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Post by gra966 on Dec 2, 2016 6:48:27 GMT
A good episode with two storylines running and we are now seeing a lot more of Chisholm's character - When Soames first appears he is a dead ringer for Hank Marvin I expected him to be carrying a guitar rather than a warrant card ! - loads of faces to spot in this one - Larry Martyn playing Smith was familiar as Mr Mash from the early episodes of Are You Being Served ? before being replaced by Arthur English as Mr Harman - We see Debbie in a very "then trendy" black Mini 1275GT - Soames uses a MK1 Cavalier - another Vauxhall press car due to the VS - Luton registration mark - a couple of almost forgotten French cars parked in the car park at the courts - a bright red Citroen Dyane & a grey Renault 20 - A good punch up in the tyre depot at the end - you can imagine that happening at Quik Fit !!
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Post by gra966 on Dec 1, 2016 6:23:39 GMT
A good episode which is definitely one of the later filmed ones for the third season - the trees are in full leaf & it feels more summery - Arthur is back with the silver Merc - Barry s red 3 Series BMW has a registration date of May 1981 - The fireplace sub plot was brilliant , something you could imagine Del Boy or Lovejoy involved in - The Winning Post pub will still be familiar to those in the traffic queue into London & Twickenham - In the first opening scene where Terry crosses the road to the betting shop , a yellow Daf 44 drives past - when did you last see one of those ? almost a rarity in 1981 !
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Post by gra966 on Nov 30, 2016 6:24:47 GMT
Some brilliant dialogue in this one & good one liners - The drive back from prison with Arthur giving Ernie the complete rundown of all the things he has missed in the last 14 years , as though he had been on another planet rather than in prison was brilliant - hard to believe now the moon landing was only that short time away - Tower Bridge appears to be undergoing some restoration as we can see scaffolding & there are still old derelict warehouses visible on the other side of the river - The London scene has certainly changed dramatically in the last 35 years ! The car that steals the show is of course Kate s lovely white Porsche 911 - which is still on the road ! - it has an RX - Reading registration mark so on loan from Porsche GB - I wonder if the current owner knows of its history !! - Spencer uses a red MK2 Escort Popular with a fake P registration plate
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Post by gra966 on Nov 29, 2016 6:16:20 GMT
A gripping episode this , finished off at the end with a great scene of Arthur crashing into the police van - Adding a touch of glamour & taking a breather from being chased around a park by Benny Hill was the lovely Jenny Lee Wright & another great menacing performance from Michael Sheard - The regular Professionals Daimler Limo AWP633H pulls up behind the Rolls at the airport near the beginning - Elliot drives a dark blue MK2 Granada Ghia identical to Cowleys this one COO232T was also used as a road test car in a 1979 issue of the AA equivalent to Autocar & Motor - Drive magazine - In the last scene with the black Merc - its tax disc is in its proper position of the bottom left hand corner of the screen - in earlier scenes it appears higher up almost in the passenger s line of vision !
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Post by gra966 on Nov 25, 2016 6:50:50 GMT
A great episode this one which I guess was one of the earliest filmed for this season - It still looks pretty cold in the scenes outside the school & the trees have yet to come into leaf , so about March 1981 is probably correct - Arthur is back with his silver Jag which gets trashed by Standons heavies - the next day it is fully repaired as though nothing had happened - Car SOS has been running longer than I thought !!! - In Gareth Hunts first scene he has just finished drinking a cup of coffee - something he would soon be doing a lot of I can't imagine Burnside backing down for anything - he would have had Standons door off the hinges & in there like a bull in a china shop ! I always get mistaken for him in his later years - I wish I had a pound for eveytime someone says "Didn't you used to be in The Bill?" - one slight blooper - the Barclays cheque that Mrs Standon writes out for Terry is far too old for 1981 - Barclays had switched to the bright blue logos & cheque books long before then
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Post by gra966 on Nov 24, 2016 6:35:46 GMT
At the beginning the plot has great potential - Terry minding a large house owned by a former rock star - but it just gets too farcical as it progresses Usually in Minder we get some great menacing "heavies"& henchman but the two guys with the fake Yorkshire accents were too comical to be true - even making Hale & Paces Two Rons seem believable - We do get some amusement with Arthur rejecting Beryls advances & her two sons played by future Casualty star Clive Mantle & That's Life presenter Adrian Mills - Keep your eyes peeled for a gold Cortina estate that appears in the background in nearly every street scene - its in the pub car park twice ! - The guy playing Kenny always seemed to turn up in shows like The Bill , running a burger van or dodgy café
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Post by gra966 on Nov 23, 2016 6:26:15 GMT
Another episode featuring a stripper !! ITV 4 would have the hacksaw out again - I think some scenes in this one were filmed slightly later than others - when we see Micky running through the woods at the beginning the trees are in full leaf - a little later in a couple of other scenes there are no leaves on the trees - Arthur is back with the dark green Jag , although he tells Freddie he also has a grey one - Freddie was a good menacing villain - especially being driven around in a brand new S-Class Merc - The shot of the Merc pulling up to dump Arthur out onto the road looked as though it had been "speeded up" - they had probably been instructed by Mercedes that it couldn't be used for any stunt driving !! - The piece with the jackets was a good comedy element - especially Chisholm spotting Mickey wearing one & putting two and two together
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Post by gra966 on Nov 22, 2016 6:34:56 GMT
A brilliant comedy episode - the running gag of various characters opening the magazines and saying things like " I didn't think that was possible " worked well - - The scene where Arthur opens the limo door & the magazines fall out all over the place & then clouts Terrys head with the door is hilarious - a laugh out loud moment ! - Mark Botham that played Darryl should be recognizable as the young copper Danny Sparks from Juliet Bravo that was killed off in the final episode - The white Chevette driven by Ashmole & the maroon Carlton used by Grantleys heavies was a sign that Vauxhall were getting in on the act of loaning out their press cars for filming as Ford had done with The Sweeney & The Professionals - A good punch up at the end - until the all too obvious stunt double !
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Post by gra966 on Nov 21, 2016 18:55:33 GMT
I m sure I can recall an episode of Lovejoy that had a similar plot to this involving a fake artist - Terry is now back in the gold Capri that he uses for the majority of this season - The first outing for Arthur s lovely silver Mercedes W123 - I own the later model to this a W124 & appreciate the quality - although it is hard to visualise Arthur in anything else other than a Jag or Daimler ITV4 would have a field day editing this one - with I would guess most of the scenes in the strip club chopped ! - We also have another classic moment where Arthur turns up at Terrys flat and disturbs his night of passion ! - I think the girl playing the stripper Candy Davies occasionally played young Mr Graces secretary in Are You Being Served ?
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Post by gra966 on Nov 21, 2016 18:32:33 GMT
I would guess this episode was one of the first filmed for the 3rd season or a leftover from the 2nd as Arthur is back with his original silver Jag & Terry with the white Capri - it also appears to have taken place during the winter months - The copyright date at the end is still 1981 the same as the rest of the series but this could have been altered - Shame we didn't see more of Mike Reid s character Vernon in other episodes A great episode with plenty of good one liners & the ending battle between the diggers and the Daimler was brilliant - The blue Cortina used by the goons that beat up Terry has the registration MHK543V the same sequence as the red & the green ones that regularly appear in the 1980 episodes of The Professionals
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Post by gra966 on Nov 18, 2016 6:28:36 GMT
Its a great episode & as you say probably one of the best from the 1st season - although the scrap in the allotment appears a bit tacky compared with ones in other episodes - The Jack Barclay salesman telling Arthur he would have to wait 3 years for a Silver Shadow & him replying I think I will stick with the Maxi was brilliant - especially as by then the Silver Shadow would be out of production ! - I think if this had been a later episode we would have seen Chisholm hot on the trail of the stolen car caper -Fenton has a variety of motors - the lovely burgundy Silver Shadow - a blue MK2 Cortina which he claims is a 1970 model but is F registered making it 1967/68 ! & that pimped up Range Rover - Jos Austin Maxi JLB524K is the same one used by the gunmen in The Professionals episode The Ojuka Situation - I think it also appeared in an episode of Shoestring as a minicab - The lime green Mini does tend to jump about a bit in the car park scenes - probably an early uncredited cameo for Mr Bean !!!
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Post by gra966 on Nov 17, 2016 5:53:07 GMT
A great comedy episode for the 1st of the season - brilliant scenes with the dog in the lock up - also Arthur leaving the handbrake off the van as they are trying to load the coffin in - Terry disapproves of Nancy s smoking habit & she compares him to a cop as they walk by the river - Wiseman s assistant Randolph bares a striking resemblance to Boris Johnson !! - A rare appearance for Arthur s dark green Jag TAN488M -complete with very 70s brown vinyl roof - also check out that velour upholstery on the Vauxhall Royale driven by Randolph - a rather nice Mercedes convertible is parked opposite Terry s flat at the end
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Post by gra966 on Nov 12, 2016 7:04:36 GMT
A great episode this one - although Terry finding Arthur s Jag still abandoned at the roadside with the keys in the ignition the morning after he was kidnapped by Altman s goons is highly unlikely - it would have been nicked straight away or aroused suspicion of local plod Talking of which - one comedy moment is when Gilpin s body is found - the local Police turn up in a Morris Marina Estate - no high speed pursuits for them ! The white MK1 Granada used by the goons has an S registration plate making it a very late example and only 2 years old at the time of filming - so it looks like an older example was used for the crash scene Terry s Capri does have the plate SLE71R at the end but is a different car to the one in the opening titles - it is a much lower spec possibly even a GL model as oppose to an S We also see the blue MK3 Cortina MLD803P put in yet another appearance - this time as the minicab that drops Arthur off at the beginning
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Post by gra966 on Nov 12, 2016 6:20:16 GMT
A great episode for comedy -the scene where Arthur turns up at Terry s flat at 5 in the morning is hilarious Keep your eyes peeled for a member of the band that is a dead ringer for Keith Lemon ! As with Only Fools & Horses many main supporting characters only have small roles in the early episodes The usual feud between Chisholm & Arthur is no where near as strong here Peter Blake had a regular role as medallion man Kirk in late 80s sitcom Dear John Brian Croucher was always playing thuggish characters around this time I can always remember him in The Professionals episode Weekend in the Country as one of the villains holding the hostages in the farmhouse
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Post by gra966 on Nov 11, 2016 20:08:39 GMT
Another point to add to the bloopers section - Keep your eyes peeled on the front of Mario s old Transit It keeps switching from the original grille style to the revised front end from 71 -although the registration plate remains the same ! Diane Keen also played a Greek in the early Professionals episode - Killer with a Long Arm and ends up getting knocked down by a black cab
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