ITV4 that a lot of the time the story hardly makes sense. Yep, it's very annoying. Sometimes I will casually watch on ITV4 but if I want to enjoy it then it's the DVDs.
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Post by coyote on Jul 10, 2020 0:42:14 GMT
I haven't watched much of the Ray era since its first broadcast but my overriding feeling with this one was the same as the first watch 25+ years ago - it's a mess. The plot doesn't make much sense, the characters aren't believable, the accents (as many above have said) are a-comedy-a-disaster and that they all get nicked is clearly to enable the series finale shots. Whether it was meant as the end of this series or the show as a whole I doubt they knew - after all, the previous finale was meant to be MOTOE which with its last shot would have been entirely fitting. S7 never had a Terry finale and I would guess the producers were hedging their bets with this one.
It's a 2/5 for me. Annoying everything and only brief glimmers of quality such as Dave's input to raise it above a 'rubbish'.
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ned
One Of Your Own
Posts: 168
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Post by ned on Jul 10, 2020 23:56:38 GMT
Just seen this and what a joke. Is this a complete p1ss take? No wonder the ray years left a bad taste in the mouth if this was the grand finale. I think that's harsh. It's a decent episode, although not a classic. Tony Hoare had certainly written better. Don't forget, it wasn't meant to be the very end of Minder, just the end of Minder how we knew it. When a series is written, do they get all the scripts, and in this case decide which one would work best as a finale? How's the running order decided? I always got the impression that it wasn't specifically written to be the end, but got gently tweaked when they knew it probably would be. That said, the cast do seem to be especially enjoying themselves in this one. It's why I feel the comedy Italians don't seem too out of place in it! I remember the late, great David Nobbs mentioning that he had been commissioned to write an episode of some new sitcom and being led to believe it would be the first to go out. But when it came to broadcast, they decided to put it out third so all the plotlines he built in had already been resolved by the time it went out. Similarly the powers-that-be decided to use a different Father Ted episode as the first one rather than the Passion of St Tibulus which is the one that does a lot of the introductory work. With Minder, I wonder if something similar happened with Fatal Impression. Was this commissioned as the last in series 7 (hence the curious ending with Terry leaving) but in the event not considered strong enough? I always feel that Bring Me The Head of Arthur Daley feels more like the real end of the series.
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Post by McCann on Jul 24, 2020 11:20:50 GMT
I really liked this one. Not excellent, but I ranked it as good. It is clearly a farce. I never heard the George Cole comments on this one, but I'm sure George would appreciate the last episode being a bit of a farce. Just can't be taken too seriously with those Italian accents. Could detect a bit of a knowing look to the way the characters react to each other.
Really quite sad as the music plays out at the end, viewers would feel sorry for Arthur, content to see him finally get 'done' but then that little sparkle of hope if he can 'get a drop of bail'. Final shots of the Thames and London, another central character in the series.
I think it was a fine way to end the series.
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Post by McCann on Oct 12, 2020 18:58:40 GMT
Just watching George in 'The Constant Husband' (1955) on Talking Pictures.
It has many dicey Italian accents in it. Including GC himself.
There is no doubt Tony Hoare recalled this farce when scripting the 'Long Good Thursday'.
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Post by heredia1 on Oct 16, 2020 17:47:35 GMT
Today I watched this episode to finish off the whole series I had started watching since early April. As others have said, a disappointing episode to go out on, with few laughs. I wouldn't agree with others here who thought the best of the Ray years matched the Terry years, maybe the less good ones. Series 10 was a big improvement on series 8 and 9 for sure but generally I found only a handful of episodes, The Coach that came in from the Cold for example, that stood up to the best of the Terry years. The chemistry between GC and DW was just magic, a bit Laurel and Hardyesque, just made for each other. It has been a really enjoyable journey this last 6 months, nostalgic and a breath of fresh air with all the shite going on out there in the world at the moment.
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Post by joshmel on Oct 22, 2020 16:04:59 GMT
Series goes out with a whimper! Cranky Frankie wasn’t the cunning sophisticated baddie like previous actors. Too much emphasis on the physical aspect rather than the dialogue and exchanges the villain usually has with Arthur.
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BMW
One Of Your Own
Knocking out see through yashmaks to liberated Muslim ladies
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Post by BMW on Oct 23, 2020 9:39:55 GMT
‘Gangster restaurant and fishy pinch’ 😂
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Post by jjmolloy on Oct 23, 2020 10:55:55 GMT
Have to confess I've never watched it since 94, too sad. The last Minder.
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BMW
One Of Your Own
Knocking out see through yashmaks to liberated Muslim ladies
Posts: 206
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Post by BMW on Oct 23, 2020 13:49:32 GMT
You haven’t missed much, there are a few good lines but it’s a poor episode. My second least fave after Great Depression.
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Post by eddienygma92 on Nov 18, 2020 17:17:57 GMT
Watched this episode on ITV Hub last night. I find it to be a mixed bag. I think Carla should have been arrested as well because she would have killed Luigi if he hadn't been arrested. Average in my opinion.
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Post by ltd on Nov 19, 2020 11:25:04 GMT
I think you're being more than generous there Eddie!
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Post by bigaitch on May 5, 2021 21:26:10 GMT
Awful episode in my humble opinion. The story line has potential but it just does not deliver. The faux Italian accent of the ‘actor’ playing Carla is woeful to the point of embarrassment and Crankie Frankie is just overacted. The only funny bit is John Bardons character making comments about Arthur’s potential menu early on.
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615
One Of Your Own
Posts: 121
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Post by 615 on Jul 23, 2021 22:59:23 GMT
I wonder if it's coincidence or not, but The Phil Silvers show (Bilko) also ended with it's star arrested and in jail. That series was killed off while there was still life in it because CBS put the series into syndication. In Bilko the Colonel sets up an early version of CCTV, and after Bilko overreaches himself, the final shots are of Colonel Hall watching the CCTV pictures and saying 'It's a great show and as long as I'm in charge it'll never be cancelled', while we see Bilko in jail and saying 'That's all folks'. Surely Tony Hoare would have been aware of this, and possibly, knowing that there was a sporting chance that it might be the last episode, decided to pay homage to the earlier show. What does anyone think?
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Post by ltd on Jul 24, 2021 9:24:44 GMT
Awful episode in my humble opinion. The story line has potential but it just does not deliver. The faux Italian accent of the ‘actor’ playing Carla is woeful to the point of embarrassment and Crankie Frankie is just overacted. Matthew Scurfield's a good actor but seems to have been cast in more than his fair share of gurning caricature roles - Streaky Hodges in McVicar comes to mind, and the shouty blagger in Sweeney 2 (where's he's oddly recognisable even with a pair of woman's tights on his head).
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Barrel
One Of Your Own
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Post by Barrel on Jan 15, 2022 18:34:19 GMT
So finally finished off the Ray years.
I agree the main body of the episode was average but I rated it good overall. I shall explain.
I enjoy farce type stuff and despite the constant ranting and raving of the psycho gunman Frankie Connor being slightly repetitive/irritating....it does allow Arthur to deliver a good dose of typical Daley humour in their exchanges. For example his attempt to pass off Luigi as Lou Edges ....."A little tea leaf out of Fulham I think.Terrible reputation as a ladies man" :-)
Also enjoyed the humour of the always mustard John Bardon character. I found Carla's turning up in the Winchester the last 10 minutes a scene stealer..there was as jno says something likeably cute and amusing about the way Mary Maddox played her, and everything that ensued from that point on reminded me a bit of MOTOE.Although it did seem odd to have the soap opera of a love triangle between side characters take up half of the precious last minutes.. But overall I thought the ending was excellent...the poignant music as the journey was all over. The arrests...the police van ride over the Thames...Arthur's empassioned speech about the plight of the entrepeneur.
Having watched the Ray years in full now I can't beleive the decision to end Minder in 1994. All 3 Ray years were excellent ...and they revealed a hell of a lot more about Arthur's background,family and friends than the TW years.I don't think the Minder canon can ever be complete without the Ray years.A diabolical liberty it was cancelled...it wasnt like mid 1990's ITV had all these barnburners screaming out for the 1 hour slot Minder vacated...what was there?...some muppet priest in the 11th century..Peak Practice?...ITV has been total dross since 1994 not a handful of decent new drama in that time.
There should have been another 2 or 3 seasons of the Ray years ...there were so many wonderful and memorable supporting characters introduced in the Ray years and it would only have got better. Arthur always lived in the present, despite his 1940's clobber he was always a man of the times a visionary.
Minder isnt quite finished for me.I'm going to go through the DW years on ITV4 now the rest of this Winter.I have all of season 6 and approximately a quarter of seasons 1-5 i missed first time round to get through.Mostly the first 2 seasons.
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Post by thewoodster on Jan 23, 2022 22:04:47 GMT
This episode when re-watch makes me personally abit sad.due to it being the last time we see GC playing the character.
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raymond
Winchester Regular
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Post by raymond on Jan 8, 2023 23:24:06 GMT
Sad to have reached the end of my rewatch but once I get the boxset I can start again without Youtube silences and bad pic I think!. The overacting Italian accents grated with me it was very hard to take. I think Season 10.9 was the end and this one was a poor pick to close Minder out. There was surely scope for a few specials but it wasnt to be. Lord rest George, Dennis and Glynn god it brings a tear to the eye to even type that.
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manta
On Wages
What’s French for en-suite?
Posts: 73
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Post by manta on Jan 13, 2024 17:11:59 GMT
I thought this was a reasonable way to end and yes, maybe it is a bit of a farce but I thought a fairly well constructed plot. The last bit with Frankie waving his gun around and the three of them convincing him Luigi must be somewhere else when he is six feet away was very well done. I thought the Frankie character was great, with Dave setting him up as someone who had high regard for Arthur, which gave Frankie his turmoil around Arthur, his wife's infidelity - among other things! Add in the background of Arthur's latest restaurant venture and of course, the Luigi overlap and we have a good 'un. As everybody has said, the grating accents made 'Allo 'Allo look respectable, but I'm cutting them some slack as we're in farce territory. That makes it to Good but the final stretch with them getting roped into the van, and knowing it's the last time we'll hear Arthur and him still giving it large, the overhead shot and the music played a bit differently makes it Excellent for me - call me a softie - but Arthur doesn't take anything lying down. Not everyone's opinion but we wouldn't need a forum if we all agreed, would we?
What a journey Arthur has taken us on - with Terry, Ray and Dave - plus assorted plod - we are truly blessed.
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Post by jno on Jan 14, 2024 4:50:02 GMT
Not everyone's opinion but we wouldn't need a forum if we all agreed, would we? What a journey Arthur has taken us on - with Terry, Ray and Dave - plus assorted plod - we are truly blessed. Agreed. Great reviews on here manta, let's hope you move on to Archie Daley now!
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manta
On Wages
What’s French for en-suite?
Posts: 73
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Post by manta on Jan 14, 2024 12:09:53 GMT
Great reviews on here manta, let's hope you move on to Archie Daley now! Thank you, jno. I will have a look at Archie's adventures - they are brand new to me and I try and approach these things with an open mind!
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