''My Dad's the Prime Minister'' is a 2003–2004 British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

written by

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, and television personality. He is the editor of the satirical magazine '' Private Eye'', a position he has held since 1986. He has appeared on many radio and television pr ...

and

Nick Newman Nick Newman (born 17 July 1958) is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter. Early life The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on r ...

, and was a co-production between CBBC and BBC Entertainment. It centres on the life of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, his family and his

spin doctor In public relations and politics, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through knowingly providing a biased interpretation of an event. While traditional public relations and advertising may manage their presentation of facts, "spin" often i ...

. Its main cast include

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is a British actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (British colony), The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959, his family moved to Ball ...

, Joe Prospero, Carla Mendonça, Brian Bovell and Emma Sackville. It was filmed at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, and extras included students of the nearby Bushey Hall School and Bushey Meads School. Series 1 was shown on BBC One as part of its CBBC strand, in April and May 2003. Season 2 was promoted to a primetime slot on BBC One, airing in November and December 2004. Series 1 focused more on Dillon (the Prime Minister's son), while the second season had greater coverage of the life of the Prime Minister.

Synopsis

Dillon Phillips is twelve years old, and also burdened with a father who is the Prime Minister and has just been voted "Naffest Man in Britain" by his favourite pop magazine. His dad's smarmy and unlikeable spin doctor, Duncan Packer, interferes with everything and the slightest bit of bad behaviour may trigger an international crisis. Dillon's mother, Clare, is a successful businesswoman and has little time for him, while his older sister, Sarah, is annoyingly bossy and dismissive of her brother and his problems: however, the pair do occasionally join forces in order to fight against their oppressive regime, and especially against Packer. At school, Dillon's only real friend is a boy known as 'Geezer', the other boys (a boy known as 'Flash', his main nemesis, in particular) frequently picking on him because of his father's position, especially when the latter shows him up, for example by arriving at the school's sports day in a helicopter. Dillon achieves some solace through imagining himself as a feisty,

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English former broadcaster, journalist and author, born in Yorkshire. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ...

-style, newsreader and interviewer, constantly interrogating his parents and sister and the odious Packer on matters that impinge on him. Most episodes open and close with these 'fantasy' newsflashes. He also occasionally gets some support from his kindly paternal grandmother, who takes surprisingly little interest in Michael's political career, preferring instead to focus on the achievements of her other son and her grandchildren.

Cast

– Michael Phillips * Joe Prospero – Dillon Phillips * Carla Mendonça – Clare Phillips * Emma Sackville – Sarah Phillips * Jasper Britton – Duncan Packer * Brian Bovell – Detective Andy Sharp (Series 1) *

Paterson Joseph Paterson Davis Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor and author. Joseph appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in '' ...

– Detective Gary McRyan (Series 2) * Simeon Gunn – JJ * Joe Gunn – Geezer * Liam Hess – Dom Clackson *

Luke Newberry Luke Newberry is an English actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading role in the drama television series ''In the Flesh (TV series), In the Flesh'' (2013–2014), which earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination. Early l ...

– Lighthouse * Leagh Conwell – James "Flash" Gordon * Eugene Simon – Harry * Marcia Warren – Granny Phillips * Robert Vansittart – Chancellor * Michael Cronin – Mr Speaker * Michael Fenton Stevens – Home Secretary * Neil McCaul – Foreign Secretary * Jane Bertish – Education Secretary * Martin Chamberlain – Trade and Industry Secretary * Steve Toussaint – Transport Secretary * Amanda Holt – Health Secretary * Albert Welling – Opposition Leader * Kenny Ireland – Union Leader

List of Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2003)

Series 2 (2004)

Home Media releases

Series 1 was released on DVD and video in 2004 by DD Video, under license from the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0320893
Short description and history of the show at BBC Comedy"BBC Press Office for "My Dad's the Prime Minister"
2003 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 2000s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Television series produced at Pinewood Studios British English-language television shows Works about British politicians