Creative Problem Solving
- Episode aired Jun 6, 2005
- 59m
A friend of Jack Halford has a diamond that would appear to have been stolen.A friend of Jack Halford has a diamond that would appear to have been stolen.A friend of Jack Halford has a diamond that would appear to have been stolen.
Photos
- Sid
- (as David De Keyser)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMiranda Pleasence, who plays Ruth, is the daughter of Donald Pleasence.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Trainer: So, to sum up: Creative Problem Solving. Techniques that allow us to move forward as individuals, as teams, as an organization.
Gerry Standing: [standing] Right.
Trainer: One last thing before we finish.
[Gerry sighs and sits down]
Trainer: Could you stand up, please. Right.
[holding a large soda bottle]
Trainer: You catch it; you come up with a new use for it. If you get stuck, use the check-list. Don't censor.
Supt. Sandra Pullman: [catches the bottle] Um, cut the bottom off, attach four strings, tie them to a silk canopy: hot air balloon.
Trainer: Great.
[Amanda tosses the bottle to Brian]
Brian Lane: Sterilize, crush, melt and mince a hundred bottles providing fibrous polyester strands which we weave into a fleece.
[tosses the bottle to Gerry]
Gerry Standing: Um... Nah, I'm sorry, me brains gone blank.
Trainer: Relax; use the check-list. You have an idea, Gerry.
Gerry Standing: Huh. No, I haven't.
Trainer: If it's sexual, perfectly normal.
Gerry Standing: No, I'm sorry, sweetheart; nothing.
Trainer: Don't block, Gerry.
Gerry Standing: I'm not.
Trainer: You have the answer.
Gerry Standing: I haven't!
Trainer: What are you holding?
Gerry Standing: Eh?
Trainer: Say it, Gerry!
Gerry Standing: What?
Trainer: What's in your hand?
Gerry Standing: It's a bottle, for Christ's sake!
But here we are in Series 2 and I realize that while half the fun is watching a steady lineup of guests stars.
Rita Tushingham is the female guest. She plays Jack's lady friend. She comes forward with a rare red diamond she grabbed from a dead man's house clearing decades previously.
Anthony Valentine is the male guest. He plays diamond-cutter Leslie Spitz who wants to get his hands on the rare diamond.
It all culminates with two simultaneous dinners. One where Jack has to tell lovely Rita that no matter how much he enjoys her company, his only love in life was his deceased wife Mary. Such a touching scene. Two wonderful actors.
The other dinner has Valentine (and his diamond-cutting son Spitz Jr) dining with Gerry and Supt Pullman, who are posing as husband and wife. Sharp viewers may recall Valentine guest starred twice on Minder: In Aces High and Sometimes Very Low, one of the best of Series 1; and again in You Win Some You Lose Some, one of the worst of Series 2. But both times he was unforgettable as pro gambler Maurice Michaelson, who hires Terry McCann (Dennis Waterman) from George Cole for a bit of minding while he pulls his dodgy casino schemes.
Here he teaches Gerry Standing (Waterman) about Maszlow's Heirarchy of Needs. I mean, does he ever. Even as a senior citizen and a few stone heavier than his two episodes on Minder, Valentine as a villain is still equal parts menacing and suave. What a brilliant actor.
As a bonus, Waterman takes a beating (off-screen) and his three ex-wives gather at the hospital to console and to scold him for being ''much too old to be going around giving villains the business" or something like that. To which Standing responds, "I was the one getting beat up!" I'd like to think that was a call-back of sorts to Minder.
Bravo to writers Karen McLachlan, Roy Mitchell, and Nigel McCreary for crafting such a treat. And bonus marks to the casting director.
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- Feb 16, 2024