Later, however, that same agent suggested that two of the characters from the script—a wily, small-time London crook and his uneducated but streetwise “minder” (East London slang for “bodyguard”)— would work well for a television series. Griffiths wrote a treatment for a series featuring the two characters and took the idea to Euston Films (a division of Thames Television), a group he knew was looking for a follow-up to their successful, tough, London-based police series The Sweeney. (“Sweeney” was also London slang, actually cockney rhyming slang, “Sweeney Todd: Flying Squad,” a special quick-response unit of the Metropolitan Police.) At Euston, script consultant Linda Agran and producers Verity Lambert, Lloyd Shirley, and George Taylor quickly decided that the series had all the ingredients they were looking for—and there was a general consensus that Sweeney star Dennis Waterman would be right for the character of the minder, Terry McCann.

Waterman, however, had his reservations and was worried about immediately following The Sweeney with another London-based crime series, but after reading the treatment and the initial scripts, he was persuaded by the difference and the humor of the piece. The true potential of the project was fully realized, however, only with the casting of George Cole as Terry McCann’s employer, Arthur Daley. Cole had been active in film and television for many years and in his early days had specialized in playing “spivs” (shady characters specializing in black marketeering and other illegal activities). He had become a respected actor over the years, with a wide repertoire, but the character of Arthur Daley was like one of his earlier spiv incarnations grown up.

Although the production may have initially been perceived as a vehicle for Waterman, the casting of Cole and the rapport between them ensured that the series became more balanced. Cole fitted the roguish persona perfectly, and, as the series progressed, with generous support from Waterman, he turned Arthur Daley into a TV icon.

Originally, the series was to have been located in the East End of London, but it was found to be more convenient to shoot in South London. The location changed, but the patois remained that of the cockney-influenced East End. Arthur was always known as “Arfur” because of the cockney habit of pronouncing “th” as “f,” and much of the flavor of the series came from the colorful slang, some traditional and some invented. Although some cockney rhyming slang was widely known throughout Britain, Minder (along with other shows set in the area, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation’s [BBC’s] Only Fools and Horses) introduced many lesser-known examples to the population as a whole. Soon every Minder aficionado knew that “getting a Ruby down your Gregory” meant going out for an Indian meal (popular 1950s singing star Ruby Murray providing a rhyme for “curry”; “Gregory Peck” rhyming with “neck”) and that “trouble on the dog” meant your spouse was calling (“trouble and strife”: “wife”; “dog and bone”: “phone”). As the series went from strength to strength and the character of Arthur Daley captured the imagination of a generation, East London slang became trendy, and cod cockneys (or mockneys) could be found throughout the country.

The early episodes of Minder have the emphasis firmly on drama, although there is humor in the dialogue and from the character of Arthur Daley, who seems to haunt the fringes of the plot while Terry McCann gets involved at the sharp end. Daley is devious, cowardly, and exploitative, as opposed to McCann’s straightforwardness, courage, and loyalty. Most plots hinge round a problem, created by Daley’s greed, that is solved by McCann. But McCann almost always suffers in some way: losing a girlfriend, being involved in a fight, or not getting paid. Daley usually thrives, managing somehow to emerge from the scrape with body unscathed and bank account intact or, more often than not, somewhat inflated. Brushes with the law are commonplace, as are confrontations with “nastier” villains. The local police are endlessly trying to “feel Arfur’s collar” (arrest him), but Terry is the only one who actually goes to prison.

Later in the show’s run, reacting to the positive feedback from the public, the show shifted slightly but noticeably more toward humor. Scripts tapped the comedic potential of Arthur Daley, and his schemes became wilder and more outrageous, while the regular policemen who dogged him became more caricatured and less threatening. Recurring characters in the series included Patrick Malahide as the long-suffering Detective Sergeant Chisholm and Glynn Edwards as Dave the barman at Arthur’s private drinking club, the Winchester.

Finally, in 1991, Dennis Waterman had had enough of Minder and left to head a new series. He was replaced by Gary Webster as Arthur’s nephew Ray. Ray was a different character from Terry, well educated and well dressed. But he could handle himself well in a fight and was perfectly suited to the role of assistant and bodyguard to his uncle. Initially, he was in awe of Arthur, and Daley took full advantage of this. Soon Ray saw the light and became much more difficult to manipulate. Arthur, however, rose to the challenge and still seemed to get his own way. Webster’s involvement gave the series a new lease of life, and the scripts for his episodes seemed as sharp and as witty as when the program had first begun.

Through the run of the series, jokey episode titles were used, usually a pun on a film or other TV series (“The Beer Hunter,” “On the Autofront,” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Pinner,” an area to the north of London).

Minder was yet another example of a television program bringing forth a character that seemed bigger than the show. The name “Arthur Daley” is used in Britain as an example of a wheeler-dealer in the same way that Archie Bunker’s name came to be synonymous with bigotry in the United States. Daley may be a villain, but he is very much perceived as a hero, someone getting away with foiling the system. In the show’s rare satirical moments, Daley would align himself with Margaret Thatcher, seeing himself as the prime example of the help-yourself society that Thatcher advocated, a man of the 1980s.