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My Family reaches the end

BBC Press Office

25 March 2011

The next series of My Family, the long-running BBC One comedy, will be the last, Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One has confirmed today.

"Now that all the Harper children have fled the nest we feel it's time to make room for new comedies on BBC One. I can confirm that the eleventh series, coming to BBC One later this year, will be the last," he said.

Cheryl Taylor, Controller, Comedy Commissioning said: "In Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker we are proud to have had two of Britain's finest comic actors in what has been a brilliantly successful and long-serving feature of the BBC One schedule.
"Now that almost a generation of British children have grown up with the Harper brood, played over the years by Kris Marshall, Daniela Denby-Ashe and Gabriel Thompson, we're looking to the future with new families and new comedies that we hope will prove equally popular.
"We look forward to both Zoe and Robert continuing to be part of our BBC One Comedy family in the years to come, and would like to thank them and everyone involved in the production of My Family for their much valued contribution over the course of more than 100 episodes."
Notes to Editors
The first episode of My Family went out on BBC One in September 2000.
This last series will be the eleventh.
It was the first BBC sitcom to be created by an American showrunner, Fred Barron, who imported American production methods to Britain – including salaried writers, and exclusive use of the studio during the production period.
An initial pilot was not successful, but recasting Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamker as the stars led to immediate success.  The show was also notable for introducing Kris Marshall to a wide audience, and everyone connected with the show is used to being asked – is Nick coming back?
Fred claimed that Robert Lindsay's character was inspired by his own father, and the authenticity of the family relationships, albeit comically stretched, helped to make the show one of the longest-running sitcoms on British television.  In its own style, the show addressed issues such as single parenthood, sexuality, drugs and race, often making it less fluffy than is often thought.
SH5