The best movie and TV dads of all time

From Jor-El’s baby-saving engineering to Bryan Mills’ daughter-rescuing-skills, we’ve been taking notes on child-rearing from our screen heroes since we were kids ourselves.

Who didn’t secretly want Darth Vader to breathe “I am your father…”, or have John Matrix wreck a mall and an entire villa complex just to save them from the bad guys? Now, you may soon be that dad – building stuff (probably flatpack furniture, rather than space-pods), keeping a keen eye (nanny cam first, full-blown MI5 monitoring later) and clearing all known threats (in the playground, at least).

Here’s our guide to the teachings of the best film and TV dads of all time...

The best TV and movie dads

Fatherly advice: “Act like a parent, talk like a peer. I call it ‘peer-renting’.”

Fatherly advice: Know your kids.Reese: Hey, Dad? I have a little situation that maybe you can help me out with. There's this girl who...Hal: I suggest that you leave her alone before she calls the police on you.Reese: Okay, thanks.

Fatherly advice: Man up to your responsibilities: “I am your father. It is my job to protect you. It’s a job I refuse to quit, and at which I can’t afford to fail.”

Fatherly advice: Let them twist your arm. Or shoot it off. “Let the girl go, it’s me that you want, I only have one arm, you can beat me!”

Whether he’s accidentally eating sandwiches soaked in dog urine or facing down rude French waiters, Clark is the king of overcoming paternal adversity. And to think, this was all before low-budget air travel.Fatherly advice: Be realistic about holidays. “When I was a boy, just about every summer we’d take a vacation. And you know, in 18 years, we never had fun.”

He’s mumbling patriarch of the powerful Mafia family, but it’s his children that are subject to the richest experience at the oft-kissed hands of Vito Corleone.Fatherly advice: Put in some quality hours with the clan. “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”

Fatherly advice: Don’t be above hyperbole. “War was easier than daughters!”

Sporting untamed eyebrows and short-sleeved shirts, Jim’s dad harks back to his experiences to illustrate the ways of the world for his mortified son.Fatherly advice: Make the effort to bond. “I did a fair bit of masturbating when I was a little younger. I used to call it stroking the salami.”

Fatherly advice: Stay focused. “I’m not trying to beat the state. I’m trying to save my daughter.”

With a superhero name and alpha papa status, wronged cop Macready is primed for a violent reprise, with his daughter Mindy as a most unexpected sidekick.Fatherly advice: Prepare kids for nasty surprises. “At close range like this, the force is going to take you off your feet for sure, but it’s really no more painful than a punch in the chest.”

Inhabits a ruined world, but the Man strives to keep his boy safe.Fatherly advice: Use alternative bedtime stories. “When you dream about bad things happening, it means you’re fighting and you’re still alive. It’s when you start to dream about good things that you should start to worry.”

With his son given to him by his ex, this excellently named pa becomes a ball-breaking law enforcer.Fatherly advice: Have ‘The Talk’. “How many times have I told you? If a girl says she’s on the pill, you use somethin’ anyway. Pill ain’t goin’ to keep your dick from falling off.”

With his own dad locked up, sensible Michael exercises extreme self-restraint as the new man of the house for the insane Bluth rabble.Fatherly advice: Protect them from danger. “This is a Bluth family celebration. It’s no place for children.”

Fatherly advice: Accept limitations. “The saddest day of my life was when I realised I could beat my dad at most things, and Bart experienced that at the age of four.”

Fatherly advice: A little bit of pressure is a good thing. “They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun.”

Fatherly advice: Keep your eyes on the interloper. “I will be watching you, and if I find that you are trying to corrupt my first-born child, I will bring you down, baby. I will bring you down to Chinatown.”

Like any dad, he faces petulance from his offspring. Sure, his Forceful methods of chastisement and telekinetic chokeholds were a little hardline. But Lord Vader eventually killed his boss and saved the galaxy, all for the love of his son.Fatherly advice: Bring them into the family business. “Luke, you can destroy the Emperor... Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.”