2point4 children
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 2point4children | |
|---|---|
| Format | Sitcom |
| Created by | Andrew Marshall |
| Starring | Gary Olsen Belinda Lang Julia Hills Georgina Cates Clare Buckfield John Pickard Liz Smith Barbara Lott |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 56 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min per average episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 1991 – 1999 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
2point4 Children was a British sitcom that ran on BBC1 from 1991 to 1999. The title refers to the "average" size of a UK family, although Andrew Marshall, the writer, has indicated that Ben could be considered almost another child, hence "point four". Belinda Lang played long-suffering wife and mother, "Bill" Porter, and Gary Olsen played her husband, Ben, a plumber. Their children were Jenny (played by Georgina Cates - under the name 'Clare Woodgate' - in the first two seasons, subsequently by Clare Buckfield) and David (played by John Pickard).
Other main characters were their nymphomaniac neighbour, Rona (Julia Hills), who worked alongside Bill in a variety of catering jobs, and Ben's bad-tempered female apprentice, Christine (Kim Benson), who was introduced in the second series (though she appeared in the 3rd episode of the first series, as a worker at a meat counter in a supermarket, something she references on her next appearance). Ben's snobbish sister, Tina (Patricia Brake in series one, Sandra Dickinson in subsequent episodes) occasionally appeared, while Liz Smith played both Bill's mother, Bette, and Bette's sister Aunt Belle. Barbara Lott also occasionally appeared as Rona's Auntie Pearl (and it is later revealed that she is Rona's mother).
The show frequently featured surreal scenarios, usually played for humour, but sometimes extremely creepy. An example of the former is the episode "Seven Dials", in which Ben's archenemy, a science fiction fan plumber called Jake the Klingon (Roger Lloyd-Pack), trapped Ben in Portmeirion in a parody of The Prisoner. The latter is exemplified by an ongoing first series subplot involving a mysterious biker whom Bill kept encountering, and who seemed to be her guardian angel.
Even when not being surreal the show often went in unexpected directions. In the penultimate episode of Season 4 the Porters' house burnt down, and the season closer showed them dealing with the consequences. More controversially, in the series 5 episode "We'd Like To Know A Little More About You For Our Files", it was strongly implied David was having a relationship with his drama teacher, although this was never referenced again.
In series 7, Jenny left for university and the Porters fostered a homeless boy named Declan (Alex Kew). Jenny made a single guest appearance in the final, 8th series.
The series was still popular in repeats when one of the stars, Gary Olsen, died of cancer in 2000.
Critical reaction to the early episodes was generally lukewarm, with some critics comparing it unfavourably to Roseanne, although the later series generally received better notices. Few critics made the connection between Marshall and former writing partner David Renwick, whose sitcom One Foot in the Grave featured a similar variety of domestic surrealism.
The series began to appear on Region 2 DVDs in 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Ben Porter - Gary Olsen
- Bill Porter - Belinda Lang
- Jenny Porter I - Georgina Cates (1991-1992) (Credited as Clare Woodgate)
- Jenny Porter II - Clare Buckfield
- David Porter John Pickard
- Rona - Julia Hills
- Christine - Kim Benson (1992-1999)
- Aunt Tina - Sandra Dickinson
- Dora Grimes - Annette Kerr
- Declan - Alex Kew (1999)
- Auntie Pearl - Barbara Lott
- Gerry - Leonard O'Malley (1991)
- Tony - Tom Roberts (1993-1995)
- Bette/Aunt Belle - Liz Smith
- Adam - Paul Raffield (1993)
- Jake Klinger - Roger Lloyd Pack (1995-1996)
[edit] Episodes
See List of 2point4 children episodes.
[edit] Theme music
The programme used a familiar instrumental theme tune which remained unchanged throughout its run, although it was significantly shortened in length for the final series. The closing theme was an extension of that used for the introduction. During many episodes portions of different versions of the theme could be heard to either close scenes or highlight a change in day/night, for example.
[edit] Opening titles
The first two series' used the same set of titles, utilising footage taken from the first three episodes. The opening screen showed the distinctive blue 2point4children logo overlaid on an exterior shot of the Porters' terraced house whilst writer and principal actor credits appeared over the succeeding footage. Series 3 used the same format but with new footage taken from the new batch of episodes, as did series 4 in 1994. Series 5 saw a slight change to the format with the footage now taken from all previous 4 seasons, as opposed to the unseen episodes of series 5.
A new look was unveiled for series 6 with a reworking of the logo (now in 3D colourful letters) which fell randomly from the top of the frame and landed in the correct order at the bottom. The cast were shown dancing against a white backdrop with Belinda Lang taking centre stage, literally. Cast and writer credits (featuring Clare Buckfield and John Pickard's names for the first time) were shown either side of 'Bill' dancing. These titles remained through series 7 with no alterations. The final 8th series in 1999 saw a modification to this style, with the same principle of the falling colourful letters of the logo landing against a white backdrop but now featuring a line drawing of the Porter house with its colourful front door. These titles were significantly shorter than previous seasons and featured no cast members. The principal actor credits were now superimposed over the opening scene of the episode and appeared in the Futura typeface, as opposed to the former Roman-style serif font that debuted in episode one. The move to filming in digital widescreen for series eight was one reason that necessitated the change in titles.
[edit] Closing credits
For series 1-5 the credits either flashed up on screen over a freeze frame of the final scene which gradually faded to black or scrolled along the bottom third of the frame from right to left (the latter usually reserved for Christmas specials). The exception to this rule was for the first episode when the credits scrolled up the screen over a black background and the regular theme tune was discarded.
Series 6-8 utilised a plain white background with the new colourful logo situated at the top of the frame and the credits list scrolling up the centre. The exception was for specials, as above.
[edit] DVD Releases
Eureka Video released Series' 1-3 in 2005, however due to poor sales it was decided not to continue releasing the series.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
- 2point4 children at bbc.co.uk Comedy Guide
- 2point4 children at the British Sitcom Guide
- 2point4 children at Phill.co.uk Comedy Guide
- 2point4 children at the Internet Movie Database
