History Series / Minder

%%* CigarChomper: Arthur.

%%* LoveableRogue

%%* ProfessionalGambler: Maurice Michaelson (played by Anthony Valentine).

* OrientExpress: The 1985 ChristmasSpecial "Minder on the Orient Express" sees Terry win a free trip on the Orient Express. But a perfect romantic opportunity with his girlfriend Annie is ruined when Arthur cons his way onto the trip to avoid a court appearance, and Terry again finds himself battling to protect a MafiaPrincess from a whole train load of sinister characters all after her legacy.

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: "I Could Be So Good for You" as sung by Dennis Waterman reaching No. 3 in the UK charts and later used in an episode of ''Series/PhoenixNights'' and in an episode of ''RogerRoger''.

* NiceHat: Arthur's trilby is almost part of him.

''Minder'' was a British television comedy-drama (1979-1994) starring George Cole as Arthur Daley, a shady London businessman and {{conman}}, and Dennis Waterman as his "minder" (bodyguard/strong-arm man) Terry.

%%* TheBartender: Dave.

* ThemeTuneCameo: Twice during the run.
** When Terry returns to boxing in an episode, a TrainingMontage features the theme song, including verses not usually heard in the opening or closing credits.
** When Ray is revealed as Arthur's new minder after showing he can fight, the new theme tune plays, with cheesy results.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Most of Arthur's schemes are illegal in some way, but he's seen as a well-meaning villain, for example not seeking to bring harm to others. Many of his rivals are painted as more evil.

%%* BreakoutCharacter: Arthur

%%* ChristmasEpisode

* CoolCar: Arthur typically drives an upmarket car, beginning with a silver Jaguar XJ6 4.2 Series II. In the latter part of Series 3, he's changed over to a silver Mercedes 280E and in Series 4 he drives a Portland beige Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series III. Series 7 again sees him driving a silver Jaguar XJ6. As a used-car salesman, it is not surprising that Arthur occasionally makes use of other cars. In the Series 3 episode "Broken Arrow", he uses a Ford Granada Mk.II. However, due to an accident, this car has to go in for repair and Arthur is forced to borrow a friend's customised Chevrolet Corvette C3 Stingray that he is trying to sell. Also in Series 3, Arthur uses a brown Jaguar XJR in the episodes "Dead Men Do Tell Tales" and "Looking for Micky". In the Series 7 episode "It's a Sorry Lorry, Morrie!", Arthur is down on his luck and has to resort to driving a clapped-out mustard yellow Ford Granada Mk.II. In the episode "A Nice Little Wine" Daley drives, in order to test, a pale blue Rover SD1. In the special episode "An Officer and a Car Salesman", Arthur has moved up in the world and drives a yellow Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

%%* GetRichQuickScheme

* YoungerThanTheyLook: An actor example is George Cole (Arthur Daley), who is only 54 when the series starts but is played to look older and plays a character who, based on Arthur's background, should be roughly 70 at that point. (George Cole passed away as recently as 2015, aged 90.)

%%* GenerationXerox

* LameExcuse: Arthur always says his back hurts in order to get Terry to do all the hard work.

** Jones has a more friendly relationship with Arthur and Terry than the other officers.

* GronAttack: In "Fiddler on the Hoof", Terry is chaperoning a beautiful young blonde Swedish woman named Imogen within a department store when the two of them are confronted by a threatening thug. Before the thug is able to cause any trouble to them, Imogen immediately kicks him in the groin and as he falls down in pain, Imogen asks Terry "I think that hurts, yes?"

%%* AsianStoreowner

* DrinkOrder: Arthur's favourite drink was a large vodka and tonic, which was referred to as a "large V.A.T", a wordplay on Value Added Tax (the UK tax on sales).

* TheEighties: Natural for a series starting in 1979. Examples include an episode based around car phones as a new, futuristic technology and an episode that begins with Arthur and Terry playing VideoGame/SpaceInvaders.

* ActorSharedBackground: Musician Suzi Quatro guest stars as a musician, Nancy.

* ClipShow: ''Minder'' did one as a ChristmasEpisode, with the principals sitting around the pub remembering the events of the year.

* ConMenHateGuns: Arthur is thrown into a panic by 'shooters' and Terry although not a con is rightfully wary of them. And of course, there's also the consideration of just how difficult and expensive it is to get hold of a firearm in London compared to somewhere like New York or Chicago; if a D-List fixer like Arthur's looking down the barrel of one, the shit has ''really'' hit the fan.
* ConvenientReplacementCharacter: Arthur discovers he's lost Terry and in the same episode, coincidentally, nephew Ray comes to visit.

%%* DelusionsOfEloquence

* DiscoDan: Terry is relatively well-up on current trends in pop culture, and Ray even more so, but Arthur spends the series stuck in the 50s, bemoaning that none of the musicians Dave gets in at the club are as good as his beloved Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. In one episode, he takes it on himself to manage the career of a young cabaret singer and is oblivious to how completely bereft of vocal talent she is because she sings his kind of music.

%%* HonestJohnsDealership

%%* JuryDuty: In 'Poetic Justice, Innit'.
%%* JustGotOutOfJail
%%* LameExcuse
%%* LandDownUnder

* {{Malaproper}}: Arthur 'The world is your lobster' Daley.

%%* OrientExpress: "Minder on the Orient Express".

* RogueJuror: Played for laughs in an episode where Arthur finds himself serving on a jury, on a fairly minor criminal matter. He is initially the sole holdout for not guilty, but eventually turns the rest of the jury to his point of view. Eventually, the only holdout for guilty is a little old lady. However, she then drops a single piece of information that swings everyone back to guilty and Arthur has no choice but to follow.

* SmugSnake: Freddie Fenton, officially 'bankrupt' property conman who manages to live in a mansion with swimming pool, Rolls Royce (with personalised number plate) with money to gamble at a high end gentleman's club despite not formally 'owning' any of it. As he says to Terry 'In this life there are winners, and there are losers.'

%%* TheYardies: Feature prominently in the very first episode 'Gunfight at the OK Laundrette'.

* SpecialGuest: As the seasons progressed, the guest stars became more prestigious, including Creator/MichaelKitchen as 'Maltese Tony', and season seven featured Creator/BillyConnolly playing Tick-tack, a bookie and grifter, Creator/BrianBlessed as DI Dyer, Creator/IanMcShane as gangster Jack Last and Roy Kinnear as Fat Charlie.

%%* SpecialGuest

:: The later episodes also have a touch of TheNineties, and plots around Arthur struggling to keep up with technology such as computers relative to his younger nephew Ray.

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: 'I could be so good for you' as sung by Dennis Waterman reaching No. 3 in the UK charts and later used in an episode of ''Series/PhoenixNights'' and in an episode of ''RogerRoger''.

* FeelingTheirAge. For much of the Terry era of Minder's run, this is averted. At the beginning of Series 7 (Terry's last), however, several scenes play up to Terry's age, including one in which Terry flirts with the sort of girl he'd previously hooked up with only to be told he's in his "mid-life crisis".

%%* BananaInTheTailpipe

* TheEighties: Natural for a series starting in 1979. Examples include an episode based around car phones as a new, futuristic technology and an episode that begins with Arthur and Terry playing SpaceInvaders.

%%* BadGuyBar: The Winchester Club, albeit of a small-time variety.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In Series 2, a young boy is left with Terry by a woman on the run from the boy's abusive father. She initially tells Terry the boy is his son, revealing at the end that he is not, but Terry has grown attached to the boy wants to keep seeing him, which the woman agrees to. It is arguably the most emotional moment of the series for Terry, yet after the episode the boy is never mentioned again.

* TheRockStar: Creator/SuziQuatro in the episode that she appears in, although she doesn't play herself.

** Minor characters frequently disappear without a trace, including multiple of Terry's girlfriends. Although this is common in any series, several are painted as regular contacts of Arthur, only to never appear again.