Family Affairs
| Family Affairs | |
|---|---|
| Created by | UNKNOWN |
| Starring | (final cast)
Rosie Rowell - Leah Coombes - Kazia Pelka - Gary Webster - Rebecca Hunter - Kate Williams - Florence Hoath - Felix Scott - Ebony Thomas - Perdita Avery - Nicola Duffett - Gareth Hale - Ryan Davenport - Graham Bryan - Zara Dawson - Andrew Hinton-Brown - Catherine Kanter - John Hopkins - Katy Edwards - Daniel Hyde - Adam Rhys Dee - Robyn Page - Jan Harvey |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 2285 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min per episode |
| Original release | |
| Network | Five |
| Release | 30 March, 1997 – 30 December, 2005 |
Family Affairs was a British soap opera. The flagship soap on five, it was the first programme to air the channel on March 30, 1997, the channel's launch night, and regularly aired every weeknight.
On August 2, 2005, five announced that they would not be renewing Family Affairs for another year. Shooting ceased on November 4th, and the final episode aired on December 30th 2005. [1]
History
The show was initially based around a single family, the Harts, consisting of parents Chris (Ian Ashpitel) and Annie (Liz Crowther) and their four children: ladies' man Duncan (Rocky Marshall), confused 24-year-old virgin Holly (Sandra Huggett), police constable Melanie (Cordelia Bugeja), and schoolboy Jamie (Michael Cole). Chris and Annie's parents were also featured. After losing his wife in the opening episodes Chris's father Angus (Ian Cullen) came to live with the Harts. Annie's parents who lived nearby were the staunchly conservative Elsa Gates (Delena Kidd) and philandering Jack (Ken Farrington). All of the show's storylines centred around the Hart and Gates family and their friends and acquaintances living in the fictitious town of Charnham. Other initial characters included Chris's business partner, Nick Trip (Barry McCormick), Melanie's bubbly best friend Claire Toomey (Tina Hall), Annie's baby-obsessed friend Maria Simons (Annie Miles) and Duncan's loyal drinking partners Tim (Idris Elba) and Roy (Miles Petit).
Later in 1997 Maria's ex-husband, the villainous Pete Callan, appeared in town. Pete, played by ex-Brookside actor David Easter, became an instant hit with the viewers and would remain in the show until 2005, making him the longest-running character in the soap's nine-year history. Sassy bisexual Susie Ross (Tina Landini) and Nick's troublesome teenage son Liam (Stephen Hoyle) joined the series. Liam was soon in trouble with the police and the courts and his lawyer was Pamela Hargreaves (Sandy Hendrickse) who soon embarked on a romance with liam's father Nick. Entrepreneur Peter Stringfellow also made a guest appearance in the series.
Revamp
However, it soon became clear, not least due to the poor ratings, that the close-knit family approach simply wasn't working for Family Affairs, and the production team drafted in 'the axeman' Brian Park, famous for his ruthless overhaul of ITV's Coronation Street, to reinvent the show. It was decided that the Harts and various other characters should be written out, and in the interim period a plethora of diverse new characters was brought in to replace them. The first characters to go were Tim, Susie and Liam.
Among the newcomers were loveable rogue Dave Matthews (Richard Hawley), his brassy, shameless chain-smoking wife Cat (Nicola Duffett), and his son from an earlier marriage, Josh Matthews (Terry Burns). Dave was initially an ex-marital love interest for Annie Hart, before falling in love with her daughter Holly.
Among the other new faces to arrive in late 1998 were the strident owner of the local mini supermarket Dusty McHugh (Doreen Singleton), her mouthy daughter Yasmin McHugh (Ebony Thomas) and son Benji (Junior Laniyan). They lived in a flat above their shop, and rented an adjacent flat within the building to students Declan, Gabby (Emma Linley) and Clive (Huw Bevan). Yasmin, known for her ostentatious facial piercings, quickly started a relationship with Josh Matthews. Meanwhile, Clive, the brother of new chef at The Lock, Duncan Starr (David Verrey), was revealed to viewers as gay and secretly in love with hunky flatmate Declan. Duncan himself embarked on a romance with Maria.
Storylines also began to focus more on newcomer Pamela Hargreaves and her romance with Nick. Pamela's mother Sadie Hargreaves (Barbara Young) soon entered the storyline, showing herself to be a loveable but meddling old gossip.
In late 1998 Jack murdered his wife Elsa and then committed suicide. Then on January 29th 1999, the entire Hart family (except for Duncan who had already left the series) was wiped out in one fell swoop when, on Roy and Melanie's wedding day, a gas explosion swept through the boat on which the reception was being held. Roy was the only survivor. Immediately, the show's theme tune and opening titles were revamped to reflect a grittier feel. The titles now deployed flashes of a tube journey to Charnham Tube Station, linking Charnham with the city of London, over which shots of the new cast members who had been gradually introduced over preceding weeks were shown.
For several months the existing locations continued to be featured: Maria's flat, the marina, The Lock, while Dave and Cat lived in the former Gates residence. New characters continued to be added to the series, and the Derwin family, Fern Derwin (Belinda Sinclair) and Max (Nick Stringer) and their foster son Arlo Dean (Ash Newman) joined the storyline. The Derwin's soon fostered Gemma Craig (Angela Hazeldine). Throughout the rest of 1999 and 2000, the departures of Claire, Nick and Maria left Roy Farmer as the show's only remaining original character (although Claire later returned, hardened by her disastrous marriage to Pete, for a lengthy period spanning 2000 to 2003). Meanwhile Max died of a heart attack six months after joining the series; Fern soon discovered he was a bygamist with another wife, and a child, living in a nearby town.
Stanley Street
In 2000 coinciding with the introduction of the Warrington family, the geographic focus of the series was redefined as being on Stanley Street in the fictitious W15 borough of West London. Originally the specific location of Charnham had never been explicitly stated; it was known to be close to a river, and characters sometimes travelled to Maidenhead. With the late 1998 infusion of new characters it was established that a batch of new characters, Yasmin and her mother and brother, lived over their minimarket, and that in the next door flat were students Declan, Gabby and Clive. Now we would see action regularly extend to the shop's street exterior and the surrounding buildings, and this location was revealed to be the bustling Stanley Street. Just as Roy was establishing his new internet cafe business next door to Yasmin's mini supermarket the Warringtons moved in across the street. Roy came to live in the street as well, and when Pete sold The Lock to buy old-style pub The Black Swan this too was revealed to be on the same short street.
In quick succession any regular characters not already living there soon moved into Stanley Street, while Sadie's home was inexplicably shifted there without her having to move house. After this the various locations seen earlier in the series would not be seen again and most outdoor taping was on the new outdoor Stanley Street set at the soap's headquarters, reducing the necessity for expensive location shots and confining much of the action to the one street.
Many storylines revolved around Pete Callan and his various crimes and spouses. Meanwhile the large group of younger characters in the series went through a series of romances and breakups. The newly-introduced Warrington family became key figures in the show's on-going storylines. Nikki Warrington (Rebecca Blake) endured marriage problems and problems with her large blended family. She then became embroiled in scandal when she embarked upon a tempestuous affair with her stepson Luke (Royce Cronin). Their relationship became one of the show's most memorable storylines, and was played alongside that of Pete Callan's latest misdemeanour - framing new wife Siobhan (Jemma Walker) for the murder of Dave's son Josh, when in fact it was Pete who had battered him to death with a candlestick in his own kitchen.
As 2001 came around the Warringtons were extended to include their relatives, the Webb and Ellis families, comprising Nikki's brother Matt (Matthew Jay Lewis), his girlfriend Karen (Tanya Franks) and Karen's brother Jim (Jo Dow) and her nephew Paul (Martin Delaney). Jim ultimately became Cat's reluctant second husband and while Paul soon paired up with orphan Gemma Craig who lived with well-meaning but meddlesome foster-mother Fern. Fern had herself married Roy's father Vince (Stephen Yardley). Meanwhile Karen embarked upon a controversial lesbian affair with her child's surrogate mother, Australian-born Kelly Hurst (Nicky Talacko). The scandal also allowed for a guest appearance by Prime Minister Tony Blair's father-in-law, Tony Booth, as Kelly's father (and Sadie's brother-in-law) Barry.
2002 arrived, and Charnham received another breath of fresh air in the form of Cat's niece Geri Evans (Anna Acton), and yet another new family, the ill-fated Davenports.
More changes
In September 2003 another drastic cast revamp occurred as new Series Producer Alison Davis arrived, presented with the onorous task of finally getting viewing figures up to an acceptable standard. The Davenport family, it was agreed, were not working out as a family. The mother, Ginny (Joanna Foster) and daughter Jessica (Sammy Glenn) had been written out several months earlier and now the father Robert (Brian Cowan) was killed off in a dramatic car smash, leaving only brothers Cameron (Rupert Hill) and Lewis (Sam Stockman.) Fern Farmer also died in the crash that was caused by Jake Walker (Seb Castang) who had accidentally lost control of a stolen car during a police chase. All members of the Warrington, Webb and Ellis families had also been hastily written out, and Claire left the series after a long return stint. However the biggest casualty of Davis's arrival was the show's only remaining original character Roy Farmer, whose apparent murder became the centre of one of his arch-enemy Pete Callan's biggest storylines to date.
These departues left just a handful of old characters on board, with Pete, Sadie, Yasmin, Cat and the returning Dave as the only pre-2002 characters remaining in the show (Pete had joined in 1997, the others in late 1998). Pete Callan was now the show's longest-serving character. He had by now married his fourth but most assertive wife, the feisty Eileen Day (Rosie Rowell). She, along with her fiercely independent daughter Lucy (Julia Lee Smith), would be involved in many of the show's key storylines from this point until the end of the show in late 2005.
Meanwhile, another series of new characters were brought in to remould Family Affairs once again. Undoubtedly the most significant of these were the Costello family, with members portrayed by such television veterans as Kazia Pelka as highly-strung mum Chrissy, Kate Williams as dependable gran Myra and Gary Webster as the mild-mannered dad, Gary. With a winning combination of original storylines (such as Chrissy's compulsive lying and the more recent child abuse storyline) and likeable characters, the Costellos have become the show's central figures. Other important newcomers in 2003 included the fractious Boulter family which consisted of Moody father Les, caring mother Denise, Bisexual son Brendan and Teenage Daughter Kelly. Also joining, were a young 'couple' comprising nurse Tanya (Carol Starks) and her gay best friend Sean (Sam Barriscale), along with Doug MacKenzie (played by comedy veteran Gareth Hale) who became Cat's third husband, and his womanising son, Marc (Michael Wildman, and later Graham Bryan) who married Yasmin. Meanwhile Doug's younger son and local clown Justin (Ryan Davenport) provided comic relief.
At The Black Swan, we were introduced to two recurring villains capable even of rivalling Pete: the sinister Mike Shaw (Tony O'Callaghan) and psychotic Trish Wallace (Gabrielle Glaister). Following on from Mike and Eileen's inadvertent murder of Roy in order to frame Pete for arson, producers took great pleasure in playing Pete and Eileen off against each other as they lied, cheated and stabbed one another in the back, culminating in a dramatic 2000th episode in late 2004 which saw Pete throw Eileen into the River Thames after finding out about her plot with Mike to frame Pete for Arson, and Pete's eventual comeuppance following an armed showdown between Pete, Trish and Eileen in September 2005. After years of tyranny in Charnham, Pete Callan was finally dead after a shootout with S019 Officers.
As well as Pete, several other characters, including Sadie, Dave and Lucy, were gradually given their marching orders as Alison Davis ended her reign at the soap to be replaced by ex-Hollyoaks producer, Sean O'Connor. O'Connor quickly outlined his huge plans for the show, including a name change and many new younger, more glamorous characters. However his plans were cut short by the announcement soon after his arrival that Five would not be renewing the series for 2006. This timing resulted in numerous barely-known new characters populating the final episodes, making the finale all the more challenging to pull off effectively.
Final cast
At its end, the regular contract cast of Family Affairs were as follows:
- Rosie Rowell played Eileen Callan, previous owner of the Black Swan pub and Chrissy's best friend
- John Hopkins played Rex Randall, the enigmatic new owner of The Pheonix (formerly the Black Swan)
- Catherine Kanter played Hester Randall, Rex's imperious sister
- Jan Harvey played Babs Woods, new owner of Dusty's store.
- Nicola Duffett played Cat MacKenzie, a chain smoking, boozy beautician with a heart of gold
- Gareth Hale played Doug MacKenzie, Cat's kindly third husband, ex-mayor of Charnham
- Graham Bryan played Marc MacKenzie, manager of the Corner Café and Doug's elder son
- Ryan Davenport played Justin MacKenzie, builder and Marc's younger half-brother
- Adam Rhys Dee played Ben Williams, works for Justin having been released from the YOI
- Ebony Thomas played Yasmin Green, formidable (and loud) owner of the Cuti-licious salon
- Felix Scott played Nathan Fletcher, a local policeman and newcomer to Charnham
- Zara Dawson played Eve O'Brien, hairdresser and girlfriend of Nathan
- Daniel Hyde played Jason Wilding, high-flying businessman and newcomer to Stanley Street
- Katy Edwards played Coral Wilding, Jason's spoiled wife with a fondness for life's luxuries
- Gary Webster played Gary Costello, local cab driver and husband of Chrissy
- Kazia Pelka played Chrissy Costello, receptionist at the Cuti-licious beauty salon
- Leah Coombes played Chloe Costello, the eleven-year-old daughter of Chrissy and Gary
- Rebecca Hunter played Melanie Costello, the twenty-year-old Prodigal Daughter of Gary and Chrissy
- Kate Williams played Myra Costello, Gary's mother and fond grandmother of Chloe and Melanie
- Florence Hoath played George Fitzgerald, a friendly nurse from St. David's hospital
- Perdita Avery played Meredith Lovechild, also a nurse and George's manipulative best friend
- Andrew Hinton-Brown played Hector Price, a doctor; housemate of George and Meredith
- Robyn Page played Katie Williams, Ben's sister, Barmaid and man-eater
Storylines
The show generally concentrates on family-based storylines and marital upsets, although more extreme storylines involving murder, rape, prostitution, blackmail, drug use, and brother-sister incestuous relationships have also occurred. Perhaps most significantly, Family Affairs has often been acclaimed for its constant inclusion of minority groups, having featured a higher density of gay and lesbian characters over its history than any other British soap. It has also been praised for its treatment and integration of characters from ethnic minorities, notable examples of which include the inimitable Yasmin, who had been with the show for seven years at its final episode in December, and the more recent addition of a gay Muslim character, Sami Shafiq (Hosh Kane).
Family Affairs also went to unprecedented lengths in its treatment of the controversial issue of child abuse; in 2005 the soap won its first British Soap Award for a storyline in which young Chloe Costello (Leah Coombes) was sexually abused by a family friend, Bradley Foster (Harry Capehorn). The storyline, backed by the NSPCC, aimed to destroy some unhelpful stereotypes about what we expect a paedophile to be like. Partly as a result of the storyline, Kazia Pelka, who played Chloe's mother Chrissy, also won the award for Best Dramatic Performance, culminating in a double victory for the show.
Trivia
- Several episodes made heavy use of the police station sets of police drama The Bill, made by the same TV production company. Although the words "Sun Hill" were removed from the front of the police station, it's very obvious to any viewer of both series.