Oh, Brother!
television series
Oh, Brother! is a British television sitcom starring Derek Nimmo, which aired on BBC1 from September 13, 1968 to February 27, 1970.
Synopsis
The series was set in the fictional Mountacres Monastery, with Nimmo cast as the well-meaning but inept novice Brother Dominic making life difficult for the Prior (Father Anselm, played by Felix Aylmer) and the Master of the Novices (Father Bernard, played by Derek Francis).
Nimmo was playing a very similar role in All Gas and Gaiters which ran from 1966 to 1971, the main difference being that Brother Dominic was working-class, whereas Nimmo's previous character, Rev. Mervyn Noote, had been upper-class.
Cast
Derek Nimmo — Brother Dominic
Felix Aylmer — The Prior, Father Anselm
Patrick McAlinney — Brother Patrick
Derek Francis — Sub Prior, Father Matthew
Edward Malin — Oldest Brother (Series 1-2)
Colin Gordon — Master of Novices, Father Bernard (Series 1)
Geoffrey Hibbert — Brother Francis (Series 1)
John Grieve — Brother Joseph
Reception
Oh, Brother! was not quite as successful or as affectionately remembered as All Gas and Gaiters, although it did last three series containing 19 episodes, only eight of which exist in the BBC archives. The comic potential in a monastery may have been rather limited, although it did benefit from a cast which included some experienced actors, particularly Nimmo himself and Felix Aylmer as Father Prior.
Archive status
Due the BBC's wiping policy at the time, 11 episodes are currently missing from the archives. The episodes that currently survive consist of the 1st series episode The Voice of the Turtle and all the episodes from the 3rd series.
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This entry incorporates text from “Oh, Brother!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.