I Didn't Know You Cared

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I Didn't Know You Cared was a TV comedy set in a working class household in a Yorkshire mining village, written by Peter Tinniswood and based upon his books.

The catchphrase from one of the characters in this sitcom - the senile Uncle Staveley - was "I heard that! Pardon?".

The main characters are Carter Brandon, his Uncle Mort, his mother (Annie), his father (Les) and his girlfriend/wife (Pat). Outside the family, mostly from Carter's workplace, we find free and easy Linda Preston, Pat's mother, Sid Skelhorn, and Louis St. John.

The TV series only approximately followed the first three books: 'A Touch of Daniel', 'I Didn't Know You Cared' and 'Except You're a Bird'. The fourth book "Call it a Canary" was written after the TV series had ended. The novels narrate more of an overall story, and Carter's thoughts are an integral part of these stories. The TV series are oriented more to a sitcom, and are generally light-hearted versions of the stories in the books. A recurring theme in the books is conversation between Carter and baby Daniel (who is Uncle Mort's son). In the TV series, Uncle Stavely is shown with the ashes of Corporal Parkinson - one of his comrades from World War I - in a box around his neck. Corporal Parkinson, in the first book (A Touch of Daniel) stays with Uncle Stavely, but Stavely only has fleeting appearances in the later stories. One feature of the books is a line at the top of each page which summarizes the developments on that page.

Only some of the clever dialogue in the books shows up in the TV series, for instance Pat hopes her son will become "Professor of Difficult Sums".