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My Family - In The PressMy Family: 'not dropped for being too middle class' The BBC axed the long-running sitcom My Family because it had run out of ideas, not because it was too middle class, a senior corporation executive has said. Written by Andrew Hough. The Daily Telegraph, 22nd May 2012 Wanamaker: My Family axed for being too middle class BBC bosses told My Family star Zoe Wanamaker that the popular series was axed for being too middle class, the actress has revealed. The Daily Telegraph, 3rd May 2012 Russell Brand signs on for Lynch gig Funnyman Russell Brand has signed on to headline a comedy show to raise funds for moviemaker David Lynch's meditation foundation. The Daily Express, 11th November 2011 Kris Marshall banned for refusing breath test Actor Kris Marshall was banned from driving for six months yesterday after he admitted dodging a breath test. Written by Allister Hagger. The Daily Express, 11th November 2011 My Family star Kris Marshall on drink driving charge My Family actor and BT advert star Kris Marshall will answer a motoring charge in Somerset. The Daily Record, 10th November 2011 The end of an error as BBC1's cutting-edge sitcom My Family closed its net curtains for the last time after a turbulent decade. My Family, your family, our family After 114 episodes, My Family takes its final bow tonight. The popular BBC One sitcom stars Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker as parents Ben and Susan Harper alongside a brood of children, cousins and uninvited house guests, played over the years by Kris Marshall, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Gabriel Thompson, Siobhan Hayes, Keiron Self, Rhodri Meilir and Tayler Marshall. Written by Jon Aird. BBC Comedy Blog, 2nd September 2011 It's lasted 11 long years, 120 episodes and withstood widespread sneering. Now the Harper family bid farewell with the last ever episode of the sitcom that viewers loved but critics loathed. Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) and Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) attend an eventful hen party, while disgruntled dentist Ben (Robert Lindsay) is babysitting at home - as ever, with supposedly hilarious consequences. It's time for the curtain to fall: the show's always been impeccably performed, but the writing deteriorated in recent years and ratings have fallen from a peak of 11m to around 4m. Tyger Drew-Honey says My Family is "a bit predictable" Tyger Drew-Honey, who of course stars in Outnumbered, has branded rival BBC sitcom My Family "a bit predictable". Unreality TV, 30th August 2011 Robert Lindsay: 'We're very proud of My Family' After 11 years playing grumpy Ben Harper, Robert Lindsay looks to the last ever episode of My Family... What's On TV, 26th August 2011 The last thoughts and testament of My Family As the Harpers wave goodbye, the four remaining original My Family cast members tell TV Times magazine how the hit BBC1 sitcom has changed their lives... What's On TV, 1st August 2011 Love it or loathe it, you can't help feeling a little sad about the impending loss of this dated yet strangely comforting sitcom, which has lasted for 11 series. Tonight Michael and Janey treat their parents, Ben and Susan (Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker), to a Spanish holiday for their wedding anniversary. But, as you'd expect with the Harpers, nothing is as straightforward as it seems. Susan is thrilled. Ben is away at a conference. All week. Robert Lindsayp's paterfamilias Ben gets an episode off this week, although seeing as how most of the cast have been sleepwalking through their roles for years in this dated (and now axed) comedy, you'll find it hard to spot much difference. With him out of the way, the path is clear for Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) to throw herself into her work - and the arms of the new office hunk. The result is a rare achievement in one respect at least, managing to be both utterly unlikely and all too predictable. Robert Lindsay had a point when he said the BBC was wrong to put on My Family after the watershed. In which Ben is inconveniently promoted to head of human resources during an industrial dispute which he organised in the first place. Never mind whimsical, middle England comedy: the sight of the former Wolfie Smith suddenly crossing the floor and threatening to hire scabs is actually quite disturbing. Meanwhile, Susan and Janey discover they're both competing to front a new Jackanory-style kids' show. "Of course," as the producer says, "being family means there won't be any hard feelings, will there?" The 11th and final series of the long-running sitcom starring Zoë Wanamaker and Robert Lindsay reaches its third episode. It's been around longer than cholera, and some might say it's about as funny, but that would be excessively harsh: it's a no-nonsense old-fashioned situation comedy, live studio audience and all, and Wanamaker and Lindsay bring a certain class to the script even when the lines themselves are a little hackneyed. It's certainly a cut above Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Plus, it doesn't have that unbearable buffoon from the BT adverts any more, which is a definite bonus. This week Ben gets all Bob Crow and forms a union at work, while Susan auditions to become a children's TV presenter. Second episode in the 11th and final series of the ever-popular sitcom. Janey and her mum are going on a hen night and leaving Kenzo with Ben. But grandson outwits grandparent and Ben is left out in the cold. Meanwhile, Roger goes on an internet date. "Is anyone looking for a Roger?" he shouts generally around the restaurant. It's idiotic gags like that which got My Family its hordes of snotty nay-sayers. But also, plainly, what got it millions of loyal viewers. Sometimes, fire-hosing the masses with inoffensive but lukewarm tea is what people want. They've outstayed their welcome and now, after 11 years, the BBC is finally killing off the Harper family. Before we sound their death knell, though, we have this final series to get through. In tonight's episode Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) and Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) get caught up in cousin Kirsty's hen night woes. Ed Cumming finds little to laugh at in the first episode of the final series of BBC One's long-running sitcom. Written by Ed Cumming. The Daily Telegraph, 17th June 2011 The final series of the flawed but popular mainstream sitcom begins tonight. Are you a fan? Written by Julia Raeside. The Guardian, 17th June 2011 It's the final series of My Family, which is being retired by the BBC after 11 years. So perhaps now is not the time to marvel at how this strange, pantomime sitcom has managed to last for so long. The deeply resistible Harper household squirm, mug and double-take their way through an opening episode that sees brat-daughter Janey the subject of three marriage proposals from comedy half-wit men. As the gags fall like dead birds in a nuclear winter, stridently stupid paterfamilias Ben Harper (Robert Lindsay) and his wife, Susan (Zoë Wanamaker), each choose their perfect suitor for Janey. It is a very long half hour. Alison Graham, Radio Times, 17th June 2011 The BBC should have killed off My Family at the end of series five before it went into terminal decline. Back for an extraordinary (in terms of longevity if nothing else) 11th series, and love is in the air at the Harper household as single mother Janey (Daniela Denby-Ashe) receives not one but two unexpected marriage proposals. Needless to say parents Ben (Robert Lindsay) and Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) have opposing views as to which offer she should accept. I'm not a huge fan of TV sitcoms, but I do find the BBC show My Family, starring Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker, stupidly funny. |
