The Return of Minder

Shane Richie as Archie Daley on Channel Five

It’s been all over the UK press recently that Minder, the classic 70s and 80s TV series starring George Cole as Arthur Daley and Dennis Waterman as Terry, is making a comeback.

Only this time we have Shane Richie as Arthur’s nephew Archie and Lex Shrapnel as his minder, Jamie.

I wrote a while back that I grew up watching Minder, at least in its latter years, and I loved its brilliant mix of drama and humour set among the seedy backstreets of London.

Even in its final few years, when Terry went to Australia, to be replaced by Gary Webster as Arthur’s nephew Ray, I would tune in to see what scam was being perpetrated this week.

A few years back I picked up the first series on Australian DVD, complete with a couple of George Cole commentaries, and admired the grit of the series and the clever plots, as well as the interaction between the leads.

Sadly it all ended in 1994, Arthur hanging his hat up for good and perhaps spending a few more evenings with ‘er indoors as he grew old disgracefully.

I have mixed feelings about the new show, even though I’ve not seen it yet (it’s due to start in February I believe). A review on the Guardian website this week was pretty evenhanded about the first episode, though they couldn’t quite work out who the audience is going to be for the series: the fans will think it’s a bad idea while the kids won’t think its cool enough.

I’ve read that the Winchester Club will make an appearance and it would be great to see the return of Arthur for a one-off appearance, or even Mr Chisholm (Patrick Malahide).

The makers have said they’d love to get Waterman or Cole back for series two, but we’ll have to wait and see whether this can run for as many years as the original or if it’ll be a flash in the pan. I truly hope this can do some justice to the classic series and that they don’t spoil the memory.

I’ll add a review to the blog following the first episode, in the meantime here’s a short trailer for Channel Five with some Minder clips followed by the revamped theme tune from Glasgow band the Attic Lights – I really hope that Richie’s annoying tie straightening gimmick seen in the music video isn’t going to be his “trademark” in the series:

Photo copyright Channel Five

Being Human: The Series

Back in February 2008 I was lucky enough to tune into the UK’s largest “youth” channel, BBC Three, to watch the one-off drama pilot Being Human. And it was brilliant.

The opening moments introduced us to George (Russell Tovey) as he wandered in the woods near Bristol, stripped off and subsequently turned into a werewolf.

From there it got odder and even more bonkers, with various plot threads chucked at the viewer in the hope that something would stick. It was funny, dark, surprising and generally a breath of fresh air for the channel. The cast also gelled nicely, with Guy Flanagan putting in a fine performance as troubled vampire (is there any other sort??) Mitchell.

Now, almost a year on and following an internet campaign that saw the fans insist that a series be commissioned, Being Human returns for six episodes starting on Sunday 25 January at 9pm on BBC Three, albeit minus two members of the cast, one of which is, sadly, Mr Flanagan.

Still, the creators got it pretty much spot-on first time around so I’m sure they won’t let us down with newbies Aiden Turner as Mitchell and Lenora Crichlow as Annie (replacing Andrea Riseborough). Here’s the trailer:

Sadly the pilot episode isn’t getting repeated, which is a shame. It has however surfaced on YouTube and as it has been there for nearly a year I’m guessing the BBC are happy enough. I’ve linked to it below as it’s well worth a watch.

I plan to review the first episode here when it airs and look forward to it being a jewel in the schedule…here’s hoping.

Find out more About Being Human.

Check out the superb official Being Human blog.

Join the Being Human Facebook group.