Minder Series 7

Series seven is worth seeing (if you're a fan of 'Minder' as a whole), however it's a definite comedown from all that went before. There are still some good things in it, but it doesn't match the energy, chemistry and verve of the run that effectively came to an end in 1985 with the (intended) last series and Christmas special.

In 1985 the sixth series was announced definitively as being the last. Dennis Waterman went on record as saying that he had had enough, that the show should stop whilst still fresh, and that he would never under any circumstances consider returning to it. That understood, the writers gave all that they had to series six and the Christmas special, 'Minder on the Orient Express', to give the 1985 run a sense of finality and an elegaic "those days are over" vibe to it.

Dennis Waterman was getting older, wanted to move away from this young(ish) tough guy type of part which he had been playing since the seventies, and very much wanted to be taken seriously as a mature actor. Hence he went off and took "more challenging" roles in series such as 'The Life and Loves of a She Devil'.

This didn't quite work out for him. The shadow of Terry McCann was very difficult to escape from and he was constantly pestered by journalists with questions about 'Minder' and whether he would make a comeback. As the 1980s came to a close, and Waterman hit his forties, he swallowed his reservations and agreed to come back for more episodes in a seventh series.

This was, as he later admitted, a mistake. The energy, vim, enthusiasm and even the magic chemistry between himself and Cole were all on a very low ebb in series seven. Waterman looks visibly older (his heavy drinking had accelerated during his years away) and physically out of shape. His obvious lack of enthusiasm comes across in a sort of world weary "why am I doing this again?" vibe. George Cole carries the seventh series practically single handed, with Waterman now arguably nothing more than a feed for Arthur Daley's one liners. Very different from the well balanced and energetic double act of earlier years!

There are occasional flashes of the old magic, but it all feels like a warmed over re-hash of what had been done better years before. Watch it if you're a fan, but don't expect too much. Personally (and I know that some fans will scream about this claim!), I think that the last great 'Minder' was the Christmas Special 1985. It was intended as a definitive close and comes across as such. A great way to end it, and a great shame that they couldn't leave well enough alone!