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''Oh, Brother!'' is a British television
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
starring Derek Nimmo, which aired on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
from September 13, 1968 to February 27, 1970.


Synopsis

The series was set in the fictional Mountacres Monastery, with Nimmo cast as the well-meaning but inept novice Brother Dominic making life difficult for the Prior (Father Anselm played by Felix Aylmer) and the Master of the Novices (Father Bernard played by Derek Francis). Nimmo was playing a very similar role in ''
All Gas and Gaiters ''All Gas and Gaiters'' is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC One, BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of John Wraith when writing th ...
'' which ran from 1966 to 1971, the main difference being that Brother Dominic was working-class, whereas Nimmo's previous character, Rev. Mervyn Noote, had been upper-class.


Cast

Derek Nimmo — Brother Dominic Felix Aylmer — The Prior, Father Anselm Patrick McAllinney — Brother Patrick Derek Francis — Sub Prior, Father Matthew Edward Malin — Oldest Brother (Series 1-2) Colin Gordon — Master of Novices, Father Bernard (Series 1) Geoffrey Hibbert — Brother Francis (Series 1)


Reception

''Oh, Brother!'' was not quite as successful or as affectionately remembered as ''All Gas and Gaiters'', although it did last three series containing 19 episodes, only eight of which exist in the BBC archives. The comic potential in a monastery may have been rather limited, although it did benefit from a cast which included some experienced actors, particularly Nimmo himself and Felix Aylmer as Father Prior.


Archive status

Due the BBC's wiping policy at the time, 11 episodes are currently missing from the archives. The episodes that currently survive consist of the 1st series episode ''The Voice of the Turtle'' and all the episodes from the 3rd series. Domestic audio recordings have been located from several missing episodes, and in 2020 a short clip from the missing episode ''In the Beginning'' was uncovered by Kaleidoscope. The clip featured in the Belgium television show ''"Ziet u er wat in" (Translation: Do You Like What You See?),'' which regularly featured short clips from British television programmes at the time including the likes of ''
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
'', ''
The Black and White Minstrel Show ''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' is a British light entertainment show on BBC prime-time television that ran from 1958 to 1978. The weekly variety show presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and m ...
'', '' The Good Old Days'' and ''
The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic ...
''.


Episodes


Series 1 (1968)


Short Insert: Christmas Night With The Stars (1968)

'' Christmas Night with the Stars'' was a programme screened annually on Christmas night that ran annually from 1958 to 1972. The programme consisted of appearances from the BBC's top stars of that time, whom appeared in short versions of their programmes, lasting usually between five and ten minutes long. ''Oh Brother!'' appeared in a cross-over sketch with the sitcom ''All Gas and Gaiters'' where Nimmo also played Rev. Mervyn Noote. In this sketch, Nimmo plays both roles as Noote and Dominic respectively. This sketch no longer exists in the BBC's film and videotape archives.


Series 2 (1969)


Series 3 (1970)


Sequel series

''Oh, Brother!'' was followed by a sequel ''Oh, Father!'' in 1973, also starring Nimmo and with the same writers. In this series, Dominic left the monastery and became a Roman Catholic priest. It had a supporting cast of Laurence Naismith, Pearl Hackney and David Kelly. This was not a success and only lasted a single series of seven episodes.


DVD release

All the surviving episodes were released on a Region 2 DVD boxset on 8 November 2004. The follow-up series ''Oh, Father!'' was released on DVD on 24 October 2005.


References


External links

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''Oh Brother!''
at
British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a Great Britain, British website covering British comedy, British comedies. BCG publishes guides to TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, va ...
{{Harold Snoad BBC television sitcoms Lost BBC episodes 1968 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms 1970s British sitcoms British English-language television shows Religious comedy television series