Nine year old Frankie's never met his father, or not so as he can remember, but then his dad's a merchant seaman and though he may not get to see his son, he writes regularly. All this is a desperate figment of his mum's imagination, unwilling to share the ugly truth about Frankie's dad with the young lad she made one up, a plan that has worked (implausibly) until the day the fictitious boat arrives in port. Determined to keep the illusion going Frankie's mother pays for a man to pretend to be dad for the day, and damn if he doesn't turn out to be everything both boy and mother could have hoped for. Predictable, slight and unlikely though Dear Frankie unquestionably is, somehow it manages to pull off being a touching and sweet natured tale that's surprisingly free of schmaltz.