Details

Release year: 1979

Storyline

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley. Can his ex-boxer bodyguard Terry stay level-headed whilst working for the King of Dodgy Deals?

Top credits

Cast

George Cole — Arthur
Glynn Edwards — Dave, Dave Harris
Dennis Waterman — Terry
Gary Webster — Ray

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Awards

0 wins & 5 nominations

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Did you know

• Dennis Waterman originally wanted Denholm Elliott to play the part of Arthur Daley. Executive producer Verity Lambert disagreed.

• The series was not an immediate success. Viewing figures for the first season were not very good, which was not helped by the series being delayed because of a nine-week technicians strike which blacked out the ITV network, and Thames Television decided to cancel the show. However, the managing director felt positive about it and pressured them to commission one more season and to repeat the first. Both of them received much higher viewing figures, and by the third season it was a huge hit. It eventually attracted around 17.5 million viewers in the UK at its peak (when there were only four TV channels), and went on to be shown in 70 countries.

• The series was famous for its use of "Mockney", which sounded like Cockney slang, but was made up by either George Cole or the scriptwriters. Some expressions became so well-known they have since passed into the language, including "a nice little earner" (a profitable task), "'er indoors" (the wife), "give him a little slap" (beat him up).