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Father, Dear Father

MIDDLE CLASS MITHERING from put-upon pater PATRICK CARGILL, camp old duffer novelist always in a flap, who passed through life with a literary agent called Georgie and two blonde daughters, Anna (NATASHA PYNE) and Karen (ANN HOLLOWAY), both helpless rich. Tons of guest stars also showed up, including DONALD SINDEN (inevitably), JUNE WHITFIELD (delightfully), LESLIE PHILLIPS (smarmily), RICHARD O’SULLIVAN (caddishly) and HUGH PADDICK (hopelessly).

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Scott McPhee

    July 4, 2020 at 6:39 am

    After the original series, a spin-off called Father Dear Father in Australia was made.

  2. Droogie

    July 4, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    Bafflingly one of those 70’s sitcoms that had a movie version made too. Who went to the cinema to see these films? The 70’s were arguably the best decade for movies, so why anyone would go see this or Love Thy Neighbour or Man About The House on the big screen when they could see films like Dog Day Afternoon or Harold And Maude instead is beyond me.

  3. richardpd

    July 4, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    According to the old TVC feature on sitcom spinoffs quite a few of them were latter day quota quickies, or safe investments thinks to a tax loophole allowing the losses to be easily written off.

    When Hammer’s horror films began to lose their popularity they started making the spinoffs like the On The Buses, so I guess they were a safe way to keep the coffers filled.

    Also most people didn’t have colour TV until the late 1970s so there was the novelty of seeing their favourites in colour.

    • Droogie

      July 5, 2020 at 4:25 am

      That makes more sense. I remember seeing early 70’s British comedy movies years later on TV and having no idea they were sitcoms. For The Love Of Ada , Never Mind The Quality Feel The Width and That’s Your Funeral come to mind.

      • richardpd

        July 5, 2020 at 11:27 am

        Same with me, I saw the On The Buses films long before seeing any of the TV episodes.

        It was a similar situation with the Likely Lads.

        Luckily in the late 1980s-90s there was more interest in repeating old TV shows.

  4. THX 1139

    July 4, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    Patrick Cargill never married, but owned a pet parrot called Pavement-Kerbstone. I wonder if the bird could say its name?

  5. Glenn Aylett

    July 6, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    1971 saw the release of such artistic fare as A Clockwork Orange and the last Sean Connery Bond film, but guess what was the most popular film of the year: On The Buses, the first of three very successful spin offs from the bawdy sitcom, which must have perplexed the film critics. However, as colour television was still a luxury then, it was a chance to see Stan Butler get one over the hated Blakey in colour and in stereo at your local cinema.

    • Droogie

      July 6, 2020 at 11:04 pm

      That old On The Buses thing again. ( yawn) Hammer’s most successful movie too yet again! (Yawn) The Reg Varney story is dull. Clockwork Orange is a movie classic, but none of those tacky Varney movies have lasted the test of time.

  6. richardpd

    July 6, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    Yes I heard On The Buses was the earning film in the UK in 1971.

    Maybe the working relations shenanigans in Carry On At Your Convenience led people to look for other comedy films.

    It would have been a bit confusing that the buses in the films were red, while on the TV they were green, normally hired in from Eastern National.

  7. richardpd

    September 7, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    Edward Woodward guest starred in an episode of this as a Callan like agent who is under the impression Cargill is a spy and tries to intimidate him by smashing in his television and pointing a gun at him.

    There’s quite a gasp by the audience when the TV gets it’s screen smashed, because it’s a new looking Marconi when most people probably still had sets from the 1960s.

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