Minder is another one of those shows where you just think to yourself, “why?” A massive ratings smash in the 1980s, some bright spark at five thought it would be a good idea to bring it back. I’ve bleated on about this before, but are there really no new ideas out there? I think the argument is that for a channel to guarantee rating with dwindling budgets, no risks must be taken. Get a well-known format/name in and re-invent it. Anyway, they’re my opinions. The next big name to make a comeback is Minder, starring Shane Ritchie. It’s on five and it’s just around the corner.

The original starred George Cole and Dennis Waterman as Arthur Daley and his minder, Terry McCann, but in this new version Ritchie plays Arthur’s nephew Archie. Archie, like his uncle, is a bit of wide boy and loves a get-rich-quick scheme. Lex Shrapnel (great name!) plays taxi driver Jamie Collins.

It’s all set to go, and despite my misgivings, Ritchie, in particular, is keen to distance himself from the original.

He told the BBC:

“Is it risky? I don’t know. Is the new Doctor Who a risk? Was Daniel Craig playing Bond a risk? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but the essence of the show is about heart. That’s what the original series of Minder was about. You don’t always remember storylines but you remember the relationship with Terry and Arthur.”

He also told The Sun that he has banned Dennis Waterman from making a guest appearance and has banned him from the set (shame he didn’t do that to himself… sorry, I really do not like Shane Ritchie).

So fair play to them all, they’re trying to hammer home he fact that this is not a remake but a re-imagining. As Ritchie said in the BBC interview, the relationship between the two main protagonists is the key, so we’ll have to wait and see how they get on.