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''Comrade Dad'' is a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
satirical
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
set in 1999 in Londongrad, the capital of the USSR-GB, after the United Kingdom has been invaded by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and turned into a
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
state. The programme focussed on the Dudgeon family (starring
George Cole as Reg Dudgeon) and their attempts to adapt to the new order.
History
Pilot
The pilot episode explains how the Soviets have managed a remarkable bloodless coup – the revolution took place on 27 June 1987, when, upon learning that thousands of Russian missiles were approaching, the government and all the other "important" members of British society took refuge in nuclear fallout shelters. But the "missiles" turned out to be aeroplanes full of paratroopers who parachuted to land and calmly sealed off the entrances to the shelters, so removing all the powerful people from the picture at a single stroke and enabling the Russians to take control. (This explanatory pilot was remade as the opening episode of the series which began just over a year later, with slight changes in the cast and format).
Series
The series is about Reg Dudgeon, a working-class man who thinks that the Soviet takeover is wonderful and tries to champion the work of his rulers and party line. Unfortunately, his beliefs are tested as the excesses of life under the communists – food shortages, long queues, low wages – begin to take their toll. Undeterred, Reg manages to keep his faith, despite even discovering that there exists another side of the USSR-GB where elaborate garden parties take place, attended by a few privileged party members.
Cast
*
George Cole – Reg Dudgeon (Dad)
*
Colette O'Neil
Mary Irene Colette Ellis ( McCrossan, 18 November 1935 – 11 July 2021), better known by the stage name Colette O'Neil, was a Scottish actress, noted for her various roles on British television.
Life and career
O'Neil was a semi-regular cast ...
– Treen Dudgeon (Mum) (pilot only)
*
Barbara Ewing
Barbara Ewing (born 14 January 1939) is a New Zealand actor, playwright and novelist based in the UK. In the 1980s Ewing played the character Agnes Fairchild in British comedy series ''Brass.'' Ewing's novel ''The Petticoat Men'' was shortlisted ...
– Treen Dudgeon (Mum) (series)
*
Anna Wing
Anna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing (30 October 1914 – 7 July 2013) was an English actress who had a long career in television and theatre, known for portraying the role of Beale family matriarch Lou Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''.
...
– Gran (pilot only)
*
Doris Hare
Doris Breamer Hare, MBE (1 March 1905 – 30 May 2000) was a British actress, comedian, singer, and dancer best known for portraying Mabel Butler in the British sitcom ''On the Buses'' and its film spin-offs, after replacing the original actres ...
– Gran (series)
* Claire Toeman – Zo Dudgeon
* David Garlick – Bob Dudgeon
Transmission details
Eight episodes (including the pilot) were broadcast, each thirty minutes in length.
Pilot
Broadcast on Monday 17 December 1984 BBC2 8pm
Series one
All episodes were broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm
* Episode 1: "Londongrad 1999" 13 January 1986
* Episode 2: "Don't Feel Bad, Dad" 21 January 1986
* Episode 3: "The Lost Domain" 28 January 1986
* Episode 4: "Of Gods and Heroes" 3 February 1986
* Episode 5: "Dangerous Connections" 10 February 1986
* Episode 6: "My Vegetable Love" 17 February 1986
* Episode 7: "Cars That Pass in the Night" 24 February 1986
Production
The series was created by writers Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent. Although inspired by the-then possible threat of a Soviet takeover of the United Kingdom, the series also reflected the writers' experiences of
rationing during World War II. The writers claimed that George Cole did not get on well with the rest of the cast. David Garlick, who played Bob Dudgeon, remembered Cole more favourably, but noted that he appeared to struggle with the process of filming a sitcom for a live audience. Garlick also recalls deliberately fluffing his own lines in order to generate bigger laughs from the studio audience.
The show was not renewed for a second series. Ian Davidson claims that the BBC lost interest in making further series when George Cole declined to appear in a second series, while Peter Vincent says that the rise to power of
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
in the Soviet Union rendered the show's subject matter irrelevant.
The rotating red star on top of
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whic ...
in the show's opening titles was a rendered 3D model added onto the filmed footage.
The show's theme music is a version of "
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed.
It ...
" sung in the style of the
Red Army Choir.
Reception
The show received a mixed reception from critics, while then-deputy Soviet foreign minister
Nikita Ryzhov, visiting Britain at the time of the show's broadcast, criticised the show for being "unfriendly" and "not conducive to an improvement in Anglo-Soviet relations".
[
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References
External links
*
* {{British Comedy Guide, tv, comrade_dad
1984 British television series debuts
1986 British television series endings
1980s British sitcoms
BBC television sitcoms
Communism in fiction
Dystopian television series
Television series set in 1999