# Father, Dear Father

Father, Dear Father is a British television sitcom produced by Thames Television for ITV from 1968 to 1973 starring Patrick Cargill. It was subsequently made into a spin-off film of the same title released in 1973.
An Australian sequel series of the same name (though usually referred to as Father, Dear Father in Australia to distinguish it from the UK original) followed in 1978. The same year a West German adaptation Oh, This Father starring Willy Millowitsch began, lasting until 1981.

## Premise

The original series focused on divorced British novelist Patrick Glover (Patrick Cargill) and his daughters, Karen (Ann Holloway) and Anna (Natasha Pyne), a couple of lively girls in their teens. The family lives in Hampstead, London. Another member of the household is the girls' Nanny (Noel Dyson). As well as having to deal with his progeny, Patrick also faces frequent hassles with his ex-wife Barbara (Ursula Howells) and her current husband Bill Mossman (played by Patrick Holt, and later Tony Britton). There is also his brother Philip (Donald Sinden), his mother (Joyce Carey), his agent Georgie Thompson (Sally Bazely Series 1 and 2 and later Dawn Addams Series 4-7), his publisher Ian Smyth (Michael Segal in series 3) and his pet St. Bernard dog 'H. G. Wells'. At the end of the sixth series Anna marries Tim Tanner (Jeremy Child), who then became a regular in the last series.

## Cast

* Patrick Cargill - Patrick Glover
* Natasha Pyne - Anna Glover
* Ann Holloway - Karen Glover
* Noel Dyson - Nanny
* Dawn Addams - Georgie Thompson
* Ursula Howells - Barbara
* Joyce Carey - Patrick’s mother
* Sally Bazely - Georgie Thompson
* Jeremy Child - Timothy Tanner
* Tony Britton - Bill Mossman
* Michael Segal - Ian Smythe
* Patrick Holt - Bill Mossman
* James Appleby - Milkman
* Donald Sinden - Philip Glover

## Episodes

Series 1 and 2 are in black & white. Series 3 to 7 are in colour.

### Series 1 (1968)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | 1 | "The Proposal" | 5 November 1968 (1968-11-05) |
| 2 | 2 | "Pussies Galore" | 12 November 1968 (1968-11-12) |
| 3 | 3 | "The Return of the Mummy" | 19 November 1968 (1968-11-19) |
| 4 | 4 | "Publish and Be Damned" | 26 November 1968 (1968-11-26) |
| 5 | 5 | "It Won't Be a Stylish Marriage" | 3 December 1968 (1968-12-03) |
| 6 | 6 | "I Should Have Danced All Night" | 10 December 1968 (1968-12-10) |
| 7 | 7 | "Lost Weekend" | 17 December 1968 (1968-12-17) |

### Series 2 (1969)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 8 | 1 | "Unhappy Birthday" | 27 May 1969 (1969-05-27) |
| 9 | 2 | "We Can't Afford a Carriage" | 3 June 1969 (1969-06-03) |
| 10 | 3 | "Show Me the Way to Go Home" | 10 June 1969 (1969-06-10) |
| 11 | 4 | "Thinner Than Water" | 17 June 1969 (1969-06-17) |
| 12 | 5 | "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home" | 24 June 1969 (1969-06-24) |
| 13 | 6 | "Divorce English Style" | 1 July 1969 (1969-07-01) |

### Series 3 (1970)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 14 | 1 | "This Is Your Wife" | 12 May 1970 (1970-05-12) |
| 15 | 2 | "One Dog and His Man" | 19 May 1970 (1970-05-19) |
| 16 | 3 | "It's Never Too Late" | 26 May 1970 (1970-05-26) |
| 17 | 4 | "Nobody's Indispensable" | 2 June 1970 (1970-06-02) |
| 18 | 5 | "The Suitable Suitor" | 9 June 1970 (1970-06-09) |
| 19 | 6 | "A Man About the House" | 16 June 1970 (1970-06-16) |

### Series 4 (1971)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 20 | 1 | "Last Of The Red-Hot Mommas" | 15 June 1971 (1971-06-15) |
| 21 | 2 | "An Affair To Forget" | 22 June 1971 (1971-06-22) |
| 22 | 3 | "Housey-Housey" | 29 June 1971 (1971-06-29) |
| 23 | 4 | "The Reluctant Runaway" | 6 July 1971 (1971-07-06) |
| 24 | 5 | "Come Back Little Sheba" | 13 July 1971 (1971-07-13) |
| 25 | 6 | "A Domestic Comedy" | 20 July 1971 (1971-07-20) |
| 26 | 7 | "The Naked Truth" | 27 July 1971 (1971-07-27) |

### Series 5 (1971)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 27 | 1 | "Proposed and Seconded" | 13 September 1971 (1971-09-13) |
| 28 | 2 | "The Life of the Party" | 20 September 1971 (1971-09-20) |
| 29 | 3 | "Nothing But the Tooth" | 27 September 1971 (1971-09-27) |
| 30 | 4 | "An Explosive Situation" | 4 October 1971 (1971-10-04) |
| 31 | 5 | "A Book for the Bishop" | 11 October 1971 (1971-10-11) |
| 32 | 6 | "A Case for Inspector Glover" | 18 October 1971 (1971-10-18) |

### Series 6 (1972)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 33 | 1 | "The Cardboard Casanova" | 13 June 1972 (1972-06-13) |
| 34 | 2 | "Brother, Dear Brother" | 20 June 1972 (1972-06-20) |
| 35 | 3 | "The Opposite Six" | 27 June 1972 (1972-06-27) |
| 36 | 4 | "Unaccustomed As I Am" | 4 July 1972 (1972-07-04) |
| 37 | 5 | "Feud, Glorious Feud" | 11 July 1972 (1972-07-11) |
| 38 | 6 | "The Engagement" | 18 July 1972 (1972-07-18) |
| 39 | 7 | "Father of the Bride" | 25 July 1972 (1972-07-25) |

### Series 7 (1973)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 40 | 1 | "Flat Spin" | 2 January 1973 (1973-01-02) |
| 41 | 2 | "Home And Away" | 9 January 1973 (1973-01-09) |
| 42 | 3 | "It's In The Book" | 16 January 1973 (1973-01-16) |
| 43 | 4 | "The Right Hand Man" | 23 January 1973 (1973-01-23) |
| 44 | 5 | "Pop Around The Clock" | 30 January 1973 (1973-01-30) |
| 45 | 6 | "In All Directions" | 6 February 1973 (1973-02-06) |

## Australian version

A few years after Karen and Anna have married and left home, Patrick decides to go to Australia to do some research for a book he is writing and takes Nanny along (both Cargill and Dyson reprised the roles). He intends to stay with his brother Jeffrey (Ron Frazer), but Jeffrey unexpectedly has to travel to London for 6 months in connection with his work. Jeffrey comments that he is worried about leaving his daughters, Liz (Sally Conabere) and Sue (Sigrid Thornton), to fend for themselves while he is away and asks if Patrick and Nanny can look after them, and Patrick begrudgingly agrees. Liz and Sue had been looking forward to being free of adult supervision while their father was away, so they're initially unimpressed with the idea. 'H.G.Wells' was replaced by two new St.Bernards, a dog named G.K. (after G.K. Chesterton) and a bitch named 'A.C.' (after Agatha Christie). Wallas Eaton appears in two episodes of the second series as Patrick's Australian publisher, Sam Winterton.
Two 7-episode series were made by Lyle McCabe Productions in association with the Seven Network; like the original, they were produced and directed by William G. Stewart. Gordon Franks' original title music was also re-used. Mortimer and Cooke wrote the first episode, "Once More With Feeling"; the rest of the episodes were written by writers such as Richard Waring and Donald Churchill.

### Series 1 (1978)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | 1 | "Once More with Feeling" | 25 June 1978 (1978-06-25) |
| 2 | 2 | "A Home from Home" | 2 July 1978 (1978-07-02) |
| 3 | 3 | "The Floating Housekeeper" | 9 July 1978 (1978-07-09) |
| 4 | 4 | "Novel Exercise" | 16 July 1978 (1978-07-16) |
| 5 | 5 | "A Word of Appreciation" | 23 July 1978 (1978-07-23) |
| 6 | 6 | "Finding Your Feet" | 30 July 1978 (1978-07-30) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Lost Sheep" | 6 August 1978 (1978-08-06) |

### Series 2 (1980)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
| 8 | 1 | "A Novel Experience" | 17 May 1980 (1980-05-17) |
| 9 | 2 | "Straight form the Horse's Mouth" | 24 May 1980 (1980-05-24) |
| 10 | 3 | "Father, Dear Father's Day" | 31 May 1980 (1980-05-31) |
| 11 | 4 | "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" | 7 June 1980 (1980-06-07) |
| 12 | 5 | "The Wisdom of Patrick" | 14 June 1980 (1980-06-14) |
| 13 | 6 | "I Talk to the Trees" | 21 June 1980 (1980-06-21) |
| 14 | 7 | "Thruppling Thursday" | 28 June 1980 (1980-06-28) |

## DVD release

All seven series of Father, Dear Father (including the feature film) have been released on DVD by Network, A 7-disc box-set of the complete series has also been released. Both series of the Australian Father, Dear Father series have been released in a 2 disc set by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia.
| DVD | Release date |
| The Complete Series 1 | 15 January 2007 |
| The Complete Series 2 | 13 August 2007 |
| The Complete Series 3 | 22 October 2007 |
| The Complete Series 4 | 1 September 2008 |
| The Complete Series 5 | 8 June 2009 |
| The Complete Series 6 | 23 August 2010 |
| The Complete Series 7 The Complete Series 1 to 7 + Movie Box Set | 8 November 2010 |