It’s Father Day! Yes, today, so hopefully you’ve already sent the father figure in your life a Moonpig card and a new pair of slippers.
With certain restrictions still in place and the weather sub-optimal for a grand day out, we’ve lined up a schedule of top TV picks that you can enjoy either alone or with your Pa this Sunday (20th June), taking in some comedy classics, some tear-jerkers, and even some flying CGI monsters from outside of time.
Here are the RadioTimes.com team’s best TV episodes to watch on Father’s Day (and where to watch them), from Doctor Who to Schitt’s Creek.
The One With Two Parts, Part 2 – Friends
Available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
It might be better remembered as the episode where George Clooney and Noah Wyle show up, making cameos as Rachel and Monica’s dishy doctor dates in a meta reference to their roles on ER, but this concluding half of Friends’ first ever two-parter also features perhaps the show’s best use of the brilliant Elliott Gould as Ross and Monica’s father Jack Geller.
Throughout the first season, Ross (David Schwimmer) has struggled with the idea of becoming a parent and here he turns to his own dad for advice and guidance, asking him when he started to feel like a father. “We were in the hospital room, your mother was asleep, and they brought you in and gave you to me,” Jack recalls. “You were this ugly little red thing, and all of a sudden you grabbed my finger with your whole fist. And you squeezed it, so tight. And that’s when I knew.”
Later, Ross displays his parenting aptitude by taking his pet monkey Marcel to the hospital when he swallows a scrabble tile (as Matthew Perry’s Chandler puts it, “You came through, you did what you had to do – that is very dad.”) and while he’s still not 100 per cent convinced he’s ready for the challenges of fatherhood, a stirring Marcel grabs Ross’s finger as he wakes, bringing the whole thing full circle. (Let’s just ignore the fact that David Schwimmer revealed during the recent Friends reunion that he couldn’t stand the monkey who played Marcel, because it kind’ve puts a dampener on the whole thing.) – Morgan Jeffery, Executive Editor
Father’s Day – Doctor Who
Watch on BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video
Aside from the traditional Christmas or New Year’s specials, Doctor Who doesn’t usually go in for calendar-based episodes. Sadly, at time of writing there’s no story where the Doctor has to battle the forces of evil and collect his pre-mixed batter for Pancake Day, and with the David Tennant era long gone we’ve probably missed our chance for a romantic 14th February Dalek invasion.
But there is Father’s Day, the series one episode that (despite not originally airing on the day itself) maintains its status as the perfect weepy watch for the third Sunday of June. Seriously, try and watch it without welling up, even 16 years later – it’s impossible.
While the episode ostensibly stars Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor, the Time Lord slightly takes a back seat in this story as companion Rose (Billie Piper) goes into the past to see her father’s death….only to break time itself when she saves his life instead. Cue sci-fi threats, CGI ‘Reapers’ and a siege inside a church with a magic key – but really, that’s just a sideshow for Rose and her dad Pete’s final heart-to-heart, when he realises he has to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his daughter and all of reality.
The fact that Pete (sort of) came back a year later from a parallel reality doesn’t undercut the emotion of one of early NuWho’s best episodes. Watch it alone, with your dad or with friends – but just remember to bring a pack of tissues. And a spare TARDIS key, if you have one. – Huw Fullerton, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Editor
The M.V.P. – Schitt’s Creek
Watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
Canadian sitcom and slow-burn hit Schitt’s Creek may have ended last year after six seasons but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate the wholesome father-son duo that is Eugene and Dan Levy this Father’s Day! The pair, who created the Emmy-winning comedy together, also star in the series as former video store magnate gone bankrupt Johnny Rose (American Pie’s Eugene) and his son, the flamboyant, high maintenance David (Happiest Season’s Dan) – and there isn’t an episode that highlights their on-screen (and off-screen) familial bond better than season five’s The M.V.P.
The ninth episode in the season sees David’s boyfriend Patrick (Noah Reid) rope him into batting for his baseball team after a player drops out despite David’s utter disinterest in the sport, while his dad is recruited for the opposing side. When both learn they’ll be going head-to-head against one another, Johnny goes into proud dad mode, forgetting his allegiance to the team he’s supposed to be supporting and begins unofficially coaching David from behind enemy lines.
David’s sporting cluelessness combined with the emergence of Patrick’s competitive side and Johnny’s desire for David to move past his Little League record for “most times hit by a ball” make this episode a hilarious yet heart-warming Father’s Day watch. – Lauren Morris, Writer/Researcher
Lisa’s Wedding – The Simpsons
Watch on Disney Plus
You might’ve expected to see And Maggie Makes Three from The Simpsons’ sixth season – in which Homer recounts the story of Maggie’s birth and reveals the touching reason why there are no pictures of her in the Simpson family home – on this list, but for me, there’s just something about Lisa’s Wedding (also from season six – blimey, The Simpsons was good back then!) that always brings a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat.
Embarassing by her family and in particular her well-meaning but doltish dad, Lisa Simpson learns what her future might hold when she visit a fortune-telling booth at a Renaissance fair, with the episode spinning a tale set in the far-flung future of 2010(!) when an adult Lisa falls in love with a fellow university student named Hugh Parkfield (voiced by Mandy Patinkin).
She calls off their wedding when Hugh’s snobbish nature, and his disdain for her family, is revealed. “You complain about them more than anyone!” he protests. “Maybe,” she retorts. “But I still love them!”
This vision of her possible future helps Lisa see how much her father in particular really means to her – I can’t even think about the final scene, in which she and Homer walk off into the distance hand-in-hand while he regales her with stories of his antics at the fair, without getting misty-eyed. *sniff* – Morgan Jeffery, Executive Editor
Christmas Special (1999) – The Royle Family
Watch on BBC iPlayer
If you can get past the fact that the final episode of The Royle Family’s second series is a Christmas episode, you’ll enjoy one of the most touching, emotional and raw portrayals of a father/daughter relationship ever seen on the small screen.
As Denise (Caroline Aherne) goes into labour with her first born, Baby Dave, the nerves set in and she finds herself panicking in the bathroom when she should be making her way to hospital. Doting dad Jim (Ricky Tomlinson) is on hand to check in on his daughter and reassure her she will be a good mum, while reflecting on his emotions when he first saw Denise.
The poignant scene will bring a lump to anyone’s throat on account of the honest script, and perfect performances from Tomlinson and the late Aherne, portraying characters who rarely confessed their love for one another. – Helen Daly, Assistant Editor
St Hospitals – Peep Show
Watch on Netflix, All4, BritBox and Amazon Prime Video
In addition to being one of the best British comedies of all time, Peep Show also serves as a comprehensive guide on how not to be a human.
Nowhere is that more apparent than St Hospitals, the memorable series seven premiere in which Mark (David Mitchell) officially becomes a father as wife-turned-frenemy Sophie (Olivia Colman) goes into labour.
It’s a high-pressure situation and, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t cope very well – fleeing the maternity ward as his son is about to be born to get a bargain bucket and play some games at a nearby arcade. The lesson for any expectant fathers: don’t do that. – David Craig, Writer/Researcher
The My Two Dads – The OC
Watch on All4 and Amazon Prime Video
Oh Sandy Cohen, we loved you! Peter Gallagher’s character on The OC really set the bar high for TV dads, what with his sage advice and good heart and sense of humour. He had a solid bond with his dorky biological son Seth (Adam Brody), and he dished out fatherly wisdom to all the neighbourhood kids who needed it – but where he really came into his own was as the legal-guardian-turned-adopted-dad of troublesome teenager Ryan (Ben McKenzie).
Honestly, it was pretty hard to pick just one episode to showcase that relationship; I almost went for early episode, back in season one when Sandy and his wife Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) took Ryan into their family and refused to give up on him. But ultimately I went for an episode much further along into the show: the one where Ryan’s biological dad Frank turns up (fresh out of prison) and tries to crash back into his life with a sob story.
Sandy is a gentleman about it, but then – brilliantly – ends up punching Frank in the face. In the aftermath, Sandy tells Ryan “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with your dad,” to which Ryan replies, “Hey, my dad is right here.” Aw! – Eleanor Bley Griffiths, Drama Editor
Papa’s Got A Brand New Excuse – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
Now this 1994 episode from The Fresh Prince’s fourth season might at first glance seem like an odd choice for inclusion on this list, revolving as it does around the (temporary) return of Will’s long-lost dad who reappears after a long absence only to then abandon his son all over again, leaving Will heartbroken.
But it earns its place here for two reasons: funny and poignant, it’s one of the best episodes the sitcom ever produced across its six seasons, with a phenomenal performance from Will Smith at its heart, but also the episode’s ending – in which Will unleashes an emotional outburst in the wake of his father’s sudden departure and is comforted by his Uncle Phil (James Avery) – is a perfect tribute to non-biological father figures.
The anecdote that Smith has told of filming the scene – desperate to impress his acting mentor Avery and nervous, he flubbed the first few takes but eventually nailed his monologue, with Avery whispering into his ear “Now that’s acting!” as they embraced – only makes the whole thing more special and even more moving. – Morgan Jeffery, Executive Editor
Find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide.
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