Growing up in Canada a huge fan of Minder Series 1-7, I didn't even know there was a version of the show without Dennis Waterman. Heck, when I visited London in 1993, Waterman was appearing in a serious drama in the West End. I was with family who'd never heard of Minder so we all went to Cats. But I did buy a coffee table book called, IIRC, ''Waterman's East End" or something like that.
Back in the "colonies," I had an English roommate who also loved Minder and he'd teach me rhyming slang. And I don't remember him mentioning anything about a non-Waterman version of Minder, either.
So here I am, decades later, discovering the Gary Webster era on my Amazon Firestick.
What fun I'm having.
They revamped The Winchester. Dave is sporting a stylish haircut. Arthur Daley's got a sweet ride. There is a new set of coppers and villains. And the writers (were they a fresh crew?) brought fresh material.
This time around, Daley is erecting a flagpole on the car lot and running up the Union Flag, which brings the attention of the local council inspector. While Arthur's fighting city hall, the coppers are wondering why nobody's heard of 'Er Indoors for nearly a fortnight. That kicks off a missing persons investigation that involves half the local estate.
Maybe I'm dense but it took me until the 30-minute mark until I could see the two plots coming together. What a beauty.
George Cole gets so many funny lines to deliver it's almost unfair. I think the reason they land so well is that Cole is playing Daley straight up again, much like in the earlier days, and before the character kind of devolved into self-caricature in the late 80s. Also, Nicolas Day and Stephen Tompkinson as Daley's new adversaries on the police force play it straight, which keeps the show from tipping over into farce like it did occasionally in Series 4-7.
This week's ''villain" is low key so there's no danger of Webster's Ray Daley needing to throw a punch. Rather, Ray uses his brain to help get Arthur out of a jam. Arthur fights city hall but ultimately faces aggro from 'Er Indoors. From start to finish, a very funny episode with several laugh-out-loud moments.
Back in the "colonies," I had an English roommate who also loved Minder and he'd teach me rhyming slang. And I don't remember him mentioning anything about a non-Waterman version of Minder, either.
So here I am, decades later, discovering the Gary Webster era on my Amazon Firestick.
What fun I'm having.
They revamped The Winchester. Dave is sporting a stylish haircut. Arthur Daley's got a sweet ride. There is a new set of coppers and villains. And the writers (were they a fresh crew?) brought fresh material.
This time around, Daley is erecting a flagpole on the car lot and running up the Union Flag, which brings the attention of the local council inspector. While Arthur's fighting city hall, the coppers are wondering why nobody's heard of 'Er Indoors for nearly a fortnight. That kicks off a missing persons investigation that involves half the local estate.
Maybe I'm dense but it took me until the 30-minute mark until I could see the two plots coming together. What a beauty.
George Cole gets so many funny lines to deliver it's almost unfair. I think the reason they land so well is that Cole is playing Daley straight up again, much like in the earlier days, and before the character kind of devolved into self-caricature in the late 80s. Also, Nicolas Day and Stephen Tompkinson as Daley's new adversaries on the police force play it straight, which keeps the show from tipping over into farce like it did occasionally in Series 4-7.
This week's ''villain" is low key so there's no danger of Webster's Ray Daley needing to throw a punch. Rather, Ray uses his brain to help get Arthur out of a jam. Arthur fights city hall but ultimately faces aggro from 'Er Indoors. From start to finish, a very funny episode with several laugh-out-loud moments.