Minder

A minder is a person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who "minds".

Government appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are often termed minders, assigned to offer assistance such as acting as a guide or as a translator, or protection in dangerous areas, or to define areas of permitted travel. Often they are perceived as also attempting to censor or otherwise control the flow of information to the visitor.

Minders can also be personal bodyguards or protectors, either in an official capacity such as protecting celebrities or VIPs, or in an unofficial capacity as a protector of members of the criminal underworld, as described by the UK television series Minder.

A minder can also be a term for anyone who looks after the interests of someone or something, such as a talent manager, a caretaker, or a person that ensures that a certain official protocol or plan is adhered to by others, or someone that is designated to look after someone who needs assistance (c.f UK English: Child minder for nanny).

Minder (TV series)

Minder was a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television (later, Central Independent Television in 1993 and 1994) and shown on ITV. The original 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 (minder in London slang) and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious, but highly unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman and purveyor of anything else from which there was money to be made, whether inside the law or not.

The series was principally set in inner West London (Shepherd's Bush/Ladbroke Grove/Fulham/Acton), and was largely responsible for putting the word minder, meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK popular lexicon. The characters often drank at the local members-only Winchester Club, where owner and barman Dave (Glynn Edwards) 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.

Minder (disambiguation)

A minder is a person who is assigned to watch over another person

Minder may also refer to: