This was so good for us
We look at how the colourful world of Minder began boxing clever 40 years ago
TAKE one dodgy entrepreneur, give him an ex-boxer for a bodyguard and you have the makings of one of the UK’s most popular long-running dramas. Minder even introduced phrases like “a nice little earner” and “‘er indoors” into the English language and turned George Cole and Dennis Waterman into a winning TV duo.
The ITV series got off to a slow start when it began 40 years ago on October 29, 1979, but soon hits its stride and was being watched by nearly 18 million viewers at its height.
The role of Terry McCann came after Dennis Waterman’s success in police drama The Sweeney with John Thaw, but Minder often saw Terry on the wrong side of the law dealing with Arthur Daley’s many suspect business ventures.
Daley was originally seen as a supporting character, but the chemistry between George Cole and Dennis Waterman quickly proved TV gold with Arthur coming out with one-liners like “the world is your lobster” and “a friend in need is a pest”.
Minder ran for 15 years without putting a foot wrong and episodes titles often paid homage to movie hits. The opening episode was called Gunfight At The OK Laundrette and was followed over the years by Fiddler On The Hoof, The Beer Hunter, Senior Citizen Caine and A Fridge Too Far.
George Cole once said of the drama’s success “It’s a bit worrying really. After all, Arthur is a crook. He nearly always lets Terry down and yet he’s one of the most popular characters on television”.
Dennis Waterman sang the show’s theme show, I Could Be So Good For You, and the song reached number three in the music charts when it was released in October 1980. It was followed three years later by novelty single What Are We Gonna Get ‘Er Indoors performed by both Dennis Waterman and George Cole.
Billy Connolly appeared in Minder as a character called Tick Tack while other guest stars over the years included Derek Jacobi, Ray Winstone, Brian Blessed, Mel Smith and EastEnder June Brown.
The drama ended up being watched in around 70 countries and Gary Webster took over minding duties as Arthur’s nephew Ray when Dennis Waterman left to appear in BBC sitcom On The Up.
I Could Be So Good For You was even played at George Cole’s funeral in 2015 and Dennis Waterman gave the eulogy saying, during Minder “we laughed all day long, every day”.