Comrade Dad

Comrade Dad
Comrade Dad Opening
Format	Sitcom
Written by	Ian Davidson Peter Vincent
Directed by	John Kilby
Starring	See Below
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	8
Production
Producer(s)	John Kilby
Running time	8x30mins
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC2
Original run	17 December 1984 (1984-12-17) – 24 February 1986 (1986-02-24)

Comrade Dad was a BBC television comedy satire series set in 1999 in Londongrad, the capital of communist Britain. The UK has been invaded by the Soviet Union and had been turned into a Communist state. The programme centered around the Dudgeon family (starring George Cole as Reg Dudgeon) and their attempts to adapt to the new order.

History

Pilot

The pilot episode explains how the Russians have managed a remarkable bloodless coup - the revolution took place on 27 June 1989, when, upon learning that thousands of Russian missiles were approaching, the royal family, government and all the other 'important' members of British society took refuge in nuclear-fallout shelters. But the 'missiles' turned out to be aeroplanes full of soldiers who parachuted to land and calmly sealed off the entrances to the shelters, so removing all the powerful people from the picture at a single stroke and enabling the Russians to take control. (This explanatory pilot was remade as the opening episode of the series which began just over a year later, with slight changes in the cast and format).

Series

The series is about Reg Dudgeon, a working-class man who thinks that the Russian takeover is wonderful, and tries to champions the work of his rulers and party line. Unfortunately, his beliefs are tested as the far excesses of Russian life under the communists - food shortages, long queues, low wages - begin to take their toll. Undeterred, Reg manages to keep his faith, despite even discovering, in one faintly surreal episode, that there exists another side of the communist British society where garden parties take place, enormous amounts of champagne are drunk and exotic food is eaten by a few elegantly dressed privileged party members.^[1]

Cast

• George Cole - Reg Dudgeon (Dad)
• Colette O'Neil - Treen Dudgeon (Mum) (pilot only)
• Barbara Ewing - Treen Dudgeon (Mum) (series)
• Anna Wing - Gran (pilot only)
• Doris Hare - Gran (series)
• Claire Toeman - Zo Dudgeon
• David Garlick - Bob Dudgeon

Transmission Details

Number of episodes: 8 Length: 30 mins

Pilot

Broadcast on 17 Dec 1984 BBC2 Mon 8pm

Series one

All episodes were broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm

• Ep1: 13 January
• Ep2: 21 January
• Ep3: 28 January
• Ep4: 3 February
• Ep5: 10 February
• Ep6: 17 February
• Ep7: 24 February

References

1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20031012160430/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/c/comradedad_1299000698.shtml BBC]

External links

• Clip of Episode One on Youtube