I Didn't Know You Cared


I Didn't Know You Cared is a British television comedy set in a working-class household in South Yorkshire in the 1970s, written by Peter Tinniswood loosely based upon his books A Touch of Daniel, I Didn't Know You Cared and Except You're a Bird. It was broadcast by the BBC in four series from 1975 to 1979.
The main characters are: Carter Brandon ; his uncle, Uncle Mort ; his mother, Annie ; his father, Les ; his girlfriend, Pat Partington ; and his other uncle, Uncle Staveley. Auntie Lil, appears in the first two series. Other recurring characters, mostly from Carter's workplace, are: Linda Preston ; Mrs Partington, Pat's mother ; Sid Skelhorn ; and Louis St. John.
The novels narrate the story of which Carter's thoughts are an integral part. A recurring theme in the books is conversation between Carter and baby Daniel. One feature of the books is a line at the top of each page which summarizes the developments on that page. The TV series adhere more closely to the conventions of situation comedy, and present generally light-hearted versions of the stories from the books.
In the TV series, Uncle Staveley always appears with the ashes of Corporal Parkinson—one of his comrades from World War I—in a box around his neck.
Peter Tinniswood wrote six further series for BBC Radio 4 featuring members of the Brandon family between 1987 and 1996; two six-episode series each of Uncle Mort's North Country, Uncle Mort's South Country, /. In these series, Stephen Thorne played Uncle Mort, with Peter Skellern as Carter Brandon.