Single Father (TV drama)
Encyclopedia
Single Father is a four-episode 2010 BBC television drama
BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...

 centred on Dave (David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...

), a photographer, attempting to look after his children as a single father after the death of his partner, Rita (Laura Fraser
Laura Fraser
Laura Fraser is a Scottish actress.-Early life:Fraser is the daughter of Rose, a college lecturer and nurse, and Alister Fraser, a scriptwriter who also worked in business. She attended Hillhead High School and is a former member of the Scottish Youth Theatre...

), in a road traffic accident. The series also explores the complicated and growing romance between Dave and Rita's best friend, Sarah (Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones is an English actress. She first rose to prominence playing the role of Karen McDonald in ITV1's soap opera Coronation Street over a period of four years...

). The series began airing on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on 10 October 2010 at a 9pm timeslot, with 5 million viewers. BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 has no plans for a second series of the show.

Cast

  • David Tennant
    David Tennant
    David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...

     - Dave Tiler.
  • Laura Fraser
    Laura Fraser
    Laura Fraser is a Scottish actress.-Early life:Fraser is the daughter of Rose, a college lecturer and nurse, and Alister Fraser, a scriptwriter who also worked in business. She attended Hillhead High School and is a former member of the Scottish Youth Theatre...

     - Rita.
  • Suranne Jones
    Suranne Jones
    Suranne Jones is an English actress. She first rose to prominence playing the role of Karen McDonald in ITV1's soap opera Coronation Street over a period of four years...

     - Sarah, Rita's best friend.
  • Isla Blair
    Isla Blair
    Isla Blair is an India-born actress of British descent. She made her first stage appearance in 1963 as Philia in the London debut of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and her first credited film appearance in the 1965 horror film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.- Biography :Isla Blair...

     - Beatty, Rita's adoptive mother.
  • Warren Brown
    Warren Brown (actor)
    Warren Brown is an English actor and former professional Thaiboxer, well known for his roles as Andy Holt in teen soap opera Hollyoaks and Lee Hibbs in the three-part BBC drama series Occupation written by Peter Bowker...

     - Matt, Sarah's partner.
  • Rupert Graves
    Rupert Graves
    Rupert Graves is an English film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his role as DI Lestrade in the critically acclaimed television series Sherlock.-Early life:...

     - Stuart, Lucy's biological father.
  • Mark Heap
    Mark Heap
    Mark Heap is an English actor. He began his acting career in the 1980s as a member of the Medieval Players, a touring company performing medieval and early modern theatre, and featuring stilt-walking, juggling and puppetry...

     - Robin, Anna's husband.
  • Neve McIntosh
    Neve McIntosh
    -Early life:Born in Paisley, Neve McIntosh grew up in Edinburgh, where she attended Boroughmuir High School. She moved to Glasgow to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, after which she was in repertory companies at Perth and at The Little Theatre on the Isle of Mull.-Theatre:She...

     - Anna, Rita's adoptive sister.
  • Natasha Watson - Lucy, Rita's 15-year-old daughter with Stuart.
  • Chris Hegarty - Paul, Rita and Dave's 11-year-old son.
  • Robert Dickson - Ewan, Rita and Dave's 9-year-old son.
  • Millie Innes - Evie, Rita and Dave's 6-year-old daughter.
  • Jenni Keenan-Green - Michelle, Dave's first wife.
  • Sophie Kennedy Clark - Tanya, Dave's 18-year-old daughter by his first marriage to Michelle, who also has a three-year old son.
  • Stephen McCole
    Stephen McCole
    Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. McCole plays the leading role in the television black comedy High Times. McCole portrays Rab, an unemployed stoner who lives with his family in a bleak high-rise flat in Glasgow. The series, which received the 2004 BAFTA Scotland Best Drama Award, also features...

    - Jimbo, Dave's friend with whom he plays football.

Plot

Photographer Dave Tiler lives with his partner Rita, their three children, and Rita's older daughter of unknown paternity, Lucy. Dave also has an older daughter named Tanya (who has a son of her own, and works as Dave's assistant) from his first marriage. Rita works at a school with her best friend Sarah, who is unsure about her partner Matt's desire to start a family. The Tilers' lives are thrown into chaos when Rita is hit and killed by a police car; the children try to terms with the death of their mother, and Dave struggles to cope with raising them alone. Dave and Sarah share a grief stricken kiss, and are unsure of their attraction to each other. When Lucy starts a quest to find her real father, the shocking results leading Dave to question the paternity of his and Rita's other children. In anger at Rita's dishonesty in keeping Lucy's paternity and her relationship with the father a secret, and questioning Rita's fidelity, Dave sleeps with Sarah, who is angry and hurt when Dave starts post-coitally ranting about Rita. Dave faces growing financial problems, problems with his grief stricken children, and potentially losing Lucy to her biological father. Meanwhile Matt discovers that Sarah has cheated on him with Dave, and sleeps with Tanya as revenge, leading to a showdown at Dave's house. Ultimately, Dave must slay the ghosts of the past, and decide whether to pursue new love with Sarah.

Critical Reception

Single Father received mixed reviews from critics. Tim Dowling of the Guardian thought it "emotionally draining" and found Tennant "superb". However, John Preston writing in the Daily Telegraph thought it was "hopelessly contrived and lacking in either emotional veracity or plausibility."
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