Review of Minder: Series 4 Part 4 of 4

Introduction

"Minder" was Euston Films` lighter-hearted followup to their classic thick-ear series "The Sweeney". Created by Leon Griffiths and starring Dennis Waterman and George Cole, the series ran for six seasons or 63 episodes and one tv movie.

Current copyright holders Fremantle Media have licensed the series to ClearVision, who are releasing the show two or three episodes to a disc with few if any frills.

This is disc four of season four, comprising the final two episodes (10&11). One of the notable cast members of episode 10 "Get Daley" is a very young and shiny-looking Gorden Kaye from `Allo `Allo (sporting a beard). Stalwart support is given by Patrick Malahide as Arfur`s nemesis Inspector Chisholm.

Video

There`s little to be said about the video or the audio on these discs. The episodes were shot on 16mm in standard tv framing (4:3), so the images are a little soft and grainy and image stability is not a strong point.

Audio

Not a high priority in the early 1980`s, so not surprisingly only mono.

Features

The "animated menus" are simply short windowed clips of the episodes which lead through to a scene selection menu. There is text episode information and a short clip of what is to come on the next disc. No hard of hearing subtitles. Most disappointing of all is the "Cast and Crew Commentaries" which are textual quotes from Dennis Waterman`s memoir "ReMinder", which just happens to be advertised on the last caption.

Conclusion

Pretty much everything about disc four I`ve said about disc three, which accounts for that feeling of deja vu you had reading parts of this review. Disc four contains two episodes rather than the three episodes featured on other discs but that`s because there were eleven episodes in the season and you can`t evenly divide eleven by four, can you?

While Dennis Waterman`s Terry McCann was supposed to be the star of the series, George Cole managed to steal the show out from under him to the extent that when the show was revived with a new "minder" in the shape of Gary Webster, it was as popular as ever.

"Minder" was an entertaining oasis in the desert that was popular television of the 1980`s, and while it is enjoying something of a revival on cable these days, this disc series presents the show looking at its best, and uncut. Sit back and enjoy Arfur wailing "Oo, my good gawd" for the millionth time.