And Mother Makes Three
1971 - United KingdomIn the early 1970s, ITV introduced viewers to And Mother Makes Three, a charming domestic sitcom that served almost as a spiritual successor to the BBC’s Not in Front of the Children. Once again front and centre was the irrepressible Wendy Craig, this time in the role of Sally Harrison—a widowed mother juggling motherhood, work, and the everyday chaos of suburban life.
Wendy Craig had already made a name for herself with her pitch-perfect portrayals of slightly harried, scatterbrained women navigating the often absurd realities of family life. In And Mother Makes Three, she brought that same endearing energy to the role of Sally, a character who was at once exasperated and indefatigable. Her comedic timing and ability to conjure both frustration and warmth in equal measure quickly became a hallmark of the series—and indeed, a defining trait of her television legacy.
Sally’s children, Simon (Robin Davies) and Peter (David Parfitt), while past the nappy stage, provided plenty of opportunities for mishaps and misunderstandings, often playing the straight men to their mother’s muddled antics. Valerie Lush’s Auntie Flo offered a dependable (if occasionally meddlesome) helping hand, adding a further layer of familial friction and humour to the mix.
Running for four series, the show maintained a consistent tone of light-hearted chaos and familial affection, culminating in Sally’s romance and eventual marriage to the gentle, bookish David Redway (played with understated charm by Richard Coleman). This development provided the perfect springboard for the follow-up series And Mother Makes Five, which introduced new family dynamics including David’s daughter Jane—initially played by Miriam Mann and later by Maxine Gordon.
Notably, Wendy Craig also stepped behind the scenes as a writer, contributing several episodes of And Mother Makes Five under the pseudonym Jonathan Marr—a testament to her creative influence on the series.
While perhaps not as culturally seismic as some of its sitcom contemporaries, And Mother Makes Three remains a fondly remembered slice of early '70s British television. It offered viewers a relatable, often hilarious look at the trials and tribulations of single parenthood, buoyed by a magnetic central performance from one of British TV’s most beloved actresses.
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Published on November 27th, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.
