Why did they get rid of Chisholm?
Best character ever.
shareThe writers had turned Chisholm into a cartoonish figure of fun by the time they did 'An Officer and a Car Salesman' (Chisholm's last appearance). If you compare that treatment of the character with how he was portrayed back in the first series - a tough, hard-nosed ruthless copper with a sharp wit and sharp intelligence - you can see that the writers let Chisholm degenerate from a formidable adversary into a comical buffoon. He basically went from a 'Sweeney' era tough copper, into a Wile-E-Coyote style slapstick stooge.
Patrick Malahide was sick and tired of playing the fool, and was much in demand elsewhere for theatre and television roles. He left 'Minder' behind to do more lucrative and satisfying acting work.
Peter Childs - who played the other regular series copper, Sergeant Rycott - also started out in 'Minder' in Series One as a formidable, tough, career policeman who was nobody's fool. As with Chilshom, the writers gradually turned Rycott into a cartoonish figure of fun.
Peter Childs died of leukaemia after completing the filming of Series Seven, meaning that neither Chisholm nor Rycott took part in the Ray Daley era. A new regular adversay copper, Detective Sergeant Morley (played by Nicholas Day), was drafted in to take over the dramatic function that Chisholm and Rycott had fulfilled in earlier years.
If you compare that treatment of the character with how he was portrayed back in the first series - a tough, hard-nosed ruthless copper with a sharp wit and sharp intelligence - you can see that the writers let Chisholm degenerate from a formidable adversary into a comical buffoon.
Well put. I guess that transformation is inevitable. If he can't catch Daley after 7 years or so, he must be a buffoon. Thinking about it, I suppose they should have got rid of him earlier. share
The writers had turned Chisholm into a cartoonish figure of fun by the time they did 'An Officer and a Car Salesman' (Chisholm's last appearance). If you compare that treatment of the character with how he was portrayed back in the first series - a tough, hard-nosed ruthless copper with a sharp wit and sharp intelligence - you can see that the writers let Chisholm degenerate from a formidable adversary into a comical buffoon. He basically went from a 'Sweeney' era tough copper, into a Wile-E-Coyote style slapstick stooge.- duke-verity
Great observations, and I agree completely!
Have just watched the first 6 series back2back over the last month or so, and I have to say the Chisholm character became just a figure of fun; an ends-to-a-means in order to offer some light relief to the show. In fact ever since series three, the show's balance between drama & comedy shifted from about 80/20 respectively to 40/60 by series five and beyond.
Clearly the writers were unsure where to take the show during the uneven first couple of seasons, so I guess they went for light humour when they realised the great chemistry going on between Arthur & Terry; the support actors all became comic stooges. Not that I am really criticizing the inevitable direction of the show, but I do think they took the Chisholm character a little far with their lampoonery - reminded me of Inspector "I'll get you, Butler!" Blake, from On The Buses.
"One must first get behind someone, in order to stab them in the back!" share