''Oh, Brother!'' is a British television

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 ...

starring

Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''All G ...

, which aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 13 September 1968 to 27 February 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 Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early ...

) and the Master of the Novices (Father Bernard played by

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in ''The Tomb of Lige ...

). 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 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 the pilot. ...

'' 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.

Reception

''Oh, Brother!'' was not quite as successful or as affectionately remembered as the earlier programme, 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.

Episodes

Series 1 (1968)

*The Voice of the Turtle (13 September 68) *A House of Merchandise (20 September 68) *My Brother's Keeper (27 September 68) *The Sins of the Father (4 October 68) *The Root of All Evil (11 October 68) *Treasures on Earth (18 October 68)

Series 2 (1969)

*A Goodly Inheritance (11 April 69) *Thine House in Order (18 April 69) *A Mother in Israel (25 April 69) *Behold This Dreamer (2 May 69) *An Uncertain Sound (9 May 69) *In The Beginning (16 May 69)

Series 3 (1970)

*A Still, Small Voice (16 January 70) *By The Fleshpots (23 January 70) *The Laughter of a Fool (30 January 70) *A Fool Returneth (6 February 70) *The Hands of Esau (13 February 70) *A Stone of Stumbling (20 February 70) *The Fullness of His Days (27 February 70)

Surviving episodes

DVD release

A Region 2 DVD was released in 2004.

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 Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

Pearl Hackney Pearl Hackney (28 October 1916 – 18 September 2009) was a British actress and the wife of comic actor Eric Barker. She was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, but spent much of her early life in Liverpool, Lancashire (now Merseyside). A ...

and David Kelly. This was not a success and only lasted a single series of seven episodes.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0062594, Oh, Brother!
Oh, Brother! on Comedy Series Info
BBC television sitcoms Lost BBC episodes 1968 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms 1970s British sitcoms English-language television shows Religious comedy television series