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''Minder'' was a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television (later, Central Independent Television in 1993 and 1994) and shown on ITV. The original show ran for ten series between 29 October 1979 and 10 March 1994, and starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likable bodyguard (''minder'' in London slang) and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious, but highly unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman, and purveyor of anything else from which there was money to be made whether inside the law or not. The series was principally set in inner West London (Shepherd's Bush/Ladbroke Grove/Fulham/Acton), and was largely responsible for putting the word minder, meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK popular lexicon. The characters often drank at the local members-only Winchester Club, where owner and barman Dave (Glynn Edwards) acted, often unwillingly, as a message machine for Arthur, and turned a blind eye to his shady deals. The series was notable for using a range of leading British actors, as well as many up-and-coming performers before they hit the big time; at its peak was one of ITV's biggest ratings winners. In 2008, it was announced that ''Minder'' would go into production for broadcast in 2009 (on Channel 5) for a new version, though none of the original cast would appear in the new episodes. The new show focused on Arthur's nephew Archie (created solely for this new version), played by Shane Richie. The series began broadcast on 4 February 2009. In 2010, it was announced that no further episodes would be made following lukewarm reception to the first series. ==Background== ''Minder'' was devised by writer Leon Griffiths as a vehicle for Dennis Waterman after his success in ''The Sweeney''. George Cole's wheeler-dealer character is almost secondary, with Arthur assigning Terry a new "minding" job in each episode. A number of early episodes focus on Terry in such assignments, with Arthur remaining in the background. However, as the comedy potential of Cole's dodgy-dealing character emerged, as well as the successful on-screen pairing of Waterman and Cole (which proved to be one of the series' most popular elements), the emphasis increasingly focused more on Arthur's exploits, and by a few series into the show's life, typical plots revolved more around Arthur's latest shady scams instead of some of the more "gritty" plots of Terry's minding jobs. Despite its eventual success, ''Minder'' was a slow burner, not helped by being delayed by a nine-week technicians' strike which effectively blacked out the ITV network. In the light of initially poor viewing figures, management at Thames were intent on scrapping the show but managing director Bryan Cowgill persuaded them to commission one further series and repeat the first. Both attracted much larger audiences and by series 3, the show had become a major hit, and at its peak was often cited as the jewel in ITV's Drama crown. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Minder (TV series)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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