My family
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | My family |
| Original title | My family |
| Country of production |
 United Kingdom
|
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 2000-2011 |
| length | 87x22 minutes, 3x50 minutes |
| Episodes | 120 in 11 seasons |
| genre | Sitcom |
| idea | Fred Barron |
| music | Graham Jarvis |
| First broadcast | 19 September 2000 (UK) on BBC One |
| German-language first broadcast |
September 12, 2005 on NICK Comedy |
| occupation | |
My Family is a British sitcom that was produced by the BBC from 2000 to 2011 . In Germany, the show was broadcast on NICK in the now discontinued NICK Comedy division in the evening and at night. After the station Comedy Central switched to Nick, My Family was only broadcast for a few days. The broadcast on Comedy Central was then finally stopped on January 1, 2009, after three more episodes were shown. My Family re-aired on Comedy Central from February 1, 2010 to March 25, 2010. So far, only seasons 1 to 7 have been broadcast in Germany.
Characters
main characters
- Ben Harper - Ben Harper is a cynic who annoys almost everyone. He's a dentist, which he'd like to be if he wasn't confronted with annoying patients and assistants. In each episode he has a new assistant who he then fires again for different reasons. So Ben is mostly fed up with his family, even though he loves them. He would love to have good, loving children and peace and quiet after work. But that's not the case. Ben has almost no friends, only Charly (after a sex change : Charlotte) has remained loyal to him over the years. His biggest hobby is watching football. Every evening he drinks a glass or two of scotch whiskey. He also smokes secretly, which he thinks nobody notices.
- Susan Harper - Susan is Ben's sarcastic wife who keeps pushing him to grapple with children's problems. She cannot bear the fact that her children grow up and gradually move out. She always wants to be right about Ben and tends to overreact, especially when she is worried about the well-being of her children. Susan works as a tour guide in London for the first seasons of the series, but later quits and takes a job in an art gallery. She is known in her family as a bad cook. She has a bad relationship with her mother and, like Ben does, would like to hide away when she comes to visit. Like Ben, she secretly smokes, assuming no one knows.
- Nick Harper - Nick is the oldest son of Susan and Ben. He's not the smartest and instead of finally earning his own money and moving out, as Ben would like, he has new pointless job ideas every day, ranging from stuntman to stripper to trading in his own organs.
- Janey Harper - Janey is the only daughter of Susan and Ben Harper. She's almost grown up too, but still has the uncomfortable traits of a teenager. She wants money all the time and doesn't like to be told anything. Nevertheless, she is already moving out to study in the third season. Janey becomes pregnant, which brings another child (Kenzo) into the family.
- Michael Harper - Michael Harper is the youngest son of Ben and Susan and is Ben's favorite because he is the least likely to cause trouble. He is gifted and intellectually on a par with an adult. At school he is under-challenged and therefore skips classes several times. Michael tries to make as much profit as possible for himself in every situation.
- Abi Harper - Abi (Abigail Theresa Bernard) Harper is the daughter of Ben's cousin Richard and will be added from season 3. She is very clumsy and mentally on par with Nick, but also good-natured and helpful. At first she has a strong weakness for macho guys who treat her badly, but later she falls in love with Roger and marries him.
- Roger Bailey - Roger is from Wales and the son of Ben's dentist teacher. Despite his mature age, he has a very close relationship with his mother. Ben always finds him very annoying, but Roger never seems to take this seriously, rather thinks it is a joke. Roger is also a dentist and has his practice just above Ben's. He often visits Ben in his practice, which Ben does not particularly enjoy. At the beginning he is often mistaken for homosexual, but he is in love with Abi from the start. Roger's clumsiness and some unfortunate circumstances prevent Abi and Roger from getting together for a long time, but eventually they get married.
- Alfie Butts - Starting in season six, Alfie, who previously lived on a farm in Wales, is coming to the Harpers house. Nick is a friend of his. He moves slowly and speaks with a Welsh accent, enjoys playing guitar and is known for his exceptional massage skills. He also has a weakness for older (more experienced) women. Alfie's smart, but he wanders often, but still wins the quiz show " The weakest goes " (The Weakest Link).
Supporting characters
- Brigitte (Daisy Donovan) - (Season 1)
- Stupid Brian ( Kevin Bishop ) - Janey's Friend (Season 2)
- Grace (Rosemary Leach) - Susan's mother
- Fiona (Rachel Harvey) - Michael's friend
- Hubert (Alex Dawson)
- Kenzo Harper Thomas and Noah Davis (season 5), Tayler Marshall (from season 6) - son of Janey (from season 5)
occupation
| actor | Role name | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Lindsay | Ben Harper | Hans-Jürgen Wolf |
| Zoë Wanamaker | Susan Harper | Rita Engelmann |
| Kris Marshall | Nick Harper | Dominik Auer |
| Rhodri Meilir | Alfie Butts | Julien Haggége |
| Daniela Denby-Ashe | Janey Harper | Ursula Hugo |
|
Thomas & Noah Davis (Season 5) Tayler Marshall (From Season 6) |
Kenzo Harper | |
| Gabriel Thomson | Michael Harper |
Christian Zeiger (seasons 1–3) Fabian Hollwitz (seasons 3–11) |
| Siobhan Hayes | Abi Harper | Bianca Krahl |
| Kieron Self | Roger Bailey, Jr. | Viktor Neumann |
| Daisy Donovan (Season 1) | Brigitte | Ulrike Stürzbecher |
| Kevin Bishop | Stupid Brian | Tobias Müller |
| Rosemary Leach | Grace Bricks | |
| Rachel Harvey | Fiona | |
| Alex Dawson | Hubert | Nico Sablik |
Trivia
Between the first and second seasons, the look of the house was massively changed. Kris Marshall (Nick) wanted his serial death, but the writers decided to let him move out.
DVD publications
The eleven seasons have so far only been released in English on DVD:
| DVD | published on: |
|---|---|
| The Complete First Series (1 disc) | March 22, 2004 |
| The Complete Second Series (2 discs) | June 7, 2004 |
| The Complete Third Series (2 discs) | September 12, 2005 |
| The Complete Fourth Series (2 discs) | March 20, 2006 |
| The Complete Fifth Series (2 discs) | September 18, 2006 |
| The Christmas Specials (1 disc) | November 20, 2006 |
| The Complete Sixth Series (1 Disc) | December 26, 2006 |
| The Complete Seventh Series (2 discs) | September 24, 2007 |
| The Complete Eighth Series (1 disc) | July 14, 2008 |
| The Complete Ninth Series (? Disc) | May 25, 2009 |
| The Complete Tenth Series (2 discs) | September 26, 2010 |
| The Complete Eleventh Series (2 discs) | August 15, 2011 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ My Family dropped after 11 years (BBC-News, Entertainment & Arts, March 25, 2011, viewed September 4, 2011)