Running out of steam (My Family)

Member Name: book-it

Product:	My Family
Date:	14/06/03 (177 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, Easy-going

Disadvantages: Tired

My Family is a BBC TV comedy series which is now in its fourth series, although the BBC have recently confirmed that there will be a fifth series and will be produced at the end of the year. The 2003 Christmas special, Sixty Feet Under, has already been recorded!

The series is based around the Harper family, with the dentist father and his wife and three children. I enjoy the series, although wouldn't claim that it has the depth of character development that series such as Steptoe and Son have, nor the long-lasting appeal of series such as Only Fools and Horses.

The father, Ben Harper, is played by Robert Lindsey. In real-life he has one daughter and two young sons, and he currently lives with ex Generation Game host Rosemarie Ford. He plays his character with skill, being both a dentist who is stuck in a rut with his career, and as a rather exhausted father who just sometimes needs a break from it all. His other best known TV series is possibly Citizen Smith.

The mother, Susan Harper, is played by Zoe Wanamaker (who although living in England is actually a US citizen). She plays a loving mother, always tolerating her eldest son Nic, and not wanting her youngest son, Michael to grow up.

The other characters in the series have changed as the series have developed, but the two sons of the family are still played by the same actors. The eldest son is Kris Marshall, who plays the part Nic Harper, and Gabriel Thomson who plays Michael Harper.

My favourite episode is the fifth episode of the first series, entitled "A Farewell to Alarms". In this episode, Nic who is always going through new business ideas, decides to start Nic Naked, a stripping service. Susan manages to persuade Ben to get an alarm system, but when it is installed it uses invisible beams, which cause problems when the code is forgotten!

Although the series is quite fun, it is in my opinion running to the end of its natural life, and shou
ld possibly be stopped at this stage. Inevitably with shows involving children, the emphasis of the series changes when they grow up, and the same comic effect is unlikely to be achieved oncethe children have flown the nest. Let it be remembered for what it has been rather than wait for the BBC to relegate the series to a lesser viewed slot as the series dies away.

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