Mother and Son
Mother and Son

Mother and Son (1984)

7.56 seasonsComedy

Mother and Son was a multiple Logie Award-winning Australian television sitcom produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. It was created and written by Geoffrey Atherden AM. Its classic theme song features the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, playing to I Want a Girl, a jazz standard which was recorded by Al Jolson in the 1920s.

📺 Seasons & Episodes

Season 17 episodes
The Nursing Home

1. The Nursing Home

30 min

Arthur begins to finally consider putting Maggie in a rest home after his wife leaves him.

The Milk

2. The Milk

30 min

After sending Maggie out for some milk 3 hours ago, Arthur discovers Maggie has been faking a broken wrist to get meals on wheels for free. This prompts the meals on wheels volunteer to think Arthur is incapable of looking after Maggie and sends a social worker to discuss the situation.

The Oysters

3. The Oysters

30 min

Arthur discovers Maggie has been arriving home on the back of a garbage truck, and making a nuisance of herself at a local hospital. This forces Arthur to tell Maggie not to go out during the day any more, but to no avail.

The Tickets

4. The Tickets

30 min

Arthur tries his best to get out of the house, and away from Maggie, for a holiday with a new girlfriend. But a series of misunderstandings leads his ex wife to believe he wants to take her on the holiday.

The Babysitter

5. The Babysitter

30 min

After spending several Saturday nights at home with Maggie, Arthur questions why he doesn't have a girlfriend. So he makes a date with Deidre, prompting Maggie to discover she hates to be left alone at night.

The Boyfriend

6. The Boyfriend

30 min

It's Maggie's birthday and the entire family gets together to celebrate. Maggie sees the family gathering the perfect chance to bring home a new boyfriend, and tells Arthur she'd like to marry again.

The Illness

7. The Illness

30 min

Maggie thinks she's dying and finally wonders what to do about her will. After discovering Robert wants to sell the family home, she anxiously wishes to change her will... But finding the will is the problem for her and Arthur, who is looking for his own house to live in.

Season 27 episodes
The Money

1. The Money

30 min

After receiving a letter from the government, Maggie thinks they think she's dead, but in fact, they are investigating why she hasn't cashed in her pension cheques. Arthur wonders as well, and discovers she has been hiding the cheques...and other sums of money, around the house.

The Divorce

2. The Divorce

30 min

The day of Arthur's divorce is approaching, and Maggie can't understand why he has to divorce. This prompts Robert to consider his marriage to Liz after they have a big argument.

The Funeral

3. The Funeral

30 min

Arthur's uncle dies, and not even a funeral can keep peace within the family. After Maggie buys a bag of oranges and drops them accidentally into the open grave, Arthur's other uncle visits him and Maggie...with an unexpected situation.

The Promotion

4. The Promotion

30 min

Arthur is offered a new job, but must make a move to Canberra. But trying to convince Maggie to move away with him proves harder than first anticipated.

The Aunt

5. The Aunt

30 min

Maggie's sister Lorna visits, and the meeting is far from pleasant. Arthur is hoping Lorna's company will give him a chance to go out with his new girlfriend.

The Card Game

6. The Card Game

30 min

Arthur is having some friends over for a card game, and Maggie is shocked that she won't be joining them for the game. When the cards go missing, Maggie is the prime suspect and a whole house search is in order, and Maggie becomes the centre of Arthur's friends attention..in many bad ways.

The Morning After

7. The Morning After

30 min

Arthur's girlfriend spends the night, which shocks Maggie. Enough for her to walk out and threaten to move in with Robert and Liz. Robert tries to steadily convince Arthur to take his girlfriend somewhere else to be alone, and also to convince Maggie not to move out.

Season 37 episodes
The Christmas Drinks

1. The Christmas Drinks

30 min

It's a hot summer Christmas for Arthur, who is having a party for all his friends and family. But as far as Maggie is concerned, she just wants Arthur to take her to church and forget about the party. A series of incidents leads to an argument between the family... And finally to the church.

The Sign

2. The Sign

30 min

Maggie becomes anxious about the whereabouts of her late husband, so she finds solace in religion, in the hope of meeting up with her husband in heaven, but to Arthur, Maggie is just, once again, being crazy...or is she?

The Picnic

3. The Picnic

30 min

A day at the park with the whole family turns out to be a disaster as Maggie goes missing...only to wonder off on a bus, for an old folks home!

The Accident

4. The Accident

30 min

Arthur accidentally drops a typewriter on his foot, forcing him to stay home, and have Maggie as his carer...could things get any more worse for Arthur? Trying to buy a sandwich for Arthur lands Maggie in a baby clinic, and then at a hospital, where she meets a friend.

The Last Will

5. The Last Will

30 min

Maggie reads her last will to the family, and Arthur is shocked at what she has to say-but not so for Robert and Liz.

The Neighbours

6. The Neighbours

30 min

A feud arises between Maggie and her next door neighbour, who is a Greek immigrant. After an exchange of threats and property damage, Arthur and the neighbours son decide to fix up the ladies relationship.

The Cruise

7. The Cruise

30 min

Maggie and her new friend Claude make plans to go on a cruise, which surprises Arthur, and shocks Robert..but not is all as it seems for Claude.

Season 47 episodes
Season 57 episodes
The Deed

1. The Deed

30 min

Trying to get Maggie to sign over Power of Attorney to the house is a hard journey for Arthur when she accidently loses the deed in her bedroom.

The Budgie

2. The Budgie

30 min

Feeling that Maggie could use some companionship after a fight with Robert, Arthur brings home a budgie for her to look after...this is harder than it seems for Maggie, who decides to feed the bird some chicken.

The Big Sleep

3. The Big Sleep

30 min

Maggie's having trouble falling asleep...causing Arthur sleepless nights too, for her fear of death has arisen once again. She begins making several arrangements for her death..which prompts her to think about her husbands funeral, and how little she did for him.

The Clock

4. The Clock

30 min

All Arthur wants is a nice, quiet Saturday at home, but Maggie believes a neighbour across the street stole her clock many years ago, so she returns to claim it, but is caught taking it. Arthur and Robert need to find a way to find out if the clock is genuinely hers or not. But there is something else up Robert's sleeve...

The Rest

5. The Rest

30 min

Maggie can't understand why Arthur is being so cranky lately, so she decides to visit the doctor to get some answers. The answer, give Arthur a holiday. But Arthur has something else in mind...

The Baby

6. The Baby

30 min

Secretly doing some babysitting during the day, Maggie gives away what shes doing when Arthur sees she's knitting a baby booty, but when he discovers the baby, he thinks she's kidnapped it from the shop. A visit from Robert and Liz prompts them to check on the baby and a letter that Maggie received in the mail for Robert leads Arthur, and eventually Liz, to think the baby is Robert's. Will Arthur find out what Maggie is up to?

The Sunday Roast

7. The Sunday Roast

30 min

All Arthur wants is to bring home a girlfriend for Sunday lunch, but convincing Maggie is the trouble. So he disguises his girlfriend as a distant cousin who is visiting the family, and this impresses Maggie, who just loves the family. Arthur gets the whole family together and lets Robert and Liz in on the secret, but they have a hard time keeping it from Maggie when an argument breaks out between Maggie and Liz.

Season 67 episodes
The Ride

1. The Ride

30 min

It seems that Robert is about to turn over a new leaf when he takes Maggie out for a drive, but secretly is meeting up with another woman. After Maggie walks out of the car and Robert loses her, he and Liz go to search for her, but the mystery woman is discovered by Liz as they are searching for Maggie. Is this the end of Robert and Liz?

The Trip

2. The Trip

30 min

We see the return of Maggie's younger sister, Lorna, who has just lost her husband, and wants to take Maggie to England, but will they even make it to the plane without fighting?

The Family Feud

3. The Family Feud

30 min

Maggie and Lorna are about to return home from England, and Robert has moved in with Arthur since Liz kicked him out. Once Robert finally leaves, and the sisters return home, Arthur is not surprised to find the sisters are not speaking, but it is over something that Lorna said about Arthur. This prompts a family meeting with everyone, and they turn against poor Arthur, who discovers what his family really thinks of him.

The Caravan

4. The Caravan

30 min

After a bitter fight over "the favourite son contest", which Maggie is entering Robert in, Arthur moves into Robert's caravan. However, this isn't the joyous experience he was hoping for.

The Lamingtons

5. The Lamingtons

30 min

Maggie, without knowing it, promises to make 216 lamingtons for various groups at a cake stall, and at the same time must present herself on a jury. Will she succeed in all this, which must be done in one day? Or will Arthur be forced to help?

The Promise

6. The Promise

30 min

Arthur pleads with Maggie to start helping around the house cleaning when he goes to work, but even more so, he wants her to become independant due to the fact that he might be sick. After Robert tells Maggie Arthur is dying, Maggie starts to believe Arthur will die unless she helps him around the house.

The Ring Cycle

7. The Ring Cycle

30 min

It seems that Arthur and Deidre may be getting back together, and hopes Maggie will accept it. Arthur tries to ship Maggie off to Robert and Liz's for one night so he and Deidre can sort things out, but this is interrupted when Maggie's wedding ring goes missing...

Cast

Ruth Cracknell

Ruth Cracknell

Maggie Beare

Garry McDonald

Garry McDonald

Arthur Beare

Henri Szeps

Henri Szeps

Robert Beare

Judy Morris

Judy Morris

Liz Beare

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