My Family (series 1)
The first series of BBC family sitcom My Family originally aired between 19 September and 7 November 2000. The first episode of the series, and the pilot episode, is entitled "The Serpent's Tooth". All eight episodes in the first series are thirty minutes long. The first episode introduces the five main characters that regularly appear in the series: Robert Lindsay, who plays Ben, Zoë Wanamaker, who plays Susan, Kris Marshall, who plays Nick, Daniela Denby-Ashe, who plays Janey, and Gabriel Thomson, who plays Michael. A further regular member of the cast is Brigitte, played by Daisy Donovan, who appears in nearly every episode of the series. The series was produced by Rude Boy Productions,[1] a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron.[2] The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire,[3] with a live studio audience.[4]
| My Family | |
|---|---|
| Series 1 | |
 My Family Series 1 DVD Cover | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 19 September – 7 November 2000 |
| Series chronology | |
Episode information
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | Duration | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Serpent's Tooth" | Baz Taylor | James Hendrie and Ian Brown | 19 September 2000 | 30 minutes | 8.48 million |
|
Ben (Robert Lindsay) gets angry when Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) tells him she is seeing another dentist, Australian Mel Fraser, as Ben never gets round to seeing them. Ben soon discovers that Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) has had work done on her teeth by Mel, causing them to argue. They then have to reassure Michael (Gabriel Thomson) that they are not going to divorce. Janey, who was attracted to Mel, says she will not see him again after he treated her like a child. Nick (Kris Marshall) meets Isabelle (Kathrine Andover), a French swimwear model, on the internet. Nick's previous internet acquaintance - who claimed to be an attractive, 19-year-old female cellist from Prague - turned out to be a 48-year-old man from Sunderland. Ben bets Nick £50 that Isabelle is not who she says she is, so Nick invites her to the house. She is who she says, but slaps Nick after realising that he is not, as he claimed to be, female. Michael buys himself a rabbit called Hannibal. First episode: Ben Harper, Susan Harper, Nick Harper, Janey Harper, Michael Harper and Brigitte | ||||||
| 2 | "A Pain In The Class" | Baz Taylor | James Hendrie and Ian Brown | 26 September 2000 | 30 minutes | 7.46 million |
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Janey wants a tattoo, which Susan disapproves of. Janey has the tattoo, which Susan mocks. Nick wants to be a dot-com millionaire, but does not know how to. Michael is being bullied at school by Jason Hodder, and his reason for not telling Ben and Susan is that Ben would not react and Susan would overreact. Later on the following day, Ben receives a phone call from Susan telling him that Michael is covered in custard, so Susan decides to call Jason's parents but an argument ensues as Jason's parents refuse to try to stop the bullying and leave after an angry Ben hits them with a rolled up magazine. The next day, Michael is late home from school and Susan worries that he is lying in a ditch somewhere but soon discovers that Janey has beaten Jason up. | ||||||
| 3 | "Droigt de Seigneur Ben" | Baz Taylor | Fred Barron and Shawn Schepps | 3 October 2000 | 30 minutes | 5.95 million |
| At the surgery, Ben is attending to another one of his patients, who turns out to be Lord Whitten, whom Brigitte seems to be a fan of. They begin talking about various subjects when Whitten mentions his son, whom he would like to meet up with a girl. At first Whitten he asks Brigitte but then she suggests Janey, who, when she finds out, is furious that Ben has set her up on a blind date until she finds out there is a picture of him and his family in Hello! magazine and that he is handsome. | ||||||
| 4 | "The Last Resort" | Baz Taylor | Steve Armogida, Jim Armogida, Ian Brown and James Hendrie | 10 October 2000 | 30 minutes | 5.42 million |
| Susan is not looking forward to turning 40 (again). Ben is unsure of what to buy her, until Janey assures him that Susan wants to go on a romantic weekend away – just the two of them. At first, Ben is reluctant, as he does not like travelling, but Janey encourages him to talk to Susan. Initially his ideas of where to go are rejected by her, but she suggests the bed and breakfast which they stayed at just before they married. Arriving at the B&B, they find virtually nothing has changed in the room they stayed at some twenty-two years ago, except for the romance, which has disappeared from their marriage. They meet an old couple, the Pickerings, whom they are shocked to discover are swingers. | ||||||
| 5 | "Farewell To Alarms" | Baz Taylor | Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida | 17 October 2000 | 30 minutes | 6.89 million |
| Susan is worried about the growing crime rate in the area and after a series of events including Brigitte's van (allegedly) being stolen and a stranger strolling around the house after Nick decided to become a landlord, she decides to buy an expensive top-of-the-range alarm. After consecutive nights of the alarm going off due to various problems, Ben tires of the sleepless nights and decides to turn it off. What should be a simple task of turning off the alarm soon turns into Mission Impossible and Ben is forced to clamber over furniture and make all sorts of other ridiculous movements just to go back to his bedroom without setting off the alarm. | ||||||
| 6 | "Death And Ben Take A Policy" | Baz Taylor | Fred Barron and Penny Croft | 24 October 2000 | 30 minutes | 6.19 million |
| A Chinese businessman goes missing on a tour of Madame Tussauds and when he is later found dead, Susan begins to worry about the effect on the kids as it is their "first death", even though they never met Mr Chen or went to Madame Tussauds. Later that evening at dinner, Nick reveals that he offered his latest would-be job to Emily Foster, whom he really likes and who also wants a chance to sell life insurance, so Nick suggests Ben - although to his shock, Susan has already apparently bought life insurance from him. At first, he is hesitant to let her come round, but after Nick persuades him (telling him there might even be a chance of moving out) Ben is in favour of it. | ||||||
| 7 | "The Awkward Phase" | Baz Taylor | Fred Barron | 30 October 2000 | 30 minutes | 8.38 million |
| Nick is trying to teach Michael how to act on his first time out on a date with a girl: the rules etc. He has also fixed Ben's chair, though Ben forbade him to ever touch anything of his ever again, and when he later tells Ben that he fixed his chair, Ben goes off into a rant about how he just wants him to leave everything alone. Susan puts Nick latest behaviour of trying to fix things down to an awkward phase, but Ben disagrees: twenty years is not a phase, it is him. | ||||||
| 8 | "Much Ado About Ben" | Baz Taylor | Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida | 7 November 2000 | 30 minutes | 7.62 million |
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After taking Viagra which Susan found in Nick's pocket, Ben ends up in hospital and soon after, Susan forces him to go on a diet for the good of his health, which he detests. Later on, after being given a book by Brigitte about her guru (Dave, who is also a part-time builder) who had a near-death experience which completely changed his life, Ben returns home and scares his family even more than the events of the previous night, because he is in a good mood. And to top it all off, he is singing. Last episode: Brigitte | ||||||
Reception
Viewers
The series was given a mid-week time slot, originally airing on Tuesdays at 8:30pm. The series became an immediate hit with viewers, with the first episode gaining 8.48 million viewers, the sixth highest rating for the week.[5] Ratings began to fall for the next three episodes, to a point where ratings for the fourth episode of the series failed to appear in the BBC's Top 30 programmes.[6] However, when the series was moved to a prime-time slot on Friday evenings, beginning with Episode 5, ratings began to improve, with the seventh episode of the series reaching 8.38 million viewers. The first series averaged 7.04 million viewers for each episode.
| Rank | Episode | Viewership | Audience percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Serpent's Tooth | 8.48 million | |
| 2 | The Awkward Phase | 8.38 million | |
| 3 | Much Ado About Ben | 7.62 million | |
| 4 | A Pain In The Class | 7.46 million | |
| 5 | Farewell To Alarms | 6.89 million | |
| 6 | Death And Ben Take A Policy | 6.19 million | |
| 7 | Droit De Seigneur Ben | 5.95 million | |
| 8 | The Last Resort | 5.42 million |
Critics
The series was openly criticised for its American roots, with the use of quick one-line jokes, compared to the more traditional built-up jokes of other British sitcoms.[7][8] Daniel Lees, of My Family Online stated that the fifth episode of the series, "Farewell to Alarms", stands out from an otherwise mediocre first series. He described the episode as a "perfectly written, impeccably performed piece, generally enjoyable as a whole".[9] He also stated that the show itself has "easy-going plots, with some hilarious moments intertwined with atmosphere, character interaction and a general feel-good ambience".
References
- "Sitcom Production Companies". Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
- "Rude Boy Productions".
- "My Family". Archived from the original on 25 April 2009.
- "Television Audiences". Archived from the original on 18 June 2008.
- "Weekly terrestrial top 30 (BBC 1) w/e 24 Sep. 2000".
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "My Family (BBC 1)".
- "My Family".
- "My Family Online Review".