Bless Me Father
| Bless Me Father | |
|---|---|
 Title screen of Series 1 |
|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Starring | Arthur Lowe Daniel Abineri Gabrielle Daye Patrick McAlinney |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | London Weekend Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 24 September 1978 – 16 August 1981 |
Bless Me Father was a British situation comedy starring Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Daye, Patrick McAlinney, David Ryall, Derek Francis and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Duddleswell (Lowe) and his young curate (Abineri) in the fictional parish of St. Jude's in suburban London. 21 episodes, written by Peter De Rosa (who had previously been a novice curate), were aired. De Rosa wrote the books on which the series was based using the pseudonym of Neil Boyd which was also the name of the young curate character; Boyd also served as the narrator in the series of novels upon which the series was based. It was made for the ITV network by London Weekend Television.
The series was set in 1950 and 1951 and marked a departure from the middle class 'bank manager' roles associated with Lowe such as that in Dad's Army. The other regular characters included Mrs Pring (Daye), the housekeeper, the hard-drinking Dr Daley (McAlinney), the non-religious neighbour Billy Buzzle (Ryall), and abbess Reverend Mother Stephen (Keith).
References
Lewisohn, Mark (1998). Radio Times guide to TV comedy. London: BBC Worldwide. p. 800. ISBN 0-563-36977-9.
The Bless Me, Father series:
Boyd, Neil (1977). Bless Me, Father. London: Robert Hale.
Boyd, Neil (1978). A Father Before Christmas. London: Michael Joseph.
Boyd, Neil (1979). Father in a Fix. London: Michael Joseph.
Boyd, Neil (1980). Father Under Fire. London: Michael Joseph.
Boyd, Neil (1981). Bless Me Again, Father. London: Michael Joseph.
