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My Family is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadcast from 2002 onwards. My Family was voted 24th in the BBC's "Britain's Best Sitcom" in 2004 and was the most watched sitcom in the United Kingdom in 2008. As of 2011, it is one of only twelve British sitcoms to pass the 100-episode mark. In April 2020, BBC One began airing the series from the first episode in an 8 pm slot on Friday nights; along with this all 11 series were made available on BBC iPlayer.
Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC One from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998, then revived on ITV from 2 January 2014 to 24 December 2020. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote many of the episodes.
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010.
Pauline Perpetua Sheen is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series Birds of a Feather from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2014 to 2017. For this role, she won the 1990 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. She was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1996 BBC miniseries The Sculptress. Her other television credits include Maisie Raine (1998–1999), Down to Earth (2000–2003), Emmerdale (2010–2012) and Broadchurch (2013–2015).
Linda Patricia Mary Robson is an English actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in the sitcom Birds of a Feather and her appearances as a weekly panellist on the ITV series Loose Women (2010-present).
Daniela Jolanta Denby-Ashe is an English actress. She is best known for playing Sarah Hills on the soap opera EastEnders, Margaret Hale on the period drama North and South, and Janey Harper on the BBC sitcom My Family. She also played Lorraine Donnegan on the drama series Waterloo Road.
Scarlett Alice Johnson is an English actress, producer and drama teacher. She is best known for her roles as Vicki Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Laura Derbyshire in the BBC Three sitcom Pramface.
North & South is a British television historical drama programme, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One in November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of cotton mill owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers clashes with her growing attraction to John Thornton.
Bachelor Father is a British sitcom starring Ian Carmichael that aired for two series from 1970 to 1971. It was written by Richard Waring.
Surgical Spirit is a British television sitcom starring Nichola McAuliffe and Duncan Preston that aired from 14 April 1989 to 7 July 1995. It was written by Annie Bruce, Raymond Dixon, Graeme Garden, Peter Learmouth, Paul McKenzie and Annie Wood. It was made for the ITV network by Humphrey Barclay Productions for Granada Television. In January 2022, Forces TV started showing all 50 episodes of Surgical Spirit.
Perry Benson is an English character actor best known for his regular roles in British television sitcoms You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993), Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1995–1997) and Operation Good Guys (1997–2000). His first television appearance was as "Boy on Stairs" in the second episode of the BBC Children's drama, Grange Hill, in 1978.
The Mistress is a British sitcom that aired on BBC2 from 1985 to 1987. Starring Felicity Kendal and Jane Asher, it was written by Carla Lane.
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, a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron. The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with a live studio audience.
Crooked House is a British supernatural drama TV series which aired on BBC Four in December 2008.
The fourth series of the BBC family sitcom My Family originally aired between 21 March 2003 and 25 December 2003. The series was commissioned following consistently high ratings from the third series. The opening episode of the series, "Fitting Punishment", re-introduces five of the main characters, with the exception of Janey, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe. The episode also introduces a further main character into the fold – Roger Bailey, played by Keiron Self. All fourteen episodes in the fourth series are thirty minutes in length, including the Christmas special. The series was once again produced by Rude Boy Productions, a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron. The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in London, in front of a live audience.
The fifth series of the BBC family sitcom My Family originally aired between 19 March 2004 and 25 December 2005. The series was commissioned following consistently high ratings for the fourth series. The opening episode of the series, "The Mummy Returns", re-introduces the six main characters from the previous series, as well as Janey, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe, who had not been seen on-screen since December 2002. The fifth series includes four specials: two-hour long Christmas specials, a 30-minute "best-of" special, and an exclusive 5-minute Comic Relief short. All thirteen regular episodes from the fifth series are thirty minutes in length. The series was once again produced by Rude Boy Productions, a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron. The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in London, in front of a live audience.
Missing is a British daytime television crime drama series starring Pauline Quirke and Mark Wingett. The series is set in a busy, under-resourced missing-persons unit, and follows the team led by DS Mary Jane "MJ" Croft (Quirke). The first series of five episodes aired on BBC One in 2009, with an extended second series of 10 episodes airing in 2010. It was filmed in and around Dover, and Tonbridge. The series also starred Felix Scott and Pooja Shah as Croft's sidekicks, Jason Doyle and Amy Garnett. Guest stars who appeared throughout the series run include Paul Nicholas, Brooke Kinsella, Gary Lucy, and Sylvia Syms.
The fourth series of Waterloo Road, a British television school drama series created by Ann McManus and Maureen Chadwick and produced by BBC Scotland and Shed Productions, commenced airing in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2009 and concluded after 20 episodes on 20 May 2009.
References
- Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
- British TV Comedy Guide for Office Gossip
- BBC Programs Office Gossip page