Minder - Series 8 (1991) [DVDRip]
ITV




Overview:

Plot Summary:
Minder is 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 and shown on ITV. The show ran for ten series from October 29, 1979 to March 10, 1994, and starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likeable bodyguard (minder in London slang), and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a well-dressed but unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman, and anything else from which there was money to be made whether inside the law or not. The show was largely responsible for putting the word minder, meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK and Australian 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.

Links:

IMDb | minder.org


Episode Information:

Episode guide taken from: http://www.minder.org/epsguide.htm

Episode 1 - Loneliness Of A Long Distance Entrepreneur
Originally Aired: 5th September 1991

Arthur is shocked to learn that Terry has moved out of his flat for good, and gone to Australia to live. With Terry gone, Arthur is now under threat from a local protection firm and is in desperate need of a new Minder. To add to his problems, Arthur is troubled at the thought that the imported car that he has just sold DS Morley isn't all it is made out to be. Arthur enlists the help of his young nephew Ray.

Episode 2 - A Bouquet Of Barbed Wire
Originally Aired: 12th September 1991

Arthur is convinced the British wine will be the new seller throughout the Europe, and as a result buys several crate loads of what he believes is the genuine article. Little does he know he only tried the sample bottle!

Episode 3 - Whatever Happened To Her Indoors?
Originally Aired: 19th Sepember 1991

Arthur is convinced that the way to make money is to appeal to British patriotism, and erects a flagpole and the union jack at the car lot. The council promptly disagrees and Arthur finds himself up in court attempting to justify why he has done it. In the meantime, Morley is informed of the disappearance of Arthur's wife by her weekly hairdresser. He pulls out all the stops to find her, convinced that Arthur has murdered her because he is sufferinfrom a severe cash crisis.

Episode 4 - Three Cons Make A Mountain
Originally Aired: 26th Sepember 1991

Three of Arthur's old business partners decide it is time to frame Arthur.

Episode 5 - Guess Who's Coming To Pinner?
Originally Aired: 3rd October 1991

When Arthur and Ray pay their respects to the late Charlie Johnson, Tommy Hanbury who is an old friend of Arthur's, persuades him to help with a 'job' bigger than the great train robbery. With the lock up under police surveillance, Ray sets out to discover exactly what Tommy has planned. Meanwhile Charlie's widow has plans of a more romantic nature for Arthur.

Episode 6 - The Last Temptation Of Daley
Originally Aired: 10th October 1991

Arthur visits the Doctor only to be told to cut down on the booze and cigars. Doing as the doctor suggests, Arthur experiences serious side effects, only made worse by a local builder called Benny McLeish threatening Arthur as a result of a dodgy blue paint deal. Arthur's strange behaviour in this episode is unlike any other episode of Minder.

Episode 7 - A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In Shepherds Bush
Originally Aired: 17th October 1991

Ray travels up North to bring a pigeon back to London, as part of a race. During this time, he falls very much in love with Donna, the daughter of Arthur's northern business partner. As a result of this, Ray and Donna disappear and Arthur is left to start the pigeon race himself. Arthur does whatever he can to ensure that Ray and Donna don't have a future.

Episode 8 - Him Indoors
Originally Aired: 24th October 1991

Seeing an opportunity in selling and fitting burglar alarms, Arthur employs the services of ex-burglar, turned herbal tea enthusiast Ron. As a result of Ron's handy work, Arthur ends up trapped in the lock up with a titanium aluminium roll-up door that doesn't work quite as it should. While Arthur is stuck at the lock up, Ray is unavailable and Ron decides that he has another use for Arthur's list of customers.

Episode 9 - The Greatest Show In Willesden
Originally Aired: 31st October 1991

Arthur believes a that entertainment is the order of the day, and ends up in a spot of bother over a karaoke machine that he has borrowed which is stolen. Ray discovers the person who stole it is none other than Barry, a bloke who he has been working for, and decides to get his own back.

Episode 10 - Too Many Crooks
Originally Aired: 7th November 1991

A talented young French chef called "Henri" who Arthur has employed as part of "Daley Catering" is been hunted by a group of gangsters. While providing the hospitality for a Police leaving function without a proper chef, Arthur is abducted for information as to Henri's whereabouts. This episode contains a good scene where Arthur offers his secretary a new computer. "It's got bytes, floppy bits, everything - It'll make your life a lot easier my dear" - if Arthur Daley said it, it must be true!

Episode 11 - The Odds Couple
Originally Aired: 14th November 1991

Arthur is asked by his friend, casino boss Lewis for help with his wife Lorna, who has a gambling problem. While Ray is looking after Lorna at Lewis' country house, Arthur turns up and is soon convinced by Lorna that she has a winning system. Meanwhile, while Arthur is at the casino, Lewis and his heavies are trying to find the reason why cash is disappearing and re-packaging all his old used playing cards into new packs. I wonder who that could be?

Episode 12 - The Coach That Came In From The Cold
Originally Aired: 21st November 1991

In order to straighten out the Police accounts, Morley and his Superintendent offer to sell Arthur the Police coach. Aiming to make a quick earner Arthur decides to start "Daley Tours" around London for unsuspecting foreign punters. Realising that another officer is trying stitch him up, the Superintendent decides he wants the coach back, and sends Morley off to retrieve it, only to discover that Arthur has sold it. Meanwhile, Ray is helping to save the destruction of a golf club while protecting Arthur from Denny Willis, to whom Arthur owes rather a large sum of money to.

Xmas Special - The Cruel Canal
Originally Aired: 26th December 1991

Arthur is having trouble shifting a job lot of stolen videos across London using the van. Arthur is under pressure to get shot of them quickly when a local Welsh hard guy Dai comes sniffing around looking for clues as to why his stock of "videos" have been nicked. Arthur finds the only way to deliver the videos is by boat but runs into all sorts of troubles along the way, not least of all with Ray.

DVD Extra - Interview with George Cole

An interview with George Cole, an extra feature on the series 8 DVD.

As these are the DVDRips i thought I should include this.


File Specs:

All files are encoded to roughly the following encoding specs:

=== File Information ===
Average Duration:      00:50:00
=== Video Information ===
Video Codec Name:     XviD
Video Bitrate:        1200 kb/s
Resolution:           640x480 (1.33:1) [=4:3]
frames Per Second:    25.000 fps
=== Audio Information ===
Audio Codec:          0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio Bitrate:        128 kb/s (64/ch, stereo) CBR

The DVD Extra, the interview with George Cole only has a runtime of around 20mins, encoded to these specs: