Episode 11 – Andrew Payne Interview Part 1 (Minder On The Hornsey Express)

The Minder Podcast

Welcome to episode 11 of The Minder Podcast in association with Minder.org.

In this show we have part one of an interview with Andrew Payne, writer of 12 Minder episodes including some real classics: Senior Citizen Caine, Back in Good Old England, Goodbye Sailor, You Need Hands, Get Daley and Minder On the Orient Express.

Andrew is also known for Pie In The Sky, Lovejoy and Midsomer Murders as well as several theatre plays.

Andrew talks about his background before writing for Minder, when he was an art student in the 1960s and his experience meeting criminals who would form a useful learning curve for Minder scripts.

He talks about the very first guidelines for Leon Griffiths’ timeless idea and how this was expanded upon to form the first series of the show as well as all the others.

We hear about meetings with script executive Linda Agran and how scripts, particularly Andrew’s first, came together.

There is also a mention of the wonderful Lee Montague, who appeared in two episodes of Minder as well as The Sweeney. The role I remembered him in was Mr Sayin in the fourth episode, A Tethered Goat, but as Andrew says, Lee was almost Arthur Daley.

Andrew talks about the Minder writing process from front to back. This is a real episode for Minder purists. Welcome to Minder on the Hornsey Express!