Families (TV series)

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Families
Original title sequence — the mirror image represents Cheshire and Sydney
Genre	Soap opera
Creator(s)	Kay Mellor
Starring	Malcolm Stoddard Morag Hood see Main cast section for longer list
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	320
Production
Running time	30mins
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	23 April 1990 – August 1993

Families was a daytime soap opera produced by Granada Television and created by Kay Mellor. It followed two families; the Thompsons, based in Cheshire, England (in the fictional market town of Westbury), and the Stevens, living in Sydney, Australia.

The link in the storyline was businessman Mike Thompson (Malcolm Stoddard), who walked out on his family on his birthday and flew to Australia to be with his true love Diana Stevens (Briony Behets), whom he had left years earlier. Unbeknownst to Mike, Diana had given birth to his son Andrew (Tayler Kane) and as complications ensued over the abrupt life changes for both families, Andrew travelled to England, where he met Mike’s daughter, Amanda (Laura Girling), by his English wife Sue (Morag Hood), and they fell in love, not realising that they were half-brother and sister.

It was broadcast twice a week (Monday and Tuesday) at 3.20pm with the first episode broadcast on 23 April 1990. Both episodes were also repeated on Thursday 10.40pm in the Granada TV region as part of Granada's "10.40-extra" strand. After two years, stories involving the Thompson and Stevens families - and the UK-Australian crossover angle - had run their course, with several characters either dead or left for pastures new (typically Brighton or Canberra). In their place came the wealthy Bannerman family, who were introduced during the summer of 1992, as they moved into the Thompsons' Cheshire mansion from a suburb of Manchester. In addition, some of the remaining Austalian-based characters (including Diana Stevens and her husband Anton Vaughan) were re-located to England.

The series subsequently followed the intrigues involving the new family. Head of the Bannerman household was successful barrister Charles (Terence Harvey). The rest of the family comprised Charles' decorative wife Isabelle (Helen Bourne) and their four children - upstanding heir to the family law firm Simon (Thomas Russell), irresponsible teenager Matthew (Oliver Milburn), angelic countrywoman Rebecca (Karen Westwood) and go-getting vamp Juliette (Emma Davies). Juliette's best friend and Simon's fiancee Fiona Lewis (Claire Marchionne) also appeared, and turned out to be Charles' mistress.

To add balance to the series, the Richards family, who ran the local pub (The Railway), were also prominently featured, having been introduced during the latter Thompson family era in April 1991. They comprised: Larry (John Bowe), Jane (Margot Leicester) and daughters Chelsea (Tara Moran) and Louise (Victoria Finney). A son David was mentioned but never seen on-screen, as he lived in the US. Also present was Jane's sister Jackie Williams (Amanda Wenban) who had emigrated to Australia years earlier but was visiting Jane when the Richards family was first introduced. On her return to her own family in Sydney, she helped continue the UK-Australian crossover angle for a further year.

The show came to a natural conclusion in August 1993 after 320 episodes with a dramatic feature length finale which saw a birth, a possible suicide and a large and unexpected inheritance.

The theme music was by Matthew Scott. Several of those who worked on the series later went on to higher-profile careers: Jude Law was a regular cast member for two years (as Nathan Thompson) and Russell T. Davies wrote for the programme. Amanda Wenban went from Families to star in the Yorkshire Television soap Emmerdale before heading back to Cheshire to play the role of Ruth Tyler in the second series of Russell T. Davies' camp and ironic late night soapy-drama Revelations.

The show was filmed in north east Cheshire and the Altrincham suburb of Manchester. Cicely Mill in the village of Rostherne, Cheshire, was used as the Thompson / Bannerman house. The stables where Amanda and subsequently Rebecca ran their business were in the nearby Tatton Park estate (the stables have since been converted into a coffee shop / restaurant). The Thompson's garage was Ashley Smithy Garage in Ashley and The Railway Pub can be found in Heatley. Fiona Lewis and Simon Bannerman got married in St Oswald's church, Lower Peover (which also featured in Revelations) and Amanda Thompson and Neil Brooks aborted first wedding was in St Mary's church, Nether Alderley.

The show was unusual for a day time soap, regularly tackling subjects that at the time would have been deemed controversial for a prime time soap. These included murder, suicide, incest, drugs, adultery, prostitution, mental health problems and homosexuality. It also contained some strong language and scenes of a sexual nature, all of which were screened, in most ITV regions, just before children's TV started at 3.50pm.