Seasons
Mother Stephen demands an audience with Fr. Duddleswell over a serious problem: Christine Hammond, a war orphan brought up in the convent, has fallen in love with Isaac Rosen, the elder son of the local rabbi. When the priest and the rabbi meet, they immediately agree that the marriage is impossible; so the young couple decides to ask the Anglican vicar to marry them. When Mr. Pinkerton insists that they wait two weeks before making a decision, the couple come to see Fr. Boyd, who suggests a ""naughty"" plan: Christine and Isaac announce that they have already been married in the registry office. Both Fr. Duddleswell and Rabbi Rosen are overcome with joy and wish them happiness -- whereupon they confess they were only testing them to see who would treat them with greater kindness. Fr. Duddleswell invites Rabbi Rosen to dinner (which Mrs. Pring supplies from a local kosher caterer), and we learn that the wedding did indeed take place in the registry office, as Fr. Boyd leads a toast to th
When Billy Buzzle sets up a pig-sty in his back yard to accommodate Porgy and Bess, two pigs he has received from a defaulting better, the resultant stench proves too much for Father Duddleswell, who desperately resorts to pig-napping, stealing Porgy by dead of night and taking him to a nearby farm. When Porgy subsequently dies, Billy takes Fr. Duddleswell to court, but the judge, while berating Fr. Duddleswell for his transparently dishonest testimony, rules in his favour. Then Bess appears to be succumbing to the same sickness, but Dr. Daley reassures everyone that she is only in labour...
When he was young, Father Duddleswell was curate to a legendary eccentric. Now, 40 years late, the old man has come to stay just when Father Duddleswell is incapacitated with lumbago, and manages to turn the parish upside down -- including locking Fr. Neil in the church with Mother Stephen.
Hoping to curb the decay in family values, Father Neil initiates family group counseling sessions which produce quite the opposite of the intended effect of bringing and keeping couples together.
Description
Bless Me Father is a British sitcom starring Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Daye, Patrick McAlinney, David Ryall, Derek Francis and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Duddleswell and his young curate in the fictional parish of St. Jude's in suburban London. 21 episodes, written by Peter De Rosa, 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.
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. The other regular characters included Mrs Pring, the housekeeper, the hard-drinking Dr Daley, the non-religious neighbour Billy Buzzle, and abbess Reverend Mother Stephen.
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Genres
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CastArthur LoweDaniel AbineriPatrick McAlinneyGabrielle DayeDavid RyallSheila Keith
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Channel
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Premiere DateSeptember 24, 1978
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Rating6.2 (5)
