2009 TV Preview: 'Minder' remade

After 15 years, Minder is back - and the world is their lobster!



The new version of the classic series, airing on Five from January, stars Shane Richie as Archie Daley, nephew of George Cole's Arthur. Sidekick Jamie Cartwright - Archie's so-called "minder" - is played by Lex Shrapnel.

Producer Sean O'Connor tells us what to expect from the 21st Century Minder.

What made you decide to revive the show?
"I've always loved the show and remember it from my childhood. We'd been talking to Jay Hunt at Five, who was then their head of programmes and had been encouraging Tim Loane and I to come up with a new show that would be channel-defining. I looked through the TalkbackThames back catalogue and saw Minder. I thought it was the glowingly obvious thing to do! Literally on January 3 this year I said to Jay 'what about doing Minder?' Five minutes later she said 'what about Shane Richie?' It was straight on from there."

There will be people who didn't watch the show first time around. For their benefit, can you explain the format?
"It's very, very simple. Shane Richie plays Archie Daley, who is Arthur Daley's nephew, and Lex Shrapnel plays his minder/sidekick, Jamie Cartwright. Archie usually gets them into trouble, Jamie gets them out of trouble, end of episode. It's really simple! What attracted people to the original was the fantastic dynamic between George Cole and Dennis Waterman. It was very much about an older guy who should know better, and a younger guy who's a bit more intelligent. It's like Del Boy and Rodney, or the boys out of Of Mice and Men - an archetypal comic duo."

Is it fair to say that the new version has the same tone as the original show?
"It has the same sort of sensibility, about little people having a go, struggling and not quite getting there. It's a family viewing show. In the world of Minder, nobody dies or gets killed. There are fights but they aren't violent, and there's flirty relationships between men and women but there's no graphic sex. The closest to a swear word we have is 'bloody' and we've only got two in the whole series."

How has the show been updated for the 21st century?
"Archie's not dealing in used cars, he's dealing in knock-off mobile phones. He also gets involved in life management, gambling and things. There's an episode where he gets into contemporary art, which I don't think Arthur would have done! The other main difference is that the relationship between the two guys is slightly different because they're closer in age. Rather than a father and son relationship it's more like Butch and Sundance."

Have you re-used any of the stories from the original?
"We haven't. I've seen loads of them, and they're all great, but like any '70s or '80s show, they all seem slow these days."

Do you reference the old series?
"Interestingly when we started out, we had quite a few references to the old series. We do have the Winchester, which is sort of part of the story in episode one. We also mention Arthur once, but I can't tell you where it is!"

Have you thought about bringing back George Cole for a guest spot?
"Lots of people wanted us to do that, particularly early on, but now I think everyone agrees that it would be the wrong thing to do for series one. I think if you had George or Dennis in it, you'd look like you needed them in it. I think the show has proved that it can survive without them so we might bring one or both of them back, if they want to, in a future series. I've spoken to Dennis about it and I'm not sure how keen he is, but I'd love to have George in it."

Minder begins on Five in January.

Up next on Tube Talk's 2009 TV Preview: Joss Whedon's Dollhouse

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