First and best of the screen adventures of Ronald Searle's anarchic cartoon schoolgels, who dress in gymslips, carry jolly hockey sticks and take A-levels in GBH. A gloriously gaudy farce, with an alpha-plus cast: lugubrious Alastair Sim as the headmistress (and her brother), George Cole's archetypal spiv and Joyce Grenfell's plummy teacher.

The unsung greatness of George Cole

He was known to most as Minder's Arthur Daley, but there was far more to George Cole than used cars and cigars, says Simon Heffer.

Funeral of Minder star George Cole held in Reading

The theme tune to the series that made actor George Cole a TV favourite has been played at his funeral.

Arthur Daley's guide to life

As George Cole turns 90, we pay tribute to Arthur Daley, the crafty car dealer character from TV hit Minder.

With his hangdog expression and fruity Edinburgh burr Alastair Sim created numerous whimsical characters during a career on stage and screen that spanned more than 40 years - perhaps none more memorable than the creepily convincing Miss Fritton, headmistress in the St Trinian's films. This 1997 profile celebrates his achievements and speaks to his widow Naomi Plaskitt (Sim died in 1976), as well as hearing from friends, co-stars and admirers, including George Cole, Stephen Fry, Ian McKellen, Patricia Routledge and Nigel Hawthorne.

This BBC comedy only lasted for one series, airing in 1986. Cast your mind back to the Cold War (if you can) for a daft premise in which the UK has been invaded by the Soviet Union and turned into a Communist state. It starred Minder's George Cole and was entirely laugh-free.