The Gaffer (TV series)
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The Gaffer was an ITV situation comedy series of the early 1980s starring Bill Maynard and written by businessman Graham White. 20 episodes were shown between 1981 and 1983. It was made for the ITV network by Yorkshire Television
After the failure of the last season of Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!, Maynard's next character could not have been more different to the bumbling Selwyn. Fred Moffatt is a survivor - just. Bearded, wearing a battered hat and a crumpled suit, his car a rusting wreck, he runs a struggling engineering firm and is constantly trying to avoid his creditors, the tax man, the bank manager, and indeed anyone who might want him to pay for something. The series' background accurately reflected the precarious condition of many small businesses of the era and added a dark undercurrent to the comedy. Unlike the physical comedy of Froggitt, the scripts for The Gaffer were wordy and sardonic and the plots relatively complex, with Moffatt usually managing to outwit at least some of the people who were chasing him for money.
The cast included Russell Hunter as the radical union shop steward whose interest was in parting Moffatt from as much money as possible to better pay his members, and Pat Ashton as his ineffectual secretary Betty.
The final season saw Moffatt elected to the local council, extending his struggles to local politics. But, disgruntled with the losing battle he was fighting, at the end of the season Moffatt upped sticks, sold off the business and emigrated to Australia to make a new start.
The Gaffer's clever, relatively intricate scripts and downbeat setting made it a distinctive, intelligent and underrated comedy, with Maynard's role considerably subtler than most he played before or since. But perhaps it was ultimately too much in tune with the depressing times to survive.
