Tuesday 1 January 2019

A Comedy On This Day: Father, Dear Father - Flat Spin (2 January 1973)


 Nobody ever makes comedy series this cheerful anymore. You can see it in the OB credits sequence... The two daughters happily wash the Rolls Royce, the father brings a bucket of water and then the dog leaps about and the housemaid brings a tray of tea - you don't even get someone putting their foot in the bucket and sending the tea flying!

 With the newlywed elder daughter and her husband returning from Majorca, this episode is a textbook illustration of the humour about honeymooning couples that so exercised mid-century censors - "How was it?! I mean tell me all the details - No, don't!" This week's hilarious consequences revolve around the couple's inability to afford the £10,000 for a flat in Teddington (the best they can manage for their £6,000 would mean moving to Ramsgate). Even with Hugh Paddick as the estate agent, the most arresting performance comes from the dog, H. G. Wells. With a great St Bernard bounding around the living room, any domestic comedy is going to have to compete for the viewer's attention.
 Apart from the dog jumping on Cargill's shoulders, the thing that made me laugh most in this episode was the idea of a Welsh Undertaker being called 'Dai the Death'.

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