The greatest sitcom dads
Published: Sunday 19th June 2022
A dad joke is rarely considered a good thing, and although the standard domestic sitcom is often overlooked by critics, beyond the traditional family model of the classic British comedy, great dads, or father-son/daughter relationships are everywhere. Here we raise a toast to some of the most memorable and perhaps more unconventional sitcom dads.
Norman Stanley Fletcher
Norman Stanley Fletcher is probably not the first name you'd consider when you think of the strongest father figures in sitcom. Although the rouge with the 'bad feet' we know and love as Fletcher (Ronnie Barker) did have a family on the outside (namely his wife Gloria, son Raymond (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and daughter, Ingrid (Patricia Brake), whom we occasionally saw at visiting times), it was actually within the confines of Slade prison where the strongest parental relationship blossomed: between Fletcher and the young delinquent, Lennie Godber (Richard Beckinsale) capturing audiences' hearts.
Aside from their comedic chemistry, the pair's genuine relationship shone through, culminating in a low-key and emotional ending to Porridge where the duo parted ways as Godber's parole was granted. In the final episode of Porridge, it was revealed that Fletch was even prepared to risk his own sentence remission for his cell mate's early release.
Ben Harper
Robert Lindsay's Ben Harper, the curmudgeonly dentist of Chiswick, is almost certainly the most easily recognisable grumpy TV dad of the post-millennium sitcom. His appearance was preceded by the affable Ben Porter (Gary Olsen) of 2point4 Children fame - a nineties family sitcom that ran for a seriously impressive 56 episodes, only curtailed by the untimely death of Olsen in 2000. With a family-shaped hole in the BBC's sitcom schedule to fill, 2001 saw My Family pick up the baton and become a hit with audiences for an impressive ten years.
Although Ben liked to consider himself the man of the house, his wife, Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) was largely pulling his strings; yet it was Ben's run-ins with his idiot son, Nick, that made the sitcom famous and helped launch the career of Kris Marshall. When Marshall left due to fears he was becoming typecast as the brainless buffoon, the series survived his departure as a roster of new characters arrived, Ben becoming ever-more encircled by all manner of daft cousins, colleagues and extended family members to ramp up his annoyance. Whilst the cast changed over the years, Ben Harper's attitude never did. Regularly smashing 10 million viewers and becoming one of only twelve British sitcoms to have over one-hundred episodes to its name, My Family may not (yet) be considered a classic, but it has a legacy most sitcom stars should be seriously envious of.
Jim Royle
The slovenly Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson) could hardly be cited as a model father: rarely generous (or even kind) to his teenage son Anthony (Ralf Little), reluctant to redecorate, or even make a simple cup of tea for his family, every small household chore seemed to be a gargantuan effort. It was therefore a surprise to the nation when one Christmas Day at the Royle household Jim found himself the sole comforter of a distressed Denise (Caroline Aherne). In the midst of labour, she was having last minute nerves about her impending motherhood. In a brave moment that was played purely for pathos, it was, once again, the real-life chemistry between the pair that caused the scene to strike the most stunning tone. To the backdrop of some well-known classical pieces of music, Denise asks Jim if she'll make a good mother: "What if the baby doesn't like me? What if I don't like the baby?"
He reassures her in a reply chocked up with tears: "When your mum put you in my arms and I looked at you, Oh God... you were beautiful, and I knew then, I'd do anything for you, anything for you... and our Anthony."
In filming this scene, the entire crew were reportedly reduced to tears. A more tender father/daughter scene you will not find in British sitcom... although perhaps Frank Spencer's charming bedtime songs with his baby daughter Jessica in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em would come a close second.
Sid Abbott
It was 1971, and although Sid James had himself long since become a dad, and had previously likened his real-life relationship with Tony Hancock to father and son, it took years before Sid became a father in front of the camera. Swapping his familiar on-screen roles as small-time crooks or lecherous Carry On protagonists, Bless This House saw Sid as a run-of-the-mill, easily frustrated dad with two teenage children who ran rings around him with their lofty ideals and concerns about the climate. Settling down into the role of the wannabe-laid-back dad that saw him cemented as a household name, Sid swapped James for Abbott for six series and a feature film before his untimely death put an end to the ratings-winning comedy in 1976, foreshadowing Ben Harper by three decades.
The key to the show's longevity was not just James's chemistry with his on-screen wife (Diana Coupland) and children (Robin Stewart and Sally Geeson), which were plain for all to see, but Sid's lovable nature played a significant part in supporting the show - along with his signature laugh... Yak yak yak.
William Shakespeare
Even the Bard was a normal dad at the end of the day. Upstart Crow sees Ben Elton pitch David Mitchell's acclaimed version of the literary genius as a put-upon father who's far from immune to regular domestic trials and tribulations; most notably with Susanna, Shakespeare's (real-life) eldest daughter, reimagined as an unruly teenager, perhaps in a nod to Harry Enfield's classic sketch show characters Kevin and Perry, and performed to perfection by Helen Monks. Their father/daughter dynamic started in the off-hand manner you might expect ('I didst not ask to be brought forth into the world!') before developing into a rather tender relationship by the end of the third series, as Elton once again brought real-life historical drama and deep, hard-hitting pathos to a sitcom with the death of Shakespeare's son.
Martin Goodman
It's fair to say that Friday Night Dinner will likely be prominently remembered for Mark Heap's delightful oddball Jim Bell, with his weekly self-invites to the Goodman household becoming a popular and well-known trope of the series (he would bustle into the sitcom each week in the style of Kenneth Williams's scene-stealer, Snide, from the 1950s classic, Hancock's Half Hour). Something of a drifter, Jim would greet the increasingly weary Goodmans with a cheerful 'Hello Jackie!' before beckoning in his dog, Wilson, to essentially gate-crash the party.
However, the true backbone of the series was Paul Ritter's embarrassing dad. The catchphrases that came to define Friday Night Dinner: 'Shit on it!' and 'a lovely bit of squirrel' were the trademarks of Martin Goodman - a man who did not like wearing a shirt and was more often than not seen without it. Rarely fazed by anything, on the rare occasion something did niggle he could be found retired to his shed, perhaps clinging to his tin of expired meat. As dad to sons Jonny and Adam (Tom Rosenthal and Simon Bird), Martin was considered by the juvenile pair to be a mortifying parent: referring to their potential girlfriends as 'females' and cheerfully referring to his sons as 'bambinos', these were just some of Martin's many, many eccentricities.
Ritter's character, Martin (and the show itself), became an audience favourite, beloved by millions. Friday Night Dinner bowed out in 2020, just a year before his untimely death. Without Martin, the show simply could not have continued - nor have been half as successful as it was.
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Love comedy? Find out moreBless This House - The Complete Series
Every last episode of the smash-hit 1970s sitcom, starring the inimitable Sid James as Sid Abbott. Sid is an office supplies salesman, who is constantly trying to bridge the generation gap and deal with his two teenage children (nevermind the wife), whilst also trying to keep his own incompetence to a minimum.
All 65 episodes from the six series of the show, plus the feature film, are included in this 12-disc box set.
First released: Sunday 21st October 2007
DVD DVD DVD- Released: Monday 20th May 2024
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- Region: 2
- Discs: 12
- Minutes: 1,710
- Catalogue: OGM0003
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- Distributor: Network
- Region: 2
- Discs: 12
- Catalogue: 7952730
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- Released: Sunday 31st August 2008
- Distributor: Network
- Region: 2
- Discs: 12
- Catalogue: 7952768
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- Region: 2
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The complete boxed set of the BBC One comedy series My Family where put-upon dentist Ben Harper (Robert Lindsay) is long suffering husband to Susan (Zoe Wannamaker) and father to three very different and often difficult children - nice but dim Nick (Kris Marshall), shopaholic student Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) and prodigy Michael (Gabriel Thomson).
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Tuck into six glorious helpings of award-winning madness with the Goodmans as they get together for a Friday night dinner of food, family and major-league bickering. Of course every family has its eccentricities, it's just the Goodman family have made an art form of theirs.
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- Distributor: 2 Entertain
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- Distributor: 2 Entertain
- Region: 2
- Discs: 6
- Minutes: 864
- Subtitles: English
- Catalogue: 2EDVD1005
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