The Long Ride Back To Scratchwood 

Episode Overview

An acquaintance of Terry’s, Justin James approaches Terry to contact Arthur about 2000 tickets for an England-Scotland game. Justin is in contact with former top footballer Steve ‘Benno’ Benson who claims he can get the tickets and wants to see them turn a quick profit. Benson had previously worked with local gangster Phil ‘the ticket king’ but wanted a better deal through Justin. When Arthur tells Justin he has a Scottish contact who he can offload the tickets to, Arthur ends up meeting Alisdair Frazer who tells Arthur he is better off offering the complete tour package to the Scottish supporters. The only condition attached to the sale is that Arthur has to go to Scotland to seal the deal. When Arthur’s van breaks down half way up the M1, Frazer phones ahead to discover that the tickets are forgeries and that Benson has not been telling the truth. Meanwhile, Terry is being investigated by the inland revenue and finds out that Arthur has been telling them that Terry works as his gardener.

Cast

Mark Farmer as Justin James, Alan Hunter as Steve ‘Benno’ Benson, James Marcus as Phil, Jon Croft as Alisdair Frazier, Derek Martin as Cedric, David Beale as Theo Warren, Brian Haines as Tax Inspector, Nicolas Chagrin as Mario, Helen Keating as Mrs. James (Justin’s Mum), Peter Needham as Joe Eldon, David Beckett as Mechanic, James Coyle as Scots Fan, Brian Binns as Autograph Hunter, Sydney Golder as Greengrocer, Annabel Price as Helga

Facts

This is the first of five appearances in the series by Mark Farmer as Justin James, who would later appear in series six and series seven. Initially Mark was only asked to appear in this one episode but the programme producers liked his character so much they decided to bring him back again – this was confirmed by Mark Farmer when he spoke to minder.org in November 2011. Arthur more or less immediately refers to him as ‘Justine’. The football ground featured in this episode is Griffin Park, home of Brentford FC. Notice that when both Arthur’s gang and Phil head towards Scotland they are both in left-hand drive vehicles. Glynn Edwards does not appear in this episode.

Library music can be heard playing in this episode in Justin’s flat.

Double Take

Derek Martin, who appears in this episode as Phil’s minder Cedric, previously appeared in an uncredited role in #1.5 The Bounty Hunter. James Marcus, who plays Phil ‘the ticket king’ first appeared as Bertie in #2.13 Caught In The Act, Fact and would later appear as Morrie in #7.1 It’s A Sorry Lorry Morrie. David Beale, who plays Arthur’s banker Theo Warren also appears as a different character in #6.7 Minder On The Orient Express and James Coyle also appears as a different character in #10.7 The Great Depression of 1994.

Bloopers: None found.