Review of Minder: Series 9 Part 1 Of 4

Introduction

The 13 episodes that make up Minder Season 9 (first broadcast in the Winter and Spring of 1993, shortly after the death of creator Leon Griffiths) have been released over 4 DVDs available separately or as a box set. I`m reviewing all the discs as separate discs, but the 4 reviews won`t differ very much since the technical details of the discs are very similar. I`m sure that most people will have heard of Minder, and the lovable east end spiv Arthur Daley. The show ran for 14 years and was very popular during its time.

I`ll Never Forget Whats`ername

A combination of a pub quiz and a prisoner on the run spell trouble for Arthur, Ray and Dave down at the famous Winchester club. The local constabulary are hot on the trail.

No Way To Treat A Daley

Arthur annoys a local rival with an advert. The rival decides to take matters into his own hands and kidnaps Arthur. Ray has to hunt him down.

Uneasy Rider

Arthur decides to set up in the courier business, noticing yet another gap in the market. However, some of the deliveries that the company start making look a little suspicious.

Video

A full frame transfer which was as the show was filmed and transmitted. It was all recorded on film (unusual for a TV show, but not unusual for one produced by Euston Films). The transfer therefore reflects this, and at times it`s in a bit of a state, looking rather like messy film stock from nearly 12 years ago might be expected to look like. There`s a hell of a lot of grain on the screen at times and it can look awful.

The image is not always sharp and the lack of quality makes the show look older than it actually is. Like previous seasons, it`s a shame that the image didn`t get cleaned up for release.

As for the show itself, Ray`s choice of clothing places it smack bang in the early 1990s. The end credits are fun for anyone who`s ever walked down Southend Pier.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which would have been how it was recorded, but it doesn`t sound very stereo at all. At least it is clean and crisp and audible and it certainly sounds better than it looks. The theme tune had a bit of a cheesey remix for season 8 (and this stayed for season 9). The remix brings it smack bang into the early 1990s but it`s still quite recognisable, even with the rubbish electric drum sounds.

Features

The only real extras for the series are on this disc - more extracts from an interesting interview with George Cole about his time playing Arthur Daley.

Conclusion

Minder without Terry McCann? Well, it worked in season 8, so they rolled the dice for another season. It was a gamble to bring the show back for the previous season, but it did the job, and it does the job again for the 9th season. As before, it still retains the essence of the original series. The episodes have shifted focus from the older "Terry the heavy" style to a more subtle, character based approach. The arrival of Gary Webster helped to attract a different audience (including one of my old English teachers, who used to teach him at our school). The music and the clothes (and Ray`s hair) definitely help to date the series to the early 1990s, but it still has some of the aura of the earlier shows about it.

The writing is still consistent and it`s still enjoyable to watch. Some of the ideas are a bit old hat and there`s some recycling of work from earlier seasons. The inevitable comparisons are always drawn with Only Fools and Horses, with dodgy deals and cockney spivs mangling the English language. But the series were always different - Fools and Horses went straight for the laughs, Minder played more for drama, but with the laughs are still mixed in.

Series 9 is a reasonable release and fans of the show will want to pick it up regardless of some of my qualms about image quality. It`s unlikely anyone will be spending money on cleaning it up, so it`s the best that you`re likely to see it.

My only gripe is that on all of my test discs you couldn`t access anything other than the first episode and the guides from the menu - any attempt to do so takes you to a blank screen. I had to select titles individually on my DVD player. I`m sure this will be fixed on the final release though!