Line #18 Series/BlessMeFather


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bless_me_father.jpg]]
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3	This series of comic short stories ran into five books and was eventually adapted into a TV comedy series, which in very many ways was the spiritual parent of ''Series/FatherTed''. The series of books was written by Father Peter de Rosa and the subsequent TV series, which aired on [[Creator/{{ITV}} London Weekend Television]] for three series of seven episodes each between 1978 and 1981, draws upon these autobiographical novels, written as "[[AuthorAvatar Father Neil Boyd]]".
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5	The series is an engagingly idiosyncratic situation comedy based on the post-war experiences of a young priest, Father Neil Boyd (played in the TV series by singer-actor Daniel Abineri), sent to the parish of St. Jude's in the London suburb of Fairwater in 1950 as a curate to parish priest Father Charles Duddleswell (a post-''Series/DadsArmy'' Creator/ArthurLowe). This series gains extra bite from the relatively embattled situation of the parishioners as (mainly Irish) Catholics in a firmly Protestant Britain just recovering from the war, and still smarting under Government rationing and other restrictions, such the common prejudice against Irish people, that would later translate itself to a growing black ethnic minority. (Indeed, at some point during the series the first immigrant boats must have arrived from the West Indies, as an Irish priest is seen wrestling with the special concerns of black parishioners). It should also be noted that St. Jude is the Catholic patron saint of lost causes...
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7	Period detail is understated but convincing, particularly the hideous clothes worn by the pious women. Mrs Pring, the priests' housekeeper, is no Mrs Doyle. Indeed, it becomes increasingly clear through the series that her relationship with Father Duddleswell is, in all but name, a comfortable forty year old marriage in all respects except a shared bed. Father Neil, in this dynamic, is effectively the "son" to both. While at first raw and naive and having some of the open-eyed childlike qualities of a Father Dougal Maguire, Neil Boyd soon shapes up in both book and TV series to be a remarkably effective young priest. Father Duddleswell, similarly, can be viewed as an equally financially crafty but far more honest Father Ted Crilly, who maintains scrupulously honest accounts. There is, in the background, a bishop as fearsome and as vain as Len Brennan, and the local convent is run by one of the most fearsome Mothers Superior in literature. One of the few people who can intimidate Duddleswell, she is quietly fond of Father Neil.
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9	Father Neil becomes embarrasingly aware that he has the sort of dark good looks which spark something of a [[Series/TheThornBirds reaction]] among the more impressionable female members of the parish. Women of a certain age tend to go to him for Confession and spiritual guidance and this provokes ''situations''. Father Duddleswell would be outraged at any explicit suggestion that he is cunningly pimping his curate out to lonely rich widows in exchange for large donations to parish funds. Nevertheless, Neil begins to suspect he is being used as a parish asset in this way. Neil has a sort of covert "winking and smiling" relationship with a young pretty nun, which earns rebukes from both Duddleswell and the Mother Superior, then caps this when he goes into hospital and gets infatuated with the very attractive nurse who tends him after his operation. To cure him of this, Duddleswell introduces him to a third priest resident in the parish, one who is suspended from the priesthood for having had an affair with a woman, who he later marries. This elderly priest, now living in poverty in a house made nearly uninhabitable by a Luftwaffe bomb, comes across as a proto-Jack Hackett, perhaps the UrExample.
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11	Duddleswell hopes his petition to the Bishop and the Cardinal to have the old man forgiven for breaking his vows and restored to the full priesthood will be granted - age and familiarity have made it impossible to do nothing more than live in a chaste state with his wife, thus fulfilling his vow of chastity - so that he can become an active priest again in his last few years and die with dignity. In the meantime, Duddleswell succours the couple with gifts of cash and strong drink. Father Neil sees what life is like for a priest who is excommunicated from the Church, and learns a lesson.
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13	----
14	!!Tropes:
15	* AuthorAvatar: Father Neil Boyd is a thinly disguised Peter de Rosa.
16	* BurialAtSea: The two Catholic priests are charged with carrying out the Seventh Corporeal Work of Mercy for an old Irish sailor who died alone and without family in a retirement home. Father Duddleswell notes the old sailor left three hundred pounds for his funeral, stipulating that he wanted to be buried at sea. Duddleswell rubs his hands with glee, knowing he can get the job done for seventy and the excess, naturally, will go towards the expenses of the priest who officiates. He gloats at over two hundred pounds - a large sum in TheFifties - going into parish funds. But one thing leads to another and the funeral eventually costs more than three hundred, the excess coming out of Duddleswell's pocket. Then they discover that their assumption, that an old Irish sailor with no family to confirm his religion had to be Catholic, was utterly wrong. He came from the more Orange part of [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland the North]], and had he lived, would have objected strenuously to the idea of being buried by Catholics.
17	* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The sneak thief who repeatedly raids the offertory boxes at St Judes is [[ScareEmStraight Scared Straight]] by a mighty voice from the heavens telling him his sins have been seen and that theft is a sin. In reality it's a recorded message prepared by a Creator/{{BBC}} actor who is part of the congregation, relayed via the church PA system.
18	* CelibateHero: Father Neil Boyd.
19	* {{Confessional}}: Almost a given, considering the books and the series focus on a pair of Catholic priests; in fact the first episode of the TV series culminates in Father Neil's first stint in the confessional.
20	* DeadpanSnarker: The housekeeper Mrs Pring, who frequently challenges Father Duddleswell or pricks his pretentions with a knowing word.
21	** Father Neil has his moments, much to the annoyance of Father Duddleswell.
22	* DrinkingOnDuty: The amiable and never-quite-sober Irish doctor, Duddleswell's best friend and argument partner, who steadies his hand with a drop of the sweet stuff before performing minor surgeries.
23	** "Did not our Savior turn water into wine?" (Duddleswell) "He did." (Doctor) "Now, if He had done the unpardonable act of turning wine to water, who among us would believe that He was the Son of God?"
24	* HotForPreacher: The middle-aged and sometimes not so middle-aged women of the parish who insist Father Neil tends to their spiritual needs, whilst nursing a forlorn hope he might do something to address ''other'' sorts of need too.
25	* IrishPriest: Father Duddleswell. And 95% of other priests in the diocese. And the bishop. As the token ordained Englishman and the only priest for miles around without an Irish accent, Neil frequently wonders why the Bishop ordained him.
26	* LighterAndSofter: The TV series has a much gentler, heart-warming feel to it than the original books, which have a noticeably darker sense of humour and slightly more cynical tone, and often feature surprisingly in-depth discussions of theology between Father Duddleswell and Father Neil.
27	* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Not only most of the Irish families but Father Neil's own family, too.
28	* NunsAreSpooky: The Mother Superior. The one woman who can scare Duddleswell.
29	* OpenHeartDentistry: Father Neil, rather than the local vet, is asked to minister to an apparently dead cagebird. Nonplussed, he read a random Latin prayer and sprinkled holy water on it. Probably due to the shock of the cold water, the bird got up and started singing...
30	* SternNun: The Mother Superior, local Head of a stern contemplative order with strict rules.
31	* TheVicar: Mr Pinkerton, the local Anglican curate and one of Duddleswell's (many) nemeses. Pinkerton is perhaps something of a subversion of the trope, as he is frequently depicted as a somewhat smarmy, unpleasant man, albeit slightly moreso in the TV series than the books.
32	* TheMourningAfter: Mrs Pring married her husband whom she had two weeks together with. He then went off to fight in World War I in which he was killed. The two weeks were enough to father a daughter with her. Mrs Pring has remained loyal to her husband in the forty years since, never remarrying.
33	* UrExample: The root inspiration for ''Series/FatherTed'', a show that can be viewed as ''Bless Me, Father'' on hard drugs.

Context Series / BlessMeFather