Square Eyes

I have been watching this a fair bit recently on itv4 and I must admit I love it to bits. I could watch it all day. I think people think of Minder as being all about the wheeler dealing from Arthur and the fights involving Terry but there was a lot more to it than that with a lot of subtle understated performances and direction.

The promotional photos and press releases for the new series give me the impression that this wont be the case second time round, what with Shane Ritchie pulling that stupid face and the new Minder; Lex Shrapnell looking and dressed like a football hooligan, it wasnt all Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells first time round you herberts!! They might as well have gone the whole hog and got Danny Dyer in as Terry McGann junior!

It's at times like this when I think we should have 'listed' TV programmes and films in the same way you get listed buildings, you know; programmes that would be protected and not allowed to be interfered with or, as with Minder, pointlessly remade and updated. I sincerely hope this new version dies on its arse, anyway, as I'm sure it will.

Glad you're enjoying the ITV4 repeats Mr S! I finished my (twelve-month, as it turned out) revisiting of Minder series 1-7 (ie the Terry McCann years) on DVD the other month, and enjoyed them every bit as much as I had as a kid. For me the absolute funniest series are the ones featuring Mark Farmer as Justin(e) and Ray Winstone as gormless mechanic (and Des replacement) Arnie. The scripts for these series (5 & 6 if memory serves) in particular are absolute comedy gold!

AHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG

The constant previews for the new Minder is driving me mad

Not only is it in every break, but, C5 have it running along the bottom of the screen during a programme.

All l can say is with that much hype it has to be ...er.... not that good

David Mitchell's Mom wrote:AHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG

The constant previews for the new Minder is driving me mad

Not only is it in every break, but, C5 have it running along the bottom of the screen during a programme.

All l can say is with that much hype it has to be ...er.... not that good

I find the most effective policy to counter this is simply to avoid watching Five. It's a big sacrifice, I know, but one I'm prepared to make

Did anyone here watch the first episode of the new "Minder" then? If so, how bad was it?

I didn't watch it. But Ally Ross, the best tv critic to walk the earth, did and this is what he thought:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... 556133.ece

The best bit of that review has to be this:

Ally Ross, The Sun wrote:
It’s a masterpiece. A love letter to London and its amazing people. A series that works because it’s clearly written by people who’ve seen a bit of life.

The new version, on the other hand, is clearly written by people who’ve just seen a bit of Minder,

That line had me "LOLing" in the staff room at work. My late new years resolution is to watch as much classic Minder on itv4 as I can. Unfortunatley itv's scheduling seems to be as haphazard as it's football coverage!

savage sounds wrote:I didn't watch it. But Ally Ross, the best tv critic to walk the earth, did and this is what he thought:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... 556133.ece

The best bit of that review has to be this:

Ally Ross, The Sun wrote:
It’s a masterpiece. A love letter to London and its amazing people. A series that works because it’s clearly written by people who’ve seen a bit of life.

The new version, on the other hand, is clearly written by people who’ve just seen a bit of Minder,

That line had me "LOLing" in the staff room at work. My late new years resolution is to watch as much classic Minder on itv4 as I can. Unfortunatley itv's scheduling seems to be as haphazard as it's football coverage!

That's fantastic and I'm sure better than the show if I'd watched it.

Someone left a copy of the Daily Mirror on the train I was on the other day & flicking through it I noticed that said rag's TV critic had given the new Minder a terrific review. Obviously must have been mates with someone involved in the show!