An episode of the longrunning ITV comedy-drama Minder has been labelled with a content warning on the ITVX platform over the outdated stereotypes used.
Minder ran from 1979 to 1994 and was a cultural staple of the Thatcher years, focusing on the London criminal underworld, with dodgy entrepreneur Arthur Daley and his ‘minder’ sidekick Terry taking centre stage.
The show starred the late Dennis Waterman, George Cole and Glynn Edwards.
Gary Webster replaced Waterman in the final two series of the show – which was also revived in 2009 with Shane Richie starring as Arthur Daley’s nephew Archie.
Certain episodes on the ITVX streamer, which has all 10 series of the show free to watch, now have a parental guidance warning attached.
One example is the 1980 episode Whose Wife Is It Anyway?, which has been labelled as containing ‘offensive language, outmoded sexual stereotypes and some violence’.
The episode synopsis reads: ‘Terry turns his hand to selling antiques when Arthur’s friend Alex is hospitalised following a hit-and-run. Was it definitely an accident?’
This series two episode, which aired in 1980, saw Arthur instruct his muscle Terry to protect a gay couple who run an antique shop. The episode contains a number of slurs referring to gay men.
The show’s first ever episode, Gunfight at the OK Launderette, also contains a warning for ‘violence, moderate language and nudity’.
George Cole’s Daley has been hailed as a British TV icon, with catchphrases (‘‘er indoors’, ‘the world is your lobster’, ‘nice little earner’) that went on to become common parlance.
Cole, who died aged 90 in 2015 after a short illness, also became an unlikely pop star as a result of the show, hitting the charts in 1983 with the novelty Christmas hit What Are We Gonna Get For ‘Er Indoors – a reference to Daley’s onscreen wife who never actually appeared in Minder.
Waterman died aged 74 in 2022, after a career spanning 60 years. He had varied roles in comedy, drama, and horror, after finding fame as a teenager in BBC drama William.
He became well known for his role as tough-nut cop Detective Sergeant George Carter opposite John Thaw in ITV’s police drama The Sweeney.
He went on to star as bodyguard Terry McCann in Minder and landed a long-running role as Gerry Standing in New Tricks from 2003 to 2015.
The star was also known for singing the iconic theme tune for New Tricks and Minder.
Metro contacted ITV for comment.
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