The seventh series is the weakest of the lot. Waterman was clearly phoning it in by this stage. His heart wasn't in it anymore, and he looked pi**ed off, dead eyed, puffy and physically out of shape.
He came back for Series Seven after a long break, having previously vowed that 1985's 'Minder On The Orient Express' would be his final farewell to the show. He spent more than three years attempting to leave behind the shadow of Terry McCann, only to be constantly nagged and pestered by journalists, critics and members of the public demanding to know when he was going to come back for yet another series of 'Minder'.
He was eventually lured back because Euston Films offered him a whopping amount of money to return. He would later admit that returning to the role had been a mistake, and that he had a very unhappy time filming those episodes over the spring and summer of 1988 (broadcast the following year). This comes across in his tired, dispirited performance: where his once magic chemistry with George Cole is on a very low ebb throughout, and Terry is now arguably little more than a feed for Arthur Daley's one liners. There are occasional flashes of the old magic, but these are little or nothing compared to the wonderfully balanced double act of their golden years between 1979-84.
Waterman was angry that the writers were turning the show into what he sneeringly dismissed as being "The Arthur Daley Comedy Hour". They were increasingly sidelining the Terry McCann character by turning him into Daley's comical low status skivvy, rather than letting Waterman be the tough hardman minder with gifted fists (and centre of the show) that he had originally been during the early years. The character, like the show itself, seemed to have lost some vital edge.
Funnily enough, having watched the Ray Daley era episodes again, I absolutely feel that the arrival of Gary Webster was like a shot of monkey glands into the show's fabric. Between 1991-94, 'Minder' recovered its energy and vim. Webster was physically energetic, youthful, likeable, enthusiastic and (above all) happy to be there. That really does make a difference to the way you come across on screen. A bored, pi**ed off Dennis Waterman resting on his laurels and phoning it in was not an attractive sight.
The Gary Webster era had much of the comical quirkiness that you associate with the later Waterman era episodes: but, crucially, it also restored a lot of the punchier grit and violence which had been a hallmark of the early series, and had been lost as time went on because of concerns about violence on television during the 1980's. I much prefer a grittier 'Minder', and applaud the return to form that came with Webster's scrappy Ray Daley. The fist fights were back, and most welcome as an important counter-balance to the humour.
Ray's all out punch-and-kick duel in a hotel washroom - with a lethal dirty fighting Irish hardman - in Series Nine's 'Opportunity Knocks and Bruises', was every bit as tough and brutal as anything from the notoriously violent early Waterman era. Same with the quite staggeringly intense and bloody fight between Gary Webster and Derrick Branche (Gupta from the sitcom 'Only When I laugh' !) at the climax of Series Ten's 'All Quiet On The West End Front'. The restoration of this sort of toughness to 'Minder' during Gary Webster's early 1990's era is another of the reasons why it feels like a vast improvement over Dennis Waterman's (overdosed with comedy) later episodes.
Webster's 'Minder' was/is much underrated, and well deserving of a reappraisal by viewers who, at the time, snottily dismissed it without giving it a chance, simply because it didn't have Terry in it! Webster and Cole have their own nice chemistry, the show is renewed by the new uncle/nephew relationship, much of the slackness and flab of the later Waterman era is trimmed away, and the show regains the vim, edge and grittier drama (as well as the humour) that it had in spades to begin with. I would advise viewers to watch Webster's three series again with more open minds, and prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
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youngian67
14 years ago
duke-verity's analysis is on the mark and although the later Waterman series had its moments they were also having to bringing other charaters (liek Justin) to compensate for sulky Terry.
The first Gary Webster series needed time but I agree you hardly miss Waterman after a while and I know a couple of Minder fans who have admitted underestimating the Ray Daley years.
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duke-verity
14 years ago
And Gary Webster got better and better with each series, growing in confidence as he developed the role. He was only twenty-six when he filmed his first 'Minder' series, a big challenge for an up-and-coming young actor. Very few could have hoped to pull off such a major casting replacement in a hit show. Anyone taking the part would have felt the sting of getting publically hammered by the type of reactionary critics and viewers who simply hate change. Hats off to him for being a success and confounding the naysayers.
In many ways it's a pity that he didn't get a longer innings on the show, just three series to compare with Dennis Waterman's seven series. If Webster had gone on to do another series or two of 'Minder' then posterity would remember the Ray Daley era far more justly. Webster's career didn't really seem to take off afterwards, years of being relegated to supporting roles in forgettable TV. Rather unfair.
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