Family Tree
Mockumentary starring Chris O'Dowd as a man who stumbles upon a mysterious box of belongings from a great aunt
- Genre
- Sitcom
- Broadcast
- 2013
- Channel
- BBC Two
- Episodes
- 8 (1 series)
- Creators
- Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock
- Starring
- Chris O'Dowd, Nina Conti, Tom Bennett, Michael McKean, Lisa Palfrey and Jim Piddock
- Writers
- Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock
- Directors
- Christopher Guest and Christine Gernon
- Producers
- Charlotte Ashby, Christine Sacani and Megan Murphy
Family Tree follows the world and journey of 30-year-old Tom Chadwick. Having recently lost his job and girlfriend, Tom has a rather unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box of belongings from a great aunt that he never met, he starts investigating his family lineage and uncovers a whole world of unusual stories and characters and a growing sense of who he is and who his real family are.
Family Tree is a single-camera, improvisational, mockumentary comedy, a style that Christopher Guest's films have pioneered in the past.
BBC commissioner Janice Hadlow says: "I am delighted to welcome Christopher Guest to BBC Television. It will be his first television series for British audiences and one I am proud to have here on the BBC. It has a stellar cast led by the fantastic Chris O'Dowd and is an exciting collaboration with NBCU International and HBO. Family Tree will form a key part of the channel's comedy next year."
Christopher Guest says: "I am also delighted to welcome myself to BBC Television. I am very lucky to be working with an incredibly talented cast. Chris O'Dowd has been on my radar ever since he was a child actor in Wales."
Chris O'Dowd adds: "I'm terribly excited and monumentally under-qualified to work on an improvised show with Chris Guest. I call him Chris 'coz we are friends. He calls me George. I don't know why."
- Production company
- Soundtrack
- Incidental music by CJ Vanston. Original songs by Christopher Guest and CJ Vanston. End credit music written by Harlan Collins and Christopher Guest, and sung by Ron Sexsmith.
- Laugh track
- None
Broadcast details
- First broadcast
- Tuesday 16th July 2013 on BBC Two at 10pm
- Last new broadcast
- Tuesday 3rd September 2013 on BBC Two at 10pm
- Length of episodes
- 30 minutes
Website links
- HBO - Family Tree
The website created by HBO, the American TV channel which collaborated with the BBC to make the series. - IMDb
- Wikipedia

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