This is a very amusing British comedy based on a successful TV series, filled with lots of slapstick and delightfully witty dialogue. It surrounds the divorced Patrick Cargill who had custody of his two daughters (Natasha Pyne and Ann Holloway),searching for a new wife because his daughters seem to be out of control. He sets his sights on his attractive agent Jill Melford which creates some confusion with her daffy cleaning lady (Beryl Reid),then visits sophisticated ex wife Ursula Howells who isn't happy with her second husband. It's funny how the two husbands actually get along, and it gives any indication that Howell and her ex might get back together. Cargill also has some amusing moments with his uppity brother Donald Sinden and their dotty mother, a delightful Joyce Carey.

I'm not familiar with this sitcom, but this still makes it easy to get to know who is who although there are a lot of territory. There's a lot of fun when Cargill's old nanny Noel Dyson is around, because in spite of looking prim and proper, she has a big fun side to her, whether dealing with a book on sex written to a young perspective or putting on a gorilla mask. There's a very funny bit of slapstick when Cargill is locked out of the house and tries to get back upstairs with the help of a bunch of boxes, ripping off the roof and through both of them and basically stuck outside all night.

This is a wacky film for sure, not really sophisticated in spite of the upper middle-class setting, filled with a lot of wonderful minor characters including the friendly black neighbors of the oldest daughter who has moved out. It's fast and frenetic and never dull, and if you blink and look away for one second, you could miss some very funny moments going on in the background. This actually makes me interested in seeing the actual sitcom, a bonus for American viewers who are only familiar with a handful of popular British sitcoms.

I happened to stumble on this feature film version of the TV sitcom on my day off and was not impressed in the slightest! The British film industry seemed to churn out these spin-offs in abundance in the early Seventies and few were really any good! This is a perfect example of why they should of stayed on the small screen. I know it was intended as good old harmless fun but the problem is the humour is strained and it is just not funny!!!! Patrick Cargill stars as the long struggling dad trying to prevent his two teenage daughters from either getting married or moving house, whilst trying to get married himself to his agent (he is an author),so he can provide a mother figure for his kids. And there you have it!!! There's the plot in a nutshell plus throw in your usual clichés like the idiotic, clumsy son-in-law, the accidental milkman, and your token black man which provides plenty of ammo for these tedious stereotyped, racist jokes!!! It is worth pointing out that the director, William G. Stewart went on to later present the quiz show "Fifteen to One". Appropriate, as the odds are much higher against him with this project!! At the end of the movie Cargill looks at the camera and asks "Do You Mind?". Well, yes I do actually because it is 98 minutes of my life that I will not get back!!!

A lot of 70s comedy series were turned into 'one off' feature length films with varying degrees of success, for some years now the BBC have been showing these films in the dead time between Christmas and the New year. I think father dear father is one of the better efforts and well worth a look if you are weighed down by the excesses of the festivities so much that still can't lift yourself off the settee in the week after Christmas. The theme of the movie and the TV series is a widowed father (Patrick Cargill) looking after his two rebellious teenage daughters, played by the gorgeous Natasha Pyne and Ann Holloway, plus his attempts to find romance in his own confused personal life. The film and the 'victorian father' attitude portrayed (for laughs) will appear very dated now but probably actually reflected our society pretty accurately back in the early 70s, even down to his threats to administer a spanking to his morally wayward children even though the girls must have been about 25 at the time! Unfortunately he didn't carry out his threat.