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.
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.[1]
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
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