| Four Fathers | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Bill Gallagher |
| Directed by | Dermot Boyd |
| Starring | Tony Doyle Tom Bell Neil Dudgeon Stuart McQuarrie Ruth Gemmell Eva Pope Jacquetta May Kate Lonergan Emma Williams |
| Composer | Alan Clark |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Sally Head |
| Producers | Martyn Auty Carol Wilks |
| Production locations | Sheffield, England, UK |
| Cinematography | Kevin Rowley |
| Editor | Richard Milward |
| Running time | 50 minutes (eps. 1–2) 100 minutes (ep. 3) |
| Production company | Sally Head Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 9 December – 21 December 1999 |
Four Fathers is a British television drama miniseries, comprising two fifty-minute episodes and one one-hundred minute episode, that first broadcast on ITV between 9 and 21 December 1999. The drama serial focused on a quartet of four very different fathers living in a northern town who all have life changing experiences in store.[1] Two episodes were broadcast each week during Thursdays and third and final feature length episode was broadcast on Tuesday.
Cast
[edit]- Tony Doyle as Harry Clancy
- Tom Bell as Frank Yallop
- Neil Dudgeon as Vince Yallop
- Stuart McQuarrie as Spud Starkie
- Ruth Gemmell as Nicola Yallop
- Eva Pope as Kathy Starkie
- Jacquetta May as Linda Clancy
- Kate Lonergan as Dawn Starkie
- Emma Williams as Justine Clancy
- Lorraine Pilkington as Christy Bannan
- Peter Ryalls as Colin Yallop
- Amy Dempsey as Danielle Yallop
- Barbara Young as Janice Yallop
- Andrew Tiernan as Johnny Starkie
Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | British air date | UK viewers (million)[2] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Dermot Boyd | Bill Gallagher | 9 December 1999 | 6.88 | |
|
Father-to-be Spud Starkie struggles to keep his nephew on the rails, while Harry Clancy is knocked for six by the arrival of a face from the past, and tensions mount in the household of divorced couple Vince and Nicola Yallop.[3] | ||||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Dermot Boyd | Bill Gallagher | 16 December 1999 | 6.31 | |
|
Dawn is devastated by the revelation that Spud is the father of Kathy's unborn child.[4] | ||||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Dermot Boyd | Bill Gallagher | 21 December 1999 | 6.33 | |
|
Spud is furious when he discovers the identity of Kathy's unborn child; as Harry's daughters meet for the first time, he makes a shocking discovery.[5] | ||||||
Reception
[edit]Critical reception
[edit]Accolades
[edit]Tony Doyle was won for Best Drama Actor and Phelps for Best Actor at the 2000 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards sharing with TV series Ballykissangel.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Four Fathers (ITV 1999, Tony Doyle, Tom Bell)". Memorable TV. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
- ^ "Weekly top 30 programmes – BARB". Barb.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
- ^ "British Film Institute". BFI. 9 December 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
- ^ "British Film Institute". BFI. 16 December 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
- ^ "British Film Institute". BFI. 21 December 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
- ^ "BPG TV & Radio Awards 2000". broadcastingpressguild.org. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
External links
[edit]- Four Fathers at IMDb