''The Gaffer'' is an

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 ...

situation comedy series of the early 1980s, that starred

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...

and was written by businessman Graham White. It was made for the

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 ...

Cast

– Fred Moffatt *

Russell Hunter Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 – 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series ''Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television si ...

– Harry *

Pat Ashton Pat Ashton (28 February 1931 – 23 June 2013) was an English actress. Her engaging cockney, blonde persona is best remembered for appearances in English TV-sitcom film spin-offs ''On the Buses'' (1971) and ''Mutiny on the Buses'' (1972). She wa ...

– Betty * David Gillies – Ginger * Don Crann – Charlie *

Keith Marsh Keith Marsh (1926 – 28 January 2013) was an English actor who appeared in numerous television productions over a 50-year period. Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, he is perhaps best known for playing Jacko in the Thames Television sitcom ' ...

– Henry *

Chris Langham Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom '' The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on B ...

– Spencer Moffatt (series 2)

Plot

Following the end of the situation comedy (''

Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' is a British television sitcom which ran on the ITV network from 1974 to 1978. Set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Scarsdale, the series stars Bill Maynard as Selwyn Froggitt, a council labourer, hapless handy ...

''), Maynard's next character couldn't have been more different from the bumbling Selwyn Froggitt. Fred Moffatt is a survivor – just. Bearded, wearing a battered hat and a crumpled suit, his

Rover P6 The Rover P6 series (named as the 2000, 2200, or 3500, depending on engine displacement) was a saloon car produced by Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England, UK. The P6 was the first winner ...

a rusting wreck, he runs a struggling engineering firm and is constantly trying to avoid his creditors, the tax man, the bank manager, and indeed anyone who might want him to pay for something. The series' background accurately reflected the precarious condition of many small businesses of the era and added a dark undercurrent to the situation comedy. Unlike the physical comedy of ''Selwyn Froggitt'', the scripts for ''The Gaffer'' were wordy and sardonic and the plots relatively complex, with Fred Moffatt usually managing to outwit at least some of the people who were chasing him for money. The cast included

as the radical union

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

whose interest was in parting Moffatt from as much money as possible to better pay his members, and

as his ineffectual secretary Betty.

Abrupt End

The third and final series (broadcast 1983) saw Moffatt elected to the local council, extending his struggles to local politics. But, disgruntled with the losing battle he was fighting, in the final episode ("Goodbye"), Moffatt upped sticks, sold off the business to his employees and emigrated to Australia to make a new start, only to return and take back the business after having attended his son Spencer's wedding. However the series thus ended abruptly, despite its success, after a two-year run. In later years, it was suggested that during the production of series 3, White (the creator of the show) protested that Maynard kept changing his scripts too much, thus embittering the relationship between the two and so a planned fourth series was cancelled. White revealed details of the dispute which ended the series in a 2014 newspaper intervie

Graham White published a sequel novel entitled "The Gaffer's Guerillas" which takes the story into the present da

Home media

All three series of ''The Gaffer'' have been released on DVD by Network, A 3-disc set of the complete series has also been released.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffer, The Television series by Yorkshire Television ITV sitcoms 1980s British sitcoms 1981 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings Television shows set in Leeds Television shows set in Yorkshire English-language television shows

Cast

Plot

Abrupt End

Home media

See also

External links