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Bless Me Father

98 statements
18 feature instances
12 referencing feature instances

Bless Me Father	type	TVTItem
Bless Me Father	label	Bless Me Father
Bless Me Father	page	BlessMeFather
Bless Me Father	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })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 Father Ted. The series of books was written by Father Peter de Rosa and the subsequent TV series, which aired on London Weekend Television for three series of seven episodes each between 1978 and 1981, draws upon these autobiographical novels, written as "Father Neil Boyd".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-Dad's Army Arthur Lowe). 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...Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })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.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Father Neil becomes embarrasingly aware that he has the sort of dark good looks which spark something of a 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 Ur-Example.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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Bless Me Father	parsed	2022-01-28T12:39:46Z
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Bless Me Father / int_17d55c6e	type	Nuns Are Spooky
Bless Me Father / int_17d55c6e	comment	Nuns Are Spooky: The Mother Superior. The one woman who can scare Duddleswell.
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Bless Me Father / int_1c751b35	type	The Vicar
Bless Me Father / int_1c751b35	comment	The Vicar: 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.
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Bless Me Father / int_30eb40ec	type	Stern Nun
Bless Me Father / int_30eb40ec	comment	Stern Nun: The Mother Superior, local Head of a stern contemplative order with strict rules.
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Bless Me Father / int_3107a493	type	Open Heart Dentistry
Bless Me Father / int_3107a493	comment	Open Heart Dentistry: 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...
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Bless Me Father / int_330841a2	type	Burial at Sea
Bless Me Father / int_330841a2	comment	Burial at Sea: 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 The '50s - 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 the North, and had he lived, would have objected strenuously to the idea of being buried by Catholics.
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Bless Me Father / int_5f6c6cc1	type	Can't Get Away with Nuthin'
Bless Me Father / int_5f6c6cc1	comment	Can't Get Away with Nuthin': The sneak thief who repeatedly raids the offertory boxes at St Judes is 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 BBC actor who is part of the congregation, relayed via the church PA system.
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Bless Me Father / int_66755d29	type	Author Avatar
Bless Me Father / int_66755d29	comment	Author Avatar: Father Neil Boyd is a thinly disguised Peter de Rosa.
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Bless Me Father / int_757bbdb8	type	Massive Numbered Siblings
Bless Me Father / int_757bbdb8	comment	Massive Numbered Siblings: Not only most of the Irish families but Father Neil's own family, too.
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Bless Me Father / int_86025d8f	type	Irish Priest
Bless Me Father / int_86025d8f	comment	Irish Priest: 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.
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Bless Me Father / int_90f6d157	type	Confessional
Bless Me Father / int_90f6d157	comment	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.
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Bless Me Father / int_a3cdf764	type	Drinking on Duty
Bless Me Father / int_a3cdf764	comment	Drinking on Duty: 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. "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?"
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Bless Me Father / int_a5d92fce	type	Celibate Hero
Bless Me Father / int_a5d92fce	comment	Celibate Hero: Father Neil Boyd.
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Bless Me Father / int_ae3d6438	type	Deadpan Snarker
Bless Me Father / int_ae3d6438	comment	Deadpan Snarker: The housekeeper Mrs Pring, who frequently challenges Father Duddleswell or pricks his pretentions with a knowing word. Father Neil has his moments, much to the annoyance of Father Duddleswell.
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Bless Me Father / int_b20fdfc8	type	Ur-Example
Bless Me Father / int_b20fdfc8	comment	Ur-Example: The root inspiration for Father Ted, a show that can be viewed as Bless Me, Father on hard drugs.
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Bless Me Father / int_b6927d71	type	Hot for Preacher
Bless Me Father / int_b6927d71	comment	Hot for Preacher: 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.
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Bless Me Father / int_ce6555f0	type	Lighter and Softer
Bless Me Father / int_ce6555f0	comment	Lighter and Softer: 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.
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Bless Me Father / int_f6972f9d	type	The Mourning After
Bless Me Father / int_f6972f9d	comment	The Mourning After: 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.
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