''Bless Me, Father'' 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

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom '' D ...

, Daniel Abineri,

Gabrielle Daye Gabrielle Daye (2 October 1911 – 5 January 2005) was an English stage, film and television actress, notable for her TV role as Mrs. Pring on ''Bless Me, Father''. Other television appearances include '' Coronation Street'' (as Beattie Pears ...

Patrick McAlinney Patrick Andrew McAlinney (9 November 1913 – 22 August 1990) was an Irish character actor who starred in many British dramas and sitcoms. His most memorable roles included a brother on the hit sitcom '' Oh, Brother!'', which starred Derek Nimmo ...

David Ryall David John Ryall
Retrieved 28 December 2014 (5 January 1935 – 25 December 201 ...

, and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest, Father Charles Duddleswell (Lowe) and his young curate (Abineri) in the fictional parish of

St. Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

's in suburban London. Twenty-one episodes, written by Peter De Rosa (who had previously been a novice

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

), were aired. De Rosa wrote the books on which the series was based using the pseudonym of Neil Boyd which was also the name of the young curate character; Boyd also served as the narrator in the series of novels upon which the series was based. It was made for the ITV network by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

. The series was set in 1950 and 1951 and marked a departure from the middle-class "bank manager" roles associated with Lowe such as that in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

''. The other regular characters included Mrs Pring (Daye), the housekeeper, the hard-drinking Dr Daley (McAlinney), the non-religious neighbour Billy Buzzle (Ryall), and abbess Reverend Mother Stephen (Keith).

Cast

as Father Charles Clement Duddleswell * Daniel Abineri as Father Neil Boyd *

as Mrs. Pring *

as Dr. Daley *

David Ryall David John Ryall
Retrieved 28 December 2014 (5 January 1935 – 25 December 201 ...

as Billy Buzzle * Sheila Keith as Mother Stephen Guest appearances on the series include

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 Lig ...

Phoebe Nicholls Phoebe Sarah Nicholls (born 1957) is an English film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in '' Brideshead Revisited'' and as the mother of John Merrick in '' The Elephant Man''. Personal life Nicholls ...

Daniel Gerroll Daniel Gerroll (born 16 October 1951) is an English theatre, television and film actor. Life and career Gerroll was born in London, the son of Kathleen Cordelia (née Norman), a fashion model, and Harry Gerroll, a clothing designer. Gerroll h ...

Peter Bowles Peter Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English television and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and ''I, Claudius''. He is however, best remembered for his roles ...

Clive Swift Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for h ...

Rynagh O'Grady Rynagh O'Grady (18 April 1951 – 7 February 2021) was an Irish actress who was known for her roles of Mary O'Leary in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted'' and Minnie Kennedy in the 1999 film ''A Love Divided''. She trained in the Abbey Theatre ...

, Michael Troughton,

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

and

Peter Copley Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor. Biography Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain. After changing his mind about joining ...

Episodes

The series was repeated from March 2020 on

Fox Classics FOX Classics is an Australian cable and satellite channel that specializes in showing television series and ad-free classic movies, themed movie nights and miniseries from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. History FOX Classics began as ...

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Home media

The complete series of ''Bless Me, Father'' has been released on DVD in region 1, region 2 and region 4. In the United States and Canada, "The Complete Collection" was released on 26 April 2005 from Acorn Media. In the United Kingdom, distribution company Network DVD released the complete series on 6 August 2007. In Australia, the complete series was released on 11 March 2015 via distribution company Reel DVD.

Book series

Peter De Rosa, formerly an ordained Catholic priest and lecturer, left the priesthood in 1970 and later became a full-time author. Under the pen-name Neil Boyd he wrote the ''Bless Me, Father'' novels from which the TV series was adapted.

References

External links

* * *{{Epguides, BlessMeFather Fiction set in 1950 Fiction set in 1951 1978 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms 1980s British sitcoms Christian fiction English-language television shows ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows Catholicism in fiction Television shows based on British novels Television series by ITV Studios Television series set in the 1950s Television shows set in London Religious comedy television series