''Don't Tell Father'' is a British television sitcom written by

Roy Clarke Royston Clarke (born 28 January 1930) is an English comedy writer, best known for creating the sitcoms ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Open All Hours'' and its sequel series, ''Still Open All Hours''. Early life Cla ...

that was first broadcast 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 26 April to 31 May 1992. The series starred

Tony Britton Anthony Edward Lowry Britton (9 June 1924 – 22 December 2019) was an English actor. He appeared in a variety of films (including '' The Day of the Jackal'') and television sitcoms (including '' Don't Wait Up'' and '' Robin's Nest''). Backgrou ...

, Susan Hampshire,

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Amanda Jane Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances, portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie ...

, Richard Ashton and Philip Fox.

Premise

The series follows a self-regarding veteran actor, Vivian Bancroft, who dominates the lives of his fifth wife, Natasha, and four grown-up children: Kate, Garth, Spirit and Congreve. Vivian is particularly outraged by his eldest daughter, Kate's, engagement to Marvin Whipple, a

driving instructor A driving instructor is a person who is hired by a new driver who is learning how to improve their skills - often for an upcoming practical test. Different countries have different rules regarding permits and other regulations. Driving instructors ...

Cast

Main

as Vivian Bancroft * Susan Hampshire as Natasha Bancroft *

as Kate Bancroft * Richard Ashton as Garth Bancroft * Philip Fox as Marvin Whipple

Recurring

Hilda Braid Hilda Braid (3 March 1929 – 6 November 2007) was an English actress who had a long career on British television. She became well known in her later years for playing Victoria "Nana" Moon on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life ...

as Mrs Dawson (3 episodes) * Liz Daniels as Alemka (3 episodes) * Anna Dawson as Stella Whipple (3 episodes) *

Jack Smethurst John Smethurst (9 April 1932 – 16 February 2022) was an English television and film comic actor. He was best known for his role as Eddie Booth in the British television sitcom ''Love Thy Neighbour''. Early life Smethurst was born on 9 April ...

as Ron Whipple (3 episodes) * Jo-Anne Sale as Spirit Bancroft (2 episodes)

Episodes

Reception

Of the series, in his ''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'',

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.

wrote: "

hammed it up for all he was worth as the awful Vivian, and

proved particularly adept at delivering

's witty dialogue, but the piece as a whole lacked the magic ingredient which made so many of the writer's ideas long-running series."

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

* {{Harold Snoad BBC television sitcoms 1992 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1990s British comedy television series British English-language television shows