My top 5 TV dads

Currys PC World have challenged bloggers to come up with their top 5 TV dads in time for Father's Day. You can choose any dad from any current or past TV show. That'll be a breeze, I thought.

But when I set about thinking of which TV dads are truly amazing and inspirational, I was stumped. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that many of TV's sitcom dads and soap dads are rather pants. Either plain silly or just not the sort of person you'd aspire to have as your dad. Sure there are a few exceptions but by and large they are often there to be laughed at or play the fool. 

In recent years, the shows we enjoy on TV tend to be reality type shows rather than fictional and once I started to think of these amazing real life dads who also have brilliant TV shows, the task of picking my top 5 became a whole lot more interesting. 

Number 5...

I'm going to get the most controversial out of the way straight away. Before you stop reading right now at the mention of his name, I'd say please bear with me and let me explain... The dad that gets my number five slot seems to have changed and grown as a person since becoming a dad. He seems to have discovered that somewhere deep within him he does actually possess a heart and is capable of showing some emotion. 

So top TV dad number 5 from TV shows  X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, is the man we all love to hate, but let's give him a second chance now he's become dad to little Eric, it's ...Simon Cowell.

Number 4...

In at number 4 is a TV dad who first hit our screens many years ago in what turned out to be a disaster of a TV/ social experiment on the Isle of Taransay. A much younger Ben Fogle, even in those days before he became a father seemed to have real fatherly wisdom. 

Whilst the other Taransay islanders bickered and fought, Ben worked hard to restore peace and harmony. 

In more recent programmes where we've seen him trek across the Antarctic and across the Sahara we've seen just how much his wisdom and diplomacy skills have grown since becoming a dad. Not to mention oodles of patience and heaven knows you need a LOT of patience as a parent. 

When we've watched him on 'New Lives in the Wild' he interacts brilliantly with the kids of these families living in such remote places. Many of the kids would not have come across other people as they are living in such extreme corners of the earth which are pretty much otherwise uninhabited and yet Ben has a way of making them feel at ease. His own family are never far from his thoughts either as he often talks about his wife and kids. 

Number 3...
At number 3 we have the, brilliant for oh-so-many reasons, Jamie Oliver. I was first introduced to Jamie Oliver on TV in his younger pre-children days of The Naked Chef. I remember being horrified at hearing from my mum that she was watching a programme called Naked Chef as I had visions of some sort of x-rated adult show and yet it was actually the wholesome Jamie Oliver's first TV cookery show.

The main reason he is in my top 5 TV dads is actually not to do with his cookery shows but a few of the other shows he did. Jamie's Dream School was just a genius idea and although it met some criticism about the kids involved remaining unappreciative, it showed that Jamie Oliver believed in them. He believed every kid has potential. An ethos that runs through much of his off-screen campaigning and charity work he does with the Fifteen Foundation he set up. 

Tackling America's obesity crisis in Food Revolution was another programme that showed his fatherly love and care for these kids and families who had never been shown the importance of healthy eating and looking after themselves. They were literally dying of obesity and problems arising from it and you could see Jamie's heart breaking at these desperate situations. 

He also faced huge battles in implementing change, not from the youngsters themselves but from the local authorities governing the schools and despite these confrontations and threats, he carried on with helping these kids break the cycle of bad eating which was making them morbidly obese. 

He's no doubt a great dad to his own kids but he's up here at number three for his fatherly love and care for others youngsters too. 

Number 2...

We're getting very close to number one and coming extremely close to clinching the top spot is someone who is used to living life to the extreme, Bear Grylls. We have become rather addicted to his TV shows and absolutely love Bear Grylls' The Island. We also watched Mission Survive earlier in the year. The way he encourages and motivates others is inspirational. We can just imagine how great he is at doing the same with his own kids. His 'triumph over adversity' motto is a great one to be encouraged by.

A little sneak peek into his own private life was when he got in trouble for installing a slide that went straight out to sea on his own island he lives on. Whilst their local council may have had health and safety fears about it, it made me think that he really should get the coolest dad award for doing something so mega cool for his kids. 

Number 1...
And now we've reached number one spot. We've been through from nasty to nice, from Simon Cowell to Ben Fogle. We've had a chef and an adventurer. So who will it be at number one? 

Despite all their virtues these real life TV dads weren't quite perfect enough for number 1 and so we've had to turn to fiction to find the perfect father. Nowadays families come in all shapes and sizes and on-screen families are no different. Even the most unlikely characters can qualify as a dad. 

And so it is with Bing's dad, Flop. For anyone who hasn't seen this popular CBeebies cartoon, Bing is a rather oversized toddler bunny rabbit and Flop is, we can only assume, his dad. Flop is tiny by comparison and made from caramel coloured wool. 

But it's not his unusual looks that make Flop the best TV dad. It's actually his endless patience, knowing what to do in every possible situation, and never, ever, raising his voice or getting cross at Bing. 

Bing spills cereal all over the floor. Flop calmly vacuums it up.

Bing steals a lollipop. Flop ensures it is returned to the shop and paid for.

Bing breaks a toy crown whist fighting over it. Flop helps them make a new one.
Bing gets locked in the store cupboard at the shop. Flop calmly finds him and lets him out.

And so it goes on. Whatever challenges Bing throws at Flop, Flop isn't fazed. He takes it all in his stride. Never once getting annoyed.

These are all things we can relate to as parents and I know my reaction to these scenarios would involve a whole lot of shouting and most probably a little swearing, and then a whole lot more shouting. And yet Flop manages it all in textbook perfect style making him look like some kind of SuperDad. 

Whilst we can all aspire to be a little more like Flop, perhaps less yelling at the kids, embracing every opportunity to help them learn, teaching them good morals and values, we've got to remember not to beat ourselves up about it if we don't quite manage to cheerfully smile as we vacuum the floor for the hundredth time after the kids have made yet another mess. After all, Flop is the stuff of fiction for a reason.