The New Minder Series on Five

A Review of the First Episode of the Comedy Drama Remake

Feb 5, 2009 Steven Cookson

Remakes and comebacks are all the rage these days and now it's the loved drama Minder's turn to be transported to the 21st century. Too bad no-one told the writers.

Almost everyone who watched TV during the 80s no doubt came across Minder on ITV, a show starring Dennis Waterman as a tough but honest minder for Arthur Daley, a crooked salesman whose tongue was as sharp as his suits, played by George Cole. And being one of the quintessential series of that decade many people have fond memories of it.

Now Channel Five, sorry Five, have decided to bring it smack up to date with a six-part series starring Shane Richie as Archie Daley, Arthur Daley’s nephew, and Lex Shrapnel as his minder Jamie Cartwright. Who’s up for a right old cockney knees-up? Er, no-one.

A Modern Setting, but who is the Intended Audience?

Remakes are usually an attempt to cash in on nostalgia by bringing the original in a modern setting, but there’s only two ways to go and neither sound promising. Make it too similar to the source and people will see it as a waste of time and if they change too many things everyone will argue that it’s merely using the name to peddle a sub-par story.

With Minder, fans of the George Cole/Dennis Waterman version will be annoyed by this up-to-date re-imagining of their treasured series and simply avoid it like a Graham Norton fronted talent show. The younger audience will be confused about what the fuss is all about, shrug their shoulders at Richie’s cockney japes and go back to watching Skins on Channel 4. Anyone else who wants to watch Minder will simply hunt down old repeats on ITV3.

Out-of-date Dodgy Geezers and Low Voiced Villains

The new Minder had all the traits of the original – dodgy dealings, low voiced villains, suit wearing geezers, corrupt politicians - but that again was a problem, as those sorts of characteristics are mind-numbingly cheesy and only exist in the world of EastEnders and Guy Ritchie films, and nobody wants to see another one of those again.

There was too much prattling about on the side of Richie, who is basically just a smartly dressed Alfie Moon, and a focus on trying to be more of a comedy but there were not even enough laughs for ten minutes never mind a full hour. Shrapnel too is not as imposing as Waterman either in physical stature or as a screen presence so it’s hard to take his tough guy attitude seriously.

The vanilla plot, which centred on a pub and the surrounding area being threatened by evil property developers, was also bland. The best part of the whole episode was the final confrontation at Battersea Power Station but by then most viewers would have fallen asleep through boredom or changed the channel.

Minder on Five gets Good Ratings

Reports state that that Minder has gained Channel Five its best-ever ratings for an original show despite competition from ITV1 with Everton Vs Liverpool in the FA Cup, with 2.4 million viewers turning in. Whether or not they will stay for the long run remains to be seen but if this first episode is anything to go by it will be a surprise if its six episode run gets extended beyond that.

Minder is shown on Five every Wednesday at 9pm and old episodes can be seen on Demand Five.

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Shane Richie and Lex Shrapnel