series, grounded in the cinematic and social ethos of the 1980s. In the earlier series, Terry would succeed in seducing a 'dolly bird', resulting in at least one scene of female semi-nudity per average episode, though as the series became more popular these instances were reduced (and some repeat screenings, even those post-watershed, toned such scenes down). Although always an element of the series, the fights - common and brutal in early episodes - were also toned down and became less frequent. Another significant element of the series were the subplots typically found in a Minder episode. Although subplots were not found in all of the episodes, they were found in most and usually consisted of one of Arthur's dodgy deals, Terry's minding jobs and/or favours done for friends and in a few instances involved the police tackling particular cases. The series has a number of parallels with long-running BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses, with both being set in London and involving lovable dodgy dealers with endless get-rich-quick schemes that invariably backfire and get them into trouble (and both of whom tried to make out to be of a higher status than they really were), and both having a blend of comedy and drama. Indeed, Only Fools and Horses creator / writer John Sullivan claimed that one of the ways he persuaded the BBC to commission the series was by pointing to the success of ITV's Minder, which had begun the previous year. After both having lukewarm starts, both series went on to become huge hits, and share much of the same fan base. At Christmas 1985, specials of Only Fools and Horses and Minder were scheduled against each other, angering many viewers in the days before video recorders were commonplace in UK homes. When the series was first broadcast, some viewers complained about the use of swearing and foul language in the episodes. Even though this gave the storylines a sense of gritty reality, it was noticed that as the series progressed from season to season, the amount of swearing steadily decreased up to the point that when the special episode TV feature film "Minder on the Orient Express" was broadcast, there was practically none at all. Recurring features As well as heavy use of leading British actors, other features were Arthur's constant rhyming slang and other misquoted sayings (one being "the world is your lobster" and "I