It revolved around a former skipper (Nand Buyl), his sister Mathilde (Jetje Cabanier), their adopted daughter Marianne (Francine De Weerdt, later Chris Lomme), the nosy neighbour Madame Krielemans, the stuttering and posh Philidoor, the stupid Sander and his friend Hyppoliet Maréchal, who tried to talk French, but always made language mistakes.

The series was originally going to be named "Het Koperen Anker" or "De avonturen van kapitein Biebuyck," centering around a former army colonel.

[6] Theologian Max Wildiers wrote scripts for the series,[7] as well as Anton van Casteren,[8] Rik de Bruyn,[9] and Gerard Walschap.

[10][11] The series' popularity thrived on farcical situations and the fact that all the characters spoke in the dialect of the province Antwerp.

While "Schipper naast Mathilde" was very popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s the program has seldom been repeated on TV since.