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This article is about the British sitcom. For the film, see My Family (film).

My Family
Opening titles featuring the characters (left to right) Abi, Michael, Susan, Ben, Janey and Roger.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Fred Barron
Starring	Robert Lindsay Zoë Wanamaker Kris Marshall Daniela Denby-Ashe Gabriel Thomson Siobhan Hayes Keiron Self Rosemary Leach Rhodri Meilir
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	7
No. of episodes	83 + 1 short (as of 26 December 2007) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	79x30 minutes 3x50 minutes 1x60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	19 September 2000 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

My Family is a British sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2000. Seven series have so far been aired, and eighth series was recorded from September to November 2007.^[1] A ninth series will start to film in March 2008.^[2]

Created by American Fred Barron, My Family is about the fictional Harper family, and stars Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker as Ben and Susan Harper, a middle-class couple who in live in Chiswick, West London. Their three children, Nick, Janey and Michael are played by Kris Marshall, Daniela Denby-Ashe and Gabriel Thomson. In later series more characters appear including Ben's first cousin once removed Abi (Siobhan Hayes), Ben's fellow dentist Roger Bailey (Keiron Self) and Nick's friend Alfie (Rhodri Meilir).

Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot 3 Writers 4 Characters 5 Episodes 6 Reception 7 Worldwide broadcast 8 DVD releases 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

• Robert Lindsay - Ben Harper
• Zoë Wanamaker - Susan Beryl Harper (nee Riggs)
• Kris Marshall - Nick Harper (series 1 to 2004 Christmas Special)
• Daniela Denby-Ashe - Janey Harper (series 1 to 3; series 5 onwards)
• Gabriel Thomson - Michael Harper
• Daisy Donovan - Brigitte (series 1)
• Kevin Bishop - Stupid Brian (series 2)
• Siobhan Hayes - Abi Harper (series 3 onwards)
• Kieron Self - Roger Bailey, Jnr (series 3 onwards)
• Rosemary Leach - Grace Riggs (née Ryman) (series 4 onwards) ^[3]
• Rachel Harvey - Fiona (series 4)
• Alex Dawson - Hubert (series 4 onwards)
• Rhodri Meilir - Alfie Butts (2005 Special onwards)
• Thomas and Noah Davis - Kenzo Harper (series 5)
• Tayler Marshall - Kenzo Harper (from series 6) ^[4]

My Family is about the life of the Harpers, a fictional English family, who live in Chiswick, London. Ben, a dentist, and Susan, a tour guide who later works for an art gallery, have three children, Nick, Janey and Michael, all of whom cause problems in their own way. While Susan is a control freak, Ben prefers to leave the children to it and tries not to get involved. Janey later goes to University, but drops out and moves back in later, while Nick finally gets his own place. In the third series, Abi Harper, the daughter of Ben's cousin, comes to live with them, and she eventually falls for Roger, Ben's neighbouring dentist. The humour, like most domestic sitcoms, derives from the relationships of the family members and the situations they end up in.

The series is scripted by a team of writers, following the American model. Historically, British sitcoms were more generally written by one or two writers. By employing a wider number of writers to brainstorm jokes for each episode, the BBC has been able to maintain a consistent and relatively long-lived product without having to wait for a single writer to produce more material.

Those who have written for My Family include brothers Jim & Steve Armogida, Penny Croft, James Hendrie, Ian Brown, Darin Henry, Brian Leveson, Paul Minett, Sophie Hetherington, Tess Morris, Shawn Schepps and Andrea Solomons. The creator, Fred Barron, has also written a few episodes.

Main article: List of My Family characters

The main characters in My Family are parents Ben and Susan Harper. They have three children, Nick, Janey and Michael. Nick is a regular character until the 2003 Christmas special, and makes one appearance in 2004's fifth series before making his final My Family appearance in the 2005 Comic Relief short as actor Kris Marshall wanted to do other projects and avoid being type-cast.^[5] Janey is a regular until the 2002 Christmas special and does not appear in Series Four (2003), while the character is at University. Janey returns as a main character in Series Five.

Abi Harper first appears in Series Three as the daughter of Ben's cousin Richard.^[6] Series Three also see the first appearance of Roger Bailey, Jnr. Roger, who becomes a main character in the fourth series, is a dentist and the son of Ben's former mentor. In the 2005 Christmas special Alfie Butts, a friend of Nick's, moves into the Harper household.^[5]

My Family also features several recurring characters. In the first series Ben's dental assistant is Brigitte.^[5] In the second series "Stupid" Brian appears as Janey's boyfriend.^[5] Series Four features played Fiona, Michael's girlfriend. That series also sees the introduction of Hubert, a friend of Michael's, and Grace Riggs, Susan's mother, both of whom appear in subsequent series.^[5]

Main article: List of My Family episodes

The first episode aired on 19 September 2000, and seven series have so far been aired with six specials, including four Christmas specials. The seventh series ended on 8 June 2007. A Christmas special will air in 2007.^[7] An eighth series is being recorded from September to November 2007.^[8]

The BBC and UKTV refuse to re-broadcast the series four episode "Blind Justice" due to an upheld Ofcom complaint. Although no reason was given, it is likely that was considered offensive to blind people. This episode is banned from British TV, but it is still on the Series Four UK DVD release and has been screened on BBC America.

The episodes are recorded in front of a live audience in Pinewood Studios, Iver, Buckinghamshire, except where the set used is too large, this is then filmed, and played out to an invited audience 'as-live'. Also, the show, unlike most British sitcoms but in common with most American television comedies, has no location footage.

When My Family started, few critics liked it, thinking that it was middle-of-the-road and too old fashioned.^[9] However, the programme received above average audience ratings, and further series were commissioned. Star Zoë Wanamaker said in 2007 that she was no longer happy with the quality of the writing and that she and co-star Robert Lindsay even refused to film one episode because it was so poor.^[10]

In 2004, the show came 24th in Britain's Best Sitcom

The following is a list of other broadcasters that have shown My Family to countries outside the United Kingdom.

Country	Broadcaster	Name
Australia	UK.TV, ABC
Bulgaria	Bulgarian National Television	Моето семейство
Belgium	Canvas
Canada	YTV
Croatia	HRT	Moja obitelj
Estonia	ETV	Minu pere!
Faroe Islands	BBC Prime
Finland	YLE	Minun Perheeni
France	Comédie! and Canal+ Family	Ma Tribu
Germany	Comedy Central
Hungary	BBC Prime
Iceland	RÚV	Fjölskyldan mín
Italy	Paramount Comedy and BBC Prime
India	BBC Entertainment
Israel	BBC Prime
Latvia	Latvijas Televīzija
Malaysia	BBC Entertainment
New Zealand	UK.TV
Norway	NRK	Hvilket Liv!
Poland	Comedy Central and BBC Prime	Moja rodzinka
Portugal	BBC Prime and RTP2
Romania	BBC Prime
Serbia	B92, BBC Prime	Moja porodica
Slovenia	Kanal A, BBC Prime	Moja družina
South Africa	BBC Prime
Sweden	BBC Prime
Switzerland	BBC Prime
USA	BBC America, PBS.
Turkey	BBC Prime

The first seven series have been released on DVD in the UK, minus the Christmas specials that accompanied series 3 and 4, and the specials that accompanied series 5. A Christmas Specials DVD was released on 20 November 2006, and this contained the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 Christmas specials. The first two series are available in Canada and the United States on Region 1 DVD, and in Australia on Region 4 DVD.

DVD	Release date
The Complete First Series (1 disc)	22 March 2004
The Complete Second Series (2 discs)	7 June 2004
The Complete Third Series (2 discs)	12 September 2005
The Complete Fourth Series (2 discs)	20 March 2006
The Complete Fifth Series (2 discs)	18 September 2006
The Christmas Specials (1 disc)	20 November 2006
The Complete Sixth Series (1 disc)	25 June 2007
The Complete Seventh Series (2 discs)	24 September 2007

1. ^ "BBC Tickets", BBC. 
2. ^ "My Family", British Sitcom Guide, 2007. 
3. ^ Grace Riggs was played by Avril Elgar in one episode of Series Two, and listed in the credits as "Rebecca", but was not called this in the episode.
4. ^ Sometimes credited as Taylor Marshall.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} My Family - Characters. British Sitcom Guide (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
6. ^ My Family Episodes - Series 3. British Sitcom Guide (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
7. ^ West, Dave. "'My Family' gets Christmas special", Digital Spy, 25 October 2007. 
8. ^ "BBC Tickets", BBC. 
9. ^ "BBC Comedy Guide", BBC. 
10. ^ "Wanamaker criticises 'My Family'", Digitalspy. 

• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
• British TV Comedy Guide for My Family

• BBC Comedy Guide for My Family
• British Sitcom Guide for My Family
• TV.com summary for My Family