My Family emerged onto our screens in 2000 and has been a real hit. I love it, it is absolutely hilarious. It is about the stark raving bonkers Harpers family and all the fiascos that they encounter with each other. They are, Susan the mother who is the worst cook in the world played brilliantly by Zoe Wannamaker (showing her hidden talent for comedy) and who also thinks that she is the modern laid back mother but she is the most controlling and bossy person in the household. There is also the father Ben, who is a sarcastic and grumpy and misanthropic dentist who cannot stand any of his patients and cannot stand his family at all, he is played by Robert Lindsay who is one of Britain's best actors, Ben Harper is in the mold of Basil Fawlty and Edmund Blackadder. There is Nick, the eldest son who is my personal favourite and probably the star of the show, he is a gormless, un-employable idiot who is working on one hair-brained scheme to another, constantly running up huge bills for his father played to an absolute 'T' by Kris Marshall. Nick is possibly the stupidest and strangest person in the world, yet he is somehow always one step ahead of his family, and the spats he has with Ben always has me in stitches. Then there is Janey, who is the fashion loving, money grabbing, shallow, bitchy daughter played very well by Daniela-Denby Ashe. Then there is Michael, the youngest child who is oddly the most intelligent character in the show. He has transformed from geeky schoolkid to some sort of shady businessman again played very brilliantly by Gabriel Thompson. He has some very funny sarcastic lines and manages to out-wit everyone else in the show. The other family member is Abbie, another gormless idiot who is quite amusing but no way near is good as the others, but she is played very well by Siobhan Hayes. Another additional character is Roger Bailey, Ben's dental neighbour who is in love with Abbie and nature who Ben bullies, he is a bit annoying at some moments but he works well with Abbie, and when he pretends to be quite clichéd it does make me laugh.
There are some killingly funny episodes, namely the one where Nick and Ben spend the night in a hotel in Leeds and end up having to share a bed, that episode had me and my dad wetting ourselves, another one where they have a burglar alarm installed at Susan's request and it drives the whole street mad and Nick becoming a male stripper and moons a police officer, another where Ben, Susan, Michael and Nick are stuck on a tube train and Ben makes enemies with two pensioners and Susan makes enemies with two Estonian men, Nick goes into business by selling bottles of water and Michael gets himself a girlfriend from one of the other carriages. Richard Whiteley also has a cameo role as himself in that episode, telling us how much he hates fame. And there was an xmas one i saw on UK GOLD where all I remember was that Nick managed to stuff the house completely with xmas trees, I would dearly love to see that one again.
It is hard to decide who is the best in this show, they are all played very well. Un-fortunately, the show has become a bit far fetched now because the characters are getting a bit too old and Nick has left so it is not nearly as amusing as it used to be Nick comes back with a cameo role every now and then and Janey comes in and out, it doesn't really surprise me, they can't be immature forever because after a while it just looks silly. But the old episodes are shown on UK GOLD every other week and I really recommend watching it. We do not get enough quality stuff like this anymore, so make the most of it while it lasts!
There are some killingly funny episodes, namely the one where Nick and Ben spend the night in a hotel in Leeds and end up having to share a bed, that episode had me and my dad wetting ourselves, another one where they have a burglar alarm installed at Susan's request and it drives the whole street mad and Nick becoming a male stripper and moons a police officer, another where Ben, Susan, Michael and Nick are stuck on a tube train and Ben makes enemies with two pensioners and Susan makes enemies with two Estonian men, Nick goes into business by selling bottles of water and Michael gets himself a girlfriend from one of the other carriages. Richard Whiteley also has a cameo role as himself in that episode, telling us how much he hates fame. And there was an xmas one i saw on UK GOLD where all I remember was that Nick managed to stuff the house completely with xmas trees, I would dearly love to see that one again.
It is hard to decide who is the best in this show, they are all played very well. Un-fortunately, the show has become a bit far fetched now because the characters are getting a bit too old and Nick has left so it is not nearly as amusing as it used to be Nick comes back with a cameo role every now and then and Janey comes in and out, it doesn't really surprise me, they can't be immature forever because after a while it just looks silly. But the old episodes are shown on UK GOLD every other week and I really recommend watching it. We do not get enough quality stuff like this anymore, so make the most of it while it lasts!