Had 'Father Dear Father' lasted beyond 1973 and carried on into the '80's, it most likely would have become a hate target for the alternative comedy crowd the way 'Terry & June' did. The long running Thames Television show was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke - their first big sitcom hit - and starred the late Patrick Cargill as 'Patrick Glover', a successful, newly divorced thriller writer who lives with his daughters - 'Anna' ( Natasha Pyne ) and 'Karen' ( Ann Holloway ), their housekeeper 'Matilda Harris' - known to all and sundry as 'Nanny' ( Noel Dyson ) - and their St.Bernard dog, H.G. Wells. Also appearing from time to time were Ursula Howells as his first wife 'Barbara', Tony Britton as her second husband 'Bill', and Dawn Addams as Patrick's agent 'Georgie'. Patrick is an old fuddy-duddy straight out of the Victorian age who thinks that children should be seen and not heard, but the girls have other ideas - they are enjoying every minute of the liberated 1960's. Plots would revolve around the girls' staying out late, trying to organise parties, bringing home weird boyfriends, or leaving home ( they did not do drugs though. This was a family show! ).
'F.D.F.' was harmless, middle of the road stuff, but proved popular enough to run to a total of seven seasons plus the obligatory spin-off film. I recently watched the whole run, expecting it to be twee and more than faintly embarrassing, but I thought it stood up rather well. An impressive line-up of guest-stars included Leslie Phillips, Rodney Bewes, Bill Fraser, Dandy Nichols, Ian Carmichael, Jack Hulbert, Cyril Fletcher, Beryl Reid, Hugh Paddick, Roy Kinnear, Richartd Wattis, Donald Sinden, and Richard O'Sullivan. One episode had Patrick horrified to discover that Anna is to appear nude in an amateur stage production of 'Romeo & Juliet'. Another saw him buying a job lot of old army surplus stuff at an auction, only to find a live hand grenade amongst the collection. Panic ensues. Yet another instalment saw Patrick's batty mother ( Joyce Carey ) moving in and bringing all her possessions with her, including a huge stuffed bear.
Like all good farce, it was well played by everyone concerned, and even if we did see a bit too much of the Glover's sitting room, the sight of blondes Pyne and Holloway ( both of whom were drop-dead gorgeous ) compensated. Dominating the proceedings was, of course, Cargill, whose Dickenian approach to fatherhood was frequently the target of much of the humour. Each episode used to open with a short, self-contained scene in which Patrick would try his hand at something new, such as painting letters on a boat, only to come a cropper. An unusual spin-off came in 1971 on 'The Edward Woodward Hour', when Patrick, Anna and Karen met up with secret agent 'Callan'!
Season 6 ended with Anna marrying chinless wonder 'Timothy Tanner' ( Jeremy Childs ). When their new home falls through, however, the newly-weds move in with 'Daddy'. Instead of losing a daughter, Patrick has acquired a lodger!
In 1976, Cargill landed a new sitcom ( partly of his own devising ) called 'The Many Wives Of Patrick' which was much the same as 'F.D.F.' except that he now had troublesome wives instead of daughters. In 1978, Patrick and Nanny flew Down Under for a short-lived spin-off to 'F.D.F.' in which he found himself left to take care of two nubile Aussie nieces, played by Sally Conabere and Sigrid Thornton.
Complaints about the show being 'bland' and 'dated' have dogged it over the years, but I say who cares what these humourless bores think! I'd sooner watch Patrick Cargill falling over than Miranda Hart. A few months after 'F.D.F.' ended, Cooke and Mortimer embarked on a new comedy venture - the even funnier 'Man About The House'.
'F.D.F.' was harmless, middle of the road stuff, but proved popular enough to run to a total of seven seasons plus the obligatory spin-off film. I recently watched the whole run, expecting it to be twee and more than faintly embarrassing, but I thought it stood up rather well. An impressive line-up of guest-stars included Leslie Phillips, Rodney Bewes, Bill Fraser, Dandy Nichols, Ian Carmichael, Jack Hulbert, Cyril Fletcher, Beryl Reid, Hugh Paddick, Roy Kinnear, Richartd Wattis, Donald Sinden, and Richard O'Sullivan. One episode had Patrick horrified to discover that Anna is to appear nude in an amateur stage production of 'Romeo & Juliet'. Another saw him buying a job lot of old army surplus stuff at an auction, only to find a live hand grenade amongst the collection. Panic ensues. Yet another instalment saw Patrick's batty mother ( Joyce Carey ) moving in and bringing all her possessions with her, including a huge stuffed bear.
Like all good farce, it was well played by everyone concerned, and even if we did see a bit too much of the Glover's sitting room, the sight of blondes Pyne and Holloway ( both of whom were drop-dead gorgeous ) compensated. Dominating the proceedings was, of course, Cargill, whose Dickenian approach to fatherhood was frequently the target of much of the humour. Each episode used to open with a short, self-contained scene in which Patrick would try his hand at something new, such as painting letters on a boat, only to come a cropper. An unusual spin-off came in 1971 on 'The Edward Woodward Hour', when Patrick, Anna and Karen met up with secret agent 'Callan'!
Season 6 ended with Anna marrying chinless wonder 'Timothy Tanner' ( Jeremy Childs ). When their new home falls through, however, the newly-weds move in with 'Daddy'. Instead of losing a daughter, Patrick has acquired a lodger!
In 1976, Cargill landed a new sitcom ( partly of his own devising ) called 'The Many Wives Of Patrick' which was much the same as 'F.D.F.' except that he now had troublesome wives instead of daughters. In 1978, Patrick and Nanny flew Down Under for a short-lived spin-off to 'F.D.F.' in which he found himself left to take care of two nubile Aussie nieces, played by Sally Conabere and Sigrid Thornton.
Complaints about the show being 'bland' and 'dated' have dogged it over the years, but I say who cares what these humourless bores think! I'd sooner watch Patrick Cargill falling over than Miranda Hart. A few months after 'F.D.F.' ended, Cooke and Mortimer embarked on a new comedy venture - the even funnier 'Man About The House'.