The Old School Tie

Episode Overview

Arthur falls out with Terry at the start of this episode, after he discovers he has been doing work for someone else. A disgruntled Terry returns to his flat to find old school friend George Palmer has broken in. Terry soon learns that Palmer has escaped from prison, three months before he is due to be released in an attempt to clear his name. In return for a favour, Terry asks Dave to put Palmer up at the Winchester while Terry attempts to help clear Palmer’s name with the help of their journalist friend, Kevin. With Rycott on the lookout for Palmer, Debbie lets slip to Arthur that Terry has had someone around. As well as Rycott, it seems Palmer’s brother-in-law Harry and his two heavy mates Dave and Billy are after Palmer to ensure he keeps quiet. In their hunt for Palmer, Dave and Billy beat up everyone close to Terry: Debbie, Arthur and Dave, which leaves Terry with a score of his own to settle. When Arthur discovers the real reason why Terry was working for someone else, he apologises for the problems he has caused.

Cast

Glynn Edwards as Dave, Diana Malin as Debbie, Paul Copley as George Palmer, Sherie Hewson as Olive, Peter Childs as Rycott, Derek Thompson as Harry, Paul Moriarty as Kevin Wells, Nick Stringer as Dave, Ziggy Byfield as Billy, Harold Berens as Jacobson

Facts

In this episode, we discover more about Terry’s school days. Due to the argument at the beginning of this episode, Terry and Arthur have very little screen time together. A great scene at the end of this episode as Terry is seen jumping across cars at the scrap yard to catch Dave (played by Nick Stringer). One point of interest in this episode is that faced with irreversible odds and the fact that Terry might be killed, Arthur and Harry enlist the help of Rycott to save the day. In the episode we learn that Dave the barman has a daughter called Naomi, who has got pregnant at a training college in Newcastle.

Watch out in this episode for yet another appearance of the blue Ford Cortina featured in our Dodgy Motors section. Harry (played by Casualty’s Derek Thompson) is driving this car throughout the episode. Interestingly, Paul Moriarty who plays Kevin the journalist in this episode, went on to play a character called George Palmer in the long running BBC soap ‘EastEnders’ between 1996 and 1998 and both of these actors appeared in the ITV series ‘The Gentle Touch’ around the same time as Minder was first broadcast.

Filming Dates

Unknown – likely August/September 1980.

Double Take

Ziggy Byfield who plays Billy in this episode also appears as a different character Billy Meadows in #8.10 Too Many Crooks. This is the third appearance in the series by Diana Malin as Debbie Mitchell (the only time she would feature in an episode not written by Tony Hoare). Debbie was first seen in #1.8 Come in T-64, Your Time is Ticking Away, then in #2.4 A Lot Of Bull And A Pat On The Back and would later return in #3.4 Looking For Micky and #3.11 Poetic Justice, Innit?.

Bloopers: None found.

Title: The ‘old school tie’ is a term used throughout the UK as a metaphor for nepotism/networking and doing discreet favours for those you know or had successful dealings with in the past.

German Title: Um der alten Zeiten willen.
Episode 13 of 16 shown in Germany on ARD.