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Arthur Daley and Minder

Started by maett, April 04, 2019, 11:20:51 PM

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maett

ITV 4 is currently knocking out old Minder episodes at 4 o clock, on season 6 at the moment  1985. I used to love it as a kid but remember it getting shit even before Terry left. Seems it had a 3 year break between season 6 and 7 that's possibly when it got bad. Hadn't watched it since then but the old man loves to watch 80s and 90s shows and by Christ George Cole is fucking brilliant in it. I'd forgotten how funny the character was. Made me laugh more than Alan Partridge's return managed to sadly. Gawd bless you Arfur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dXHywMMyE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TYQkfNva8w

Arthur trying out a newly installed Space Invaders machine, the tiny inflections he puts in, the little eyebrow raise when challenged to a game of doubles is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHJfMXXk_y8

Glebe

Yes, I occasionally dip into the ITV4 reruns. Very nostalgic.

DrGreggles


Beagle 2

Fuck me I know the horse has bolted on this but British people saying "seasons". The idea of there being a "season six" of Minder.

Quote from: Beagle 2 on April 05, 2019, 07:10:00 AM
Fuck me I know the horse has bolted on this but British people saying "seasons". The idea of there being a "season six" of Minder.

Depends on how long they last, I think.  If it's got around ten episodes or more I'd say you can justify it as it does last around a season - which is probably where the US usage came from, as a lot of their TV series would run for about 20 - 26 episodes a year.

Minder did have some short runs, of about six episodes, but there were others that ran from around ten to fifteen, IIRC.

shiftwork2

Dave from the Winchester with his 'Oh hello Arthur'
Mr Chisholm with his 'I'm gonna get you Arthur'
Mike Baldwin with his 'Get the girls back to work Arthur'

Twed

Quote from: Alternative Carpark on April 05, 2019, 07:21:02 AM
Depends on how long they last, I think.  If it's got around ten episodes or more I'd say you can justify it as it does last around a season - which is probably where the US usage came from, as a lot of their TV series would run for about 20 - 26 episodes a year.

Minder did have some short runs, of about six episodes, but there were others that ran from around ten to fifteen, IIRC.
I'm the authority on switching being British and American English, and I think you'll find that it's "series" when we're talking about Minder, thank you very much.

I love Minder. For one it's so blokey, but shaped by Verity Lambert who is a genius. There will never be a main character with the class that George Cole had. People just aren't made that way anymore. You can't have ever tweeted and then turned into anything resembling George Cole.

The stories are good too! Every episode is a pretty good short story. Also, ignoring all the "phwoar what a dolly bird" stuff and the (frankly preposterous) idea that Terry is a bit of a shagger, it's surprisingly progressive at times. Great women characters who are usually powerful and not just waifs (I am scared of Rose Mellors) although it can fall into that trap at times. There are thoughtful episodes about mental illness, aging, sexuality, bullying, poverty and race.

I don't know about the budget, but the production is perfect. Don't change anything about it. It looks exactly right. Every car is right, every interior is right, every shot is right. It's all done beautifully.

Minder is a treasure, and anybody looking back on it with disdain probably hasn't watched it recently.

Twed

I'm talking about series 1-4 mind you. I don't tend to watch further than that, just because I always start from the beginning.

maett

Quote from: Beagle 2 on April 05, 2019, 07:10:00 AM
Fuck me I know the horse has bolted on this but British people saying "seasons". The idea of there being a "season six" of Minder.
Sorry mate if I spoilt your morning. I am going to edit the offending post. Seems I can't do it now. Maybe admin can sort it out the last thing I want to do is upset people.


Beagle 2

Cheers mate I'm a mess over here.

biggytitbo

Quote from: Twed on April 05, 2019, 08:16:36 AM
I don't know about the budget, but the production is perfect. Don't change anything about it. It looks exactly right. Every car is right, every interior is right, every shot is right. It's all done beautifully.


The attention to period detail is superb yes, I don't know how they did it.


Early series of Minder where quite gritty and always had some tits and bums in them for the lads, but they grew out of that later on as the show became a bit broader and Arthur more of a caricature (not unlike what happened with Del and OFAH). It is just so good though, a perfect formula with perfect performances all round.

Twed

Quote from: biggytitbo on April 05, 2019, 08:36:08 AM

The attention to period detail is superb yes, I don't know how they did it.
Nice dig, but I don't mean anything period. The cars were selected carefully, they always matched the associated person's class or situation. Nothing looked staged or fake. A launderette back room was a launderette back room.

currently on my amazon wishlist


pigamus

Quote from: Beagle 2 on April 05, 2019, 07:10:00 AM
Fuck me I know the horse has bolted on this but British people saying "seasons". The idea of there being a "season six" of Minder.

There's always been a season six of Doctor Who, though. So it's not that weird.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Twed on April 05, 2019, 08:16:36 AM
I don't know about the budget, but the production is perfect. Don't change anything about it. It looks exactly right. Every car is right, every interior is right, every shot is right. It's all done beautifully.

Minder is a treasure, and anybody looking back on it with disdain probably hasn't watched it recently.

Euston Films:

Quote from: wikipediaThe company was founded in 1971 when three Thames executives, Lloyd Shirley, George Taylor and Brian Tesler realised there was a market for a new type of television drama. To facilitate this new-style of quick-changing action, Euston used two crews filming different scenes of the same programme at the same time, which ensured production times were quicker. Euston eschewed the studio videotape shooting more commonly used in British television drama at the time, and all material was filmed on location using the more expensive but higher-quality 16mm film stock.

Initial shows such as Special Branch gained reasonable praise, but it was The Sweeney that first gave the company critical and commercial success. Using a storyline style known as "kick, bollock and scramble", this formula continued in such shows as Fox and Widows. In 1979, the company created Minder as a vehicle for Sweeney star Dennis Waterman, giving the company its longest-running show.

I'd not seen Special Branch until recently - but it has a similar visual quality to The Sweeney and Minder.

Compare and contrast to the output in the similar period of Avengers/Mark 1 Productions - which is basically the Continuity ITC (?).

Shit Good Nose


Twed

They'd be more likely to make "Mind Her". The feminists are taking over cuh.

Sebastian Cobb

Was The Professionals another Euston one? I remember that all being on location and 16mm as well. Not unlike Minder but with more batman style fisticuffs and Ford Capri's.

maett

Been ruminating more than I should have this morning about the character Arthur Daley and racking my brain for other telly antiheroes. Came up with Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill and that's it. Though there are a few borderline characters in Game of Thrones, I like the Hound. Do they crop up more in american dramas? Is it there a dearth of antiheroes on British telly or is it just too early. Can't be arsed to delete this after reaching  five sentences but don't want to continue writing either.  Norman Fletcher. Avon? Whatever happened to all of the antiheroes?

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: maett on April 05, 2019, 11:09:35 AM
Been ruminating more than I should have this morning about the character Arthur Daley and racking my brain for other telly antiheroes. Came up with Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill and that's it. Though there are a few borderline characters in Game of Thrones, I like the Hound. Do they crop up more in american dramas? Is it there a dearth of antiheroes on British telly or is it just too early. Can't be arsed to delete this after reaching  five sentences but don't want to continue writing either.  Norman Fletcher. Avon? Whatever happened to all of the antiheroes?

Ian Beale

Quote from: maett on April 05, 2019, 11:09:35 AM
Been ruminating more than I should have this morning about the character Arthur Daley and racking my brain for other telly antiheroes. Came up with Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill and that's it. Though there are a few borderline characters in Game of Thrones, I like the Hound. Do they crop up more in american dramas? Is it there a dearth of antiheroes on British telly or is it just too early. Can't be arsed to delete this after reaching  five sentences but don't want to continue writing either.  Norman Fletcher. Avon? Whatever happened to all of the antiheroes?

Sgt Bilko is quite like Arthur Daley in some respects, isn't he?  Blackadder could count too, presumably.

James Bolam's character in When The Boat Comes In, Jack Ford, qualifies as an anti-hero, I think.


nec1974

Quote from: maett on April 04, 2019, 11:20:51 PM
ITV 4 is currently knocking out old Minder episodes at 4 o clock, on season 6 at the moment  1985. I used to love it as a kid but remember it getting shit even before Terry left. Seems it had a 3 year break between season 6 and 7 that's possibly when it got bad. Hadn't watched it since then but the old man loves to watch 80s and 90s shows and by Christ George Cole is fucking brilliant in it. I'd forgotten how funny the character was. Made me laugh more than Alan Partridge's return managed to sadly. Gawd bless you Arfur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dXHywMMyE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TYQkfNva8w

Arthur trying out a newly installed Space Invaders machine, the tiny inflections he puts in, the little eyebrow raise when challenged to a game of doubles is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHJfMXXk_y8
Series 6 of Minder is probably the weakest of the Terry McCann years. Series 7 is a bit of a return to form although the special that launched it (An Officer & A Car Salesman) is generally regarded as an all-round stinker.

I only saw Special Branch for the first time recently. The lineage to the Sweeney is clear and it's a bit of a Sweeney/Professionals hybrid. Bit uneven in places but surprisingly good overall.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on April 05, 2019, 10:47:44 AM
Was The Professionals another Euston one? I remember that all being on location and 16mm as well. Not unlike Minder but with more batman style fisticuffs and Ford Capri's.

Professionals was an Avengers/Mark1 Production: http://www.mark-1.co.uk/

I don't know if anyone involved came from ABC or ITC, but I always think of it as in that line - even if it doesn't quite have the high-colour deluxe feel of the 60s shows.

gilbertharding

#24
Quote from: nec1974 on April 05, 2019, 11:43:36 AM
I only saw Special Branch for the first time recently. The lineage to the Sweeney is clear and it's a bit of a Sweeney/Professionals hybrid. Bit uneven in places but surprisingly good overall.

Was that on Forces TV recently? Followed in the schedules by a chance to see George Sewell looking younger, in the 1980 set UFO.

studpuppet

Euston Films was ironically based in Hammersmith opposite the Red Cow (now the rebuilt Latymers). Actors and production people were always over the road getting pissed but also chatting about work etc. and so most of the scenes were filmed as close by as possible (sometimes even in the Red Cow). There was a lot of filming down by Riverside Studios and in The Chancellors pub opposite (they still have a wall of signed photos up because their location opposite the studio).

I found it amusing to see a lot of the same locations used in New Tricks (Lower Mall, the back of Hammersmith Town Hall) and I wondered if Dennis has written the theme tune, sung the theme tune and done the location work as well.

gilbertharding

#26
Quote from: studpuppet on April 05, 2019, 12:40:22 PM
I wondered if Dennis has written the theme tune, sung the theme tune and done the location work as well.

A pedant writes:  Of course, although Dennis Waterman has sung the theme tune to four of the shows he also starred in, the 'Waterman' credited with writing the words to I Could Be So Good For You was the then Mrs Waterman, Patricia.

As everybody knows, obviously.

biggytitbo

It's odd to think there's a whole host of  60s and 70s British TV, mostly regional ITV, filmed on film that holds up a hell of a lot better than stuff does from the 80s and 90s. ITV didn't really do that mad BBC thing of switching between film and video did it?

Plenty of ITV sitcoms and dramas from the 60s and 70s I can think of that had a VT/film mix - Man About The House, George And Mildred, The Tomorrow People, On The Buses, Ace Of Wands, Sapphire And Steel, Public Eye, Hadleigh...

Although ITV probably did have OB location stuff on video more often than the BBC at that time, and there were also episodes of some of the programmes mentioned above that occasionally did that.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: biggytitbo on April 05, 2019, 09:55:10 PM
It's odd to think there's a whole host of  60s and 70s British TV, mostly regional ITV, filmed on film that holds up a hell of a lot better than stuff does from the 80s and 90s. ITV didn't really do that mad BBC thing of switching between film and video did it?

The video/film switching was usually a sitcom thing where it was shot on video for the inside shots (because it was cheaper and easier) but film for outside (because film was much more portable). I'm guessing the reason you saw it less with ITV was because they'd cut costs by keeping everything in the studio.

One of the first drama/comedies to use portable video (essentially the same kit that was used for electronic news gathering) on location was Auf Wiedersehn Pet. I watched it a while back and it doesn't look great in places.

Generally film hung around for outside/location stuff for quite some time, even if it was scanned straight to video for editing. According to something I googled Doc Martin was shot on super 16 (up until 2015) at least.