Oxo Family

For 18 years, we were captivated by a couple whose main interests seemed to be casseroles and gravy. For in 1958, married bliss Oxo-style appeared as Katie (Mary Holland, pictured below) and Philip (Richard Clarke, followed by Peter Moynihan) starred in advertising’s first soap opera.

Everything revolved around dinner as Katie informed Philip that Oxo has nine good ingredients and “gives a meal man appeal”.

As a reward for slaving over a hot stove, she was presented with a son, David, even though neither parent had mentioned the forthcoming event, and Katie had shown no signs of pregnancy.

To complete this remarkable entry into the world, David aged from nought to three in the course of one summer. All that meaty goodness obviously made the lad grow.

Viewers certainly took the family to their hearts. When Philip spoke sharply to her once, girls in an electronics factory came out on strike.

And there was an uproar when Katie arrived home with her shopping basket and started making gravy without first washing her hands.

Katie carried on cooking until 1976, when the pair were dropped because Oxo wanted a fresher image. Ironically, a new Oxo family was created in the 1980s (Lynda Bellingham and Michael Redfern,).

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