Minder is a British comedy-drama series about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV. The show ran for ten series between 29 October 1979 and 10 March 1994, and starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likable bodyguard and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious, but highly unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman, and anything else from which there was money to be made whether inside the law or not. The show was largely responsible for putting the word minder, meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK and Australian popular lexicon. The characters often drank at the local members-only Winchester Club, where owner and barman Dave acted, often unwillingly, as a message machine for Arthur, and turned a blind eye to his shady deals. The series was notable for using a range of leading British actors, as well as many up-and-coming performers before they hit the big time; at its peak was one of ITV’s biggest ratings winners.

In 2008, it was announced that Minder would go into production for broadcast in 2009 for a new version, although none of the original cast would appear in the new episodes. The new show focused on Arthur’s nephew, Archie, played by Shane Richie. The series began broadcast on 4 February 2009. In 2010, it was announced that no further episodes would be made following lukewarm reception to the first series.

The adventures of a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor—who explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.

The show has received recognition as one of Britain’s finest television programmes, winning the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and five consecutive awards at the National Television Awards during Russell T Davies’s tenure as Executive Producer. In 2011, Matt Smith became the first Doctor to be nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor. In 2013, the Peabody Awards honoured Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody “for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe.” The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and as the “most successful” science fiction series of all time—based on its over-all broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, and iTunes traffic. During its original run, it was recognised for its imaginative stories, creative low-budget special effects, and pioneering use of electronic music.