Single Father (BBC-1 David Tennant, Suranne Jones)

In Single Father, when Dave’s wife Rita dies in a road accident he finds it hard to cope, especially with the demands of his four growing kids Lucy, Paul, Ewan and Evie. He finds comfort from Rita’s best friend Sarah and even though Sarah is in a relationship the two of them find themselves drawn to each other.

Another strong human story from ex-actor turned writer Mick Ford, Single Father asks how soon is too soon to fall in love after the death of a partner, Dave is really struggling to cope and is of course naturally reluctant to begin a new relationship and even more concerned about not only what his kids might think but also whether he is betraying Rita in some way.

Further complicating things is the issue of eldest daughter Lucy who is Rita’s child from an earlier relationship, she has never known her real father and because Dave and Rita never married he is worried that he might lose custody of her, she is hurting too of course and having lost her mum is determined to track down her real father.

This was David Tennant’s first big TV role since leaving Doctor Who, he’s such a natural leading man though, all charm and natural likeability, a blond haired Suranne Jones co-stars as Sarah, a difficult role really because the audience is not initially overly natural sympathetic towards her. And always good to see the likes of Isla Blair and Rupert Graves in anything.

production details
UK / BBC One – Red / 4×60 minute episodes / Broadcast Sunday 10 October – Sunday 31 October 2010

Writer: Mick Ford / Executive Producers: Nicola Shindler, Anne Mensah, Gaynor Holmes / Producer: Peter Gallagher / Director: Sam Miller

cast
DAVID TENNANT as Dave
SURANNE JONES as Sarah
LAURA FRASER as Rita
NATASHA WATSON as Lucy
SOPHIE KENNEDY CLARK as Tanya
CHRIS HEGARTY as Paul
ROBERT DICKSON as Ewan
MILLIE INNES as Evie
NEVE McINTOSH as Anna
MARK HEAP as Robin
ISLA BLAIR as Beatty
WARREN BROWN as Matt
JENNI KEENAN GREEN as Michelle
RUPERT GRAVES as Stuart