istara It is amazing that Father Dear Father languishes in such obscurity, despite running for seven series, plus a spin-off movie, as well as an Australian series.It boasts a host of prominent British actors in leading roles and cameos, the scripts are consistently well written and funny, and to a modern audience there's an extra edge of vintage charm.Yet it seems that hardly anyone has heard of this comedy. It never makes "Best British Comedy" lists and never gets a mention in the context of other comedies of that time. Very strange and sad.As others mention, it features divorced crime writer Patrick Glover trying to raise his teenage daughters in late 1960s/early 1970s Britain. The household includes the wonderfully traditional and unworldly Nanny, frequent appearances by various relatives: Patrick's absent-minded mother, his rogue of a brother (a suave Donald Sinden), his ex-wife and her often hot-headed new husband.Throw in English vicars, comedy American movie producers, sexy literary agents, amorous widows and various suitors of the daughters (notably a young Richard O'Sullivan and Rodney Bewes) and you are in for an absolutely classic treat.It's hard to recommend this highly enough. If you're a fan of classic British comedy, from Carry On films to Fawlty Towers, this one really deserves your notice.

kieth Morrison Recently I came across some old episodes of this series and I have to say I was so delighted in watching them again that I tracked down several others.I was a little too young at the time of original air to pay much attention to the comedy but I particularly remembered the daughters, both gorgeous girls whose appeal even a ten year old boy noticed. It was a nice moment then to relive some of my youth growing up in the late 60's to the mid 70's and this series in particular sums up all that confidence and good feeling very ably. Yes, the father is an upper middle class twit, and it shows.. but it nevertheless reflects a much happier much more innocent time for the UK complete with its fashions and attitudes., yes it is slightly slapstick and at times a tad twee but that just adds to flavour If you're a fan of the era I'd wholeheartedly recommend this it's not rip-roaringly funny but it's gentle and wry sense of humour will make you smile In fact, the only slight downsides are when Cargill seems to stare a little too long at the girls bottoms or chests, not that I can blame him as they're usually dressed in hot pants etc. But it does seem a little seedy given their respective ages. That being said it's not very apparent and some might not even notice as my SO didn't until I pointed it out via the still button.. Not having this function when the show was originally aired I imagine some might have noticed and forgotten it at the next comedic moment..All in all though a good bet for a wet Sunday afternoon if you can track it down.

ShadeGrenade 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'.

geffers This was a long running, popular, comedy that ran on ITV during the early 1970's. Patrick Cargill is the author Patrick Glover of tacky thrillers who is separated from his wife, but has custody of his two teenage daughters. Also in the picture is Nanny, the housekeeper, and Georgy his agent, with whom he's also having a long-running relationship. Oh, and there's an enormous St Bernard dog, called H.G.Each episode is a mini farce, usually with a misunderstanding that leads to conversations which drive Patrick wild. There seems to be a real studio audience for the first few years, and then canned laughter - the standard audio which ITV always used at this time, and which can be recognised, began to be used, and the programme suffers from this.One thing different to the norm is the introduction as the titles play - a little story unfolds, which usually leaves Patrick in a mess. The later series lost this, so there was just a rather twee, but pointless scene during the titles, with some exceptions, for instance in the last episode of series six. There's also action at the end, actors chaotically moving around.This comedy is very much played as though it were on stage, and it has a quality of perhaps just a little hamminess which enhances rather than detracts. The wordplay can sometimes be too fast for the studio audience who don't always react to the more subtle jokes.The first three series can be bought: the first two in black and white only from Australia, but for the rest you'll have to seek out copies from traders. If you can get hold of them, I'd particularly recommend series four and five, and there's a definite dulling of quality after this.