- At Home with the Braithwaites
"At Home with the Braithwaites" is a British
television program about a typicalsuburban family fromLeeds . It was first broadcast onJanuary 20 2000 . The show begins when, on her 40th birthday, the mother of the family — Alison Braithwaite — wins 38 million pounds on thelottery , from aticket bought for her by her youngest daughter, Charlotte.Each of the Braithwaite family — Alison, David, Virginia, Sarah and Charlotte — have their own issues and flaws. In the first series, Alison, although happy, became frustrated as a housewife and attempted to keep her winnings a secret from her family because she believed they would squander it on themselves. She established a charity foundation hoping to do something good with the money. David has an
affair with hissecretary at work. Virginia is something of a misfit, and falls in love with their next door neighbour, the self-absorbed and manipulative Megan. Sarah has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte is at that "awkward age".As events unfold, the story takes many convoluted turns, many related to the fortune that they have unexpectedly gained, and many related to misunderstandings.
The show ran for four series. It is unlikely that it will ever return, mainly because
Amanda Redman wished to move onto new projects. In a recenttabloid interview, the actress confirmed that a one-offChristmas special had been planned for2004 , however claimed thatITV did not organise it quickly enough. Redman added that future one-off specials would not go ahead, because she feels that it has been too long since the series ended to make any more. The series was written by British television writerSally Wainwright who initially came to prominence with her work on "Coronation Street ". Wainwright has gone on to work with actressSarah Smart who played Virginia Braithwaite, scripting starring roles for her in two other dramas; "Sparkhouse" and "Jane Hall".Cast
*
Amanda Redman as Alison Braithwaite
*Peter Davison as David Braithwaite
*Sarah Smart as Virginia Braithwaite
*Sarah Churm as Sarah Braithwaite
*Keeley Fawcett as Charlotte Braithwaite
*Julie Graham as Megan Hartnoll
*Kevin Doyle as Mike Hartnoll
*Lynda Bellingham as Pauline Farnell
*Sylvia Syms as Marion Riley
*Judy Holt as Elaine Fishwick (Series 1, 2 and 4)
*Ray Stevenson as Graham Braithwaite (Series 2 and 3)
*Lucy Whelan as Tamsin
*Hazel Douglas as Audrey Crowther
*Damian Zuk as Phil Skidmore
*Ishia Bennison as Denise Skidmore
*Garry Cooper as Colin Skidmore (Series 1, 2 and 3)eries One (2000)
Series One (6 episodes) follows Alison's attempts to keep her
lottery win a secret, and use the money to set up a charity trust. What Alison doesn't know is that her husband is cheating on her with a worker at his office. Almost every member of the family has a secret. Virginia is a closet lesbian and is in love with the next door neighbour Megan. Sarah is sleeping with the boy next door and later becomes pregnant. By the end of the series, the whole family's secrets have come out into the open.eries Two (2001)
In Series Two (8 episodes), the family has moved to a huge new home, now that Alison has finally decided to use some of her money to enjoy herself. However, her family life is as
dysfunctional as ever, and she becomes increasingly attracted to her husband's brother Graham. Virginia and Tamsin are now an item, but Virginia is still obsessed with Megan. Sarah has given birth to baby William and gets married in secret to Phil. By the end of the series, Alison discovers that Graham is bankrupt and is still seeing his wife.eries Three (2002)
Series Three (6 episodes) sees the family go back to their roots. The
lottery company discovers that it was Alison's underage daughter Charlotte who bought the winning ticket, and as a result, the Braithwaites lose all of their money. The family are forced to move back to their old home. Alison has also discovered that she ispregnant - but the father of the baby is Graham, her husband's brother. Elsewhere, Virginia's relationship with Tamsin is put to the test when Tamsin announces she is pregnant; and Sarah falls in love with herteacher . Luckily, the Braithwaites manage to get their fortune back before the end of the series with the help of Ray Winstone.eries Four (2003)
In the final series (6 episodes), Alison falls in love with her gardener, Megan finally gets what's coming to her, and relations in the family are more strained than ever. Alison's daughters struggle to get along with her, disapproving of her recent actions. The final scene of the series shows the whole family arguing bitterly with each other with the youngest daughter telling the family she is pregnant.
Overseas
The series has been shown on ABC and
UK.TV inAustralia , TV One and Prime inNew Zealand ,NRK inNorway ,RTV Slovenija inSlovenia ,BBC America in theUnited States , TVB in Hong Kong andYLE inFinland .DVD release
Series One, Two and Three of "At Home with the Braithwaites" are available on
DVD (Region 2, UK) from Network. [http://www.networkdvd.co.uk Network DVD] . Series 4 is to be released on 27 October 2008.The first and second series are also available on
DVD (Region 1, USA and Canada) from Acorn Media.Series One, Two, Three and Four (released Sept 3rd 2007) are all available on Region 4 (Aus) DVD individually and as a complete series box set (from the 3rd of December).
External links
*imdb title|id=0231012|title=At Home with the Braithwaites
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.