The Ray Daley Years - 1991-1994
The Ray Daley Years:    1991-1994 - Series 8, 9 & 10
Family
Arthur Daley & Ray Daley
Dennis Waterman left the series in 1989, to be replaced 2  years later by Gary Webster as Arthur's nephew Ray Daley.
Now in its eighth  series, Minder moved away from the more traditional tougher storylines and now  the focus was placed upon the characters themeselves and there was more focus on  the  relationship between Arthur and his nephew Ray. The first ever episode to be  transmitted was #8.1 The Loneliness of a Long Distance  Entrepreneur written by David Yallop. He had also penned the final Dennis  Waterman episode #7.6 The  Wrong Goodbye . This opening story was an excellent start to the series where Arthur pays Terry a  visit, only to discover Terry has gone to Australia to live. All Terry has left  are his keys and his Capri in the driveway. Arthur is immediately in trouble as  the local villainy realise he is without his trusty Minder. Enter Arthur's nephew Ray  Daley, ready to help out as he needs a job, although his sort of help is not the  sort Arthur needs at this time.
Although never formally mentioned in the series, Ray Daley was  never really considered by most to be as tough as Terry. However after a fight at the  Winchester in the first episode, Arthur believes Ray can handle himself and Ray  soons finds himself as Arthur's new Minder. The focus of this new series was on 'family' as Arthur put it and  the loyalty that was to exist between Ray and Arthur, albeit often one-sided. The  storylines in this series were a move away from Terry's era, often based on  contacts Arthur had known beforehand. The series also contained atmospheric  incidental music (written by Alan Parker) which had not been present in previous series. The newer  series was extremely popular at the time after being off screen for almost three  years - the young Gary Webster proving somewhat of a hearthrob with young ladies at the time.
Life After Life
Interestingly, just like Dennis Waterman, Gary Webster had  appeared alongside George Cole before they starred in Minder. In 1990, the pair  shared a scene in a one-off ITV show called Life After  Life in which George Cole plays a retired butler who moves into a  retirement home. As he moves in, one of the removal men helping him to move in  is none other than Gary Webster. To see this pre-Minder clip, click here (opens a new window).
New Titles
The new series featured new opening titles. Similar to the  Terry McCann Years the titles again set the scene of the show with a vehicle - this time  with a van.  Poor old Ray gets lumbered with a nice blue transit van, while Arthur gets into  his Jag. Other than #8.1 The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Entrepreneur the  only other episode to feature alternative opening titles would be #10.2 All  Things Brighton Beautiful , this episode officially marked as being the 100th  episode.
There has been some discussion about the  number plate of the Ford Transit van used throughout the Ray Daley Years. OU116Y  - some believe this is intentional and could be read out as "oh you, too sexy".
New Characters
As mentioned about, both the final episode of the Terry McCann Years #7.6 The  Wrong Goodbye and the  first episode of the Ray Daley Years were scripts written by author David Yallop  and the viewer can see only a few subtle links between the two episodes. Apart  from retaining The Winchester Club and Glynn Edwards as Dave, both episodes  also mention a contact of Arthur's in Yorkshire and Arthur's car lot is still at the  same location in both series. Apart from that, there is very little that links  the two series and there was an intention to move away from the Dennis Waterman  era and place Arthur & Ray into the spotlight for this new series.
Emma Cunnigham
as DC Field
Series 9
Detective Sergeant Michael Morley was the new man in charge of  the manor in 1991 and appeared in both series 8 and series 9. This new character  was a different sort of copper to that of Chisholm, Rycott and Jones. Nicholas  Day was cast as a last minute replacement and was told of his part while filming  was already taking place. Several scenes needed to be refilmed on the very first  episode to be filmed #8.2 A Bouquet Of Barbed Wine . Nicholas Day had appeared in many acting roles over  years and has also worked for London Walks - doing a lot of work for environmental  causes. In 2004 he appeared as Dennis Waterman's boss in the BBC series 'New  Tricks'. Very proud of his role as Morley, he is also an occasional visitor to  this site too who has helped contribute to the Locations section of  the site.
DC Park appeared in series 8 and was introduced with Morley  during the first episode. Since leaving Minder, Stephen has moved on to appear  in a wide variety of TV and film roles, including 'Drop The Dead Donkey' & 'Ballykissangel' and few people remember him appearing in Minder. Jonty  Stephens, who played Park's replacement DC Field, also pops up on TV every now  and again. Other than Arthur, Ray, Dave, Bert & Doreen - there were no other  regular characters in series 10, the final series of Minder broadcast in 1994.
1994 - The End of Minder
Following the ninth series of Minder which saw Ray and Arthur  head off on a  three part trip to Australia, March 1994 finally saw the end of Minder at the end of  series 10. With funding for the series already far lower for this final series,  Minder was not renewed, part of Thames TV losing its licence as a broadcaster in  the London area. The lack of funding in the final series also resulted in there  being no return for Morley & Field in series 10, with no explanation as to why  they left. Series 10 did see a return to the show of established writer Tony Hoare, who  penned several episodes in this final series. Although certain one-off 'specials'  were mentioned after the final tenth series, no funding was available due to  one-off shows costing more (in relative terms) than an entire series. As a  result, Arthur Daley never returned and that was the end of Minder, until a  revival in 2009 saw a different Daley on the scene.
Many people were sorry to see the end of Minder after having  many years of enjoyable viewing with Arthur, Terry, Ray and Dave. The end of the  series with series 10 was also a disappointing time as this had seen the return  to the show of regular script writer Tony Hoare, who had not written for Minder  since series 7. In the UK, one week after the final episode was broadcast, the  first ever episode #1.1 Gunfight At The OK Laundrette was repeated, preceded with a  message from George Cole himself thanking viewers for watching the series.
In Arthur Daley's final message ,  George Cole hints that at some point Arthur might return, but sadly it was  never to be.
After Minder...
Since the end of the series Gary Webster has led a somewhat  colourful life, experiencing and overcoming significant debt problems and  suffering a heart attack in 2011. Along the way he has appeared in many other  roles on TV, including an advertisement for a re-run of Minder on the UK  satellite channel UK GOLD in the late 1990s (shown here). He also works as a  producer and also does voiceover work. He also provided some commentaries for  the series when Minder was released on DVD in Australia by Umbrella DVD in 2007.
Last updated : 19th  February 2016 by jno
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