''That's My Boy'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

starring

Mollie Sugden Mary Isobel Sugden (21 July 19221 July 2009), known professionally as Mollie Sugden was an English actress. She was best known for being an original cast member in the British sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' (1972–1985) as senior saleswoman M ...

that aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 23 October 1981 to 4 April 1986. The series was written and created by Pam Valentine and Michael Ashton, who later wrote '' My Husband and I'' (1987–88), which also starred Mollie Sugden. It was produced for the ITV network by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

, and, although the first three series are set in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, they were filmed in and around

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

Plot

When Ida Willis (

) gets a new job as housekeeper to Robert Price (

Christopher Blake Christopher Blake (born Peter Ronald Gray, 23 August 1949 – 11 December 2004) was an English actor and screenwriter. He is perhaps best remembered for starring in the British sitcoms '' Mixed Blessings'' (1978–80) and '' That's My Boy'' ...

) and his wife Angie (Jennifer Lonsdale), she moves into their

flat and soon discovers that Robert is the son she gave up for

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

when he was a baby, and she proceeds to call him Shane, the name she gave him when he was born. Other characters include Ida's troublesome brother Wilfred ( Harold Goodwin) and Robert's adoptive mother Cecilia Price (Clare Richards), an upmarket widow with whom Ida doesn't get on. In the fourth series, they move to the fictitious

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

village of Little Birchmarch, where Ida befriends Robert's mousy receptionist, Miss Parfitt (

Deddie Davies Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh people, Welsh character actress. Biography Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales. She trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA and is most familiar to ...

Cast

– Ida Willis *

– Robert Price *Jennifer Lonsdale – Angie Price *Clare Richards – Mrs Price (series 1–4) * Harold Goodwin – Wilfred Willis *

– Miss Parfitt (series 4–5) *Thelma Whiteley – Mrs Cross (series 5)

Episodes

Series 1 (1981)

Series 2 (1983)

Christmas Special (1983)

Series 3 (1984)

Christmas Special (1984)

Series 4 (1985)

Series 5 (1986)

DVD releases

All five series are now available individually from Network DVD. A complete VHS collection of ''That's My Boy'' was also released. ITV3 started repeating the series on 10 February 2020, with minor edits. A single episode of ''That's My Boy'' has been released in the UK as part of a DVD compilation called ''Classic ITV Christmas Comedy''.

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'', BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thats My Boy 1981 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms Television series about adoption Television series by Yorkshire Television Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Television shows set in London Television shows set in Yorkshire