Minder (TV series)  Minder is a British comedy-drama series 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 (originally by Thames, then Central Independent Television in 1993 and 1994 after Thames lost its franchise). The original show ran for ten series between 29 October 1979 and 10 March 1994. The series was notable for using a range of leading British actors, as well as many up-and-coming performers before they found their greatest success; at its peak it was one of ITV's most watched shows. In 2008, it was announced that a new version of "Minder" would go into production for broadcast in 2009 (on Channel 5), although none of the original cast would appear in the new episodes. The new show focused on Arthur's nephew Archie (created solely for this new version), played by Shane Richie. The series began broadcast on 4 February 2009. In 2010, it was announced that no further episodes would be made following lukewarm reception to the first series. The original show starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likeable bodyguard ("minder" in London slang) and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious, but highly unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman and purveyor of anything else from which there was money to be made, whether within the law or not. The series is principally set in inner west London (Shepherd's Bush/Ladbroke Grove/Fulham/Acton), and was largely responsible for putting the word , meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK popular lexicon. The characters often drank at the local members-only Winchester Club, where owner and barman Dave Harris (Glynn Edwards) acted, often unwillingly, as a message service for Arthur, and turned a blind eye to his shady deals. Like many British sitcoms, the show is set firmly within a certain social class, in this case working class west London. It shares strong similarities with "Only Fools and Horses" and "Steptoe and Son" in the sense that much of the storyline revolves around a dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship between the two protagonists. In the case of "Minder", they are not family members but friends. These relationships are marked by the older person (Arthur, Del Boy, Albert Steptoe) controlling and frustrating the life of his younger, dimmer counterpart (Terry, Rodney, Harold Steptoe).