At Home with the Braithwaites
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At Home with the Braithwaites is a British television program about a typical suburban family from Leeds. It was first broadcast on January 20, 2000. The show begins when, on her 40th birthday, the mother of the family — Alison Braithwaite — wins 38 million pounds on the lottery, from a ticket 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 his secretary 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 recent tabloid interview, the actress confirmed that a one-off Christmas special had been planned for 2004, however claimed that ITV 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 writer Sally Wainwright who initially came to prominence with her work on Coronation Street. Wainwright has gone on to work with actress Sarah Smart who played Virginia Braithwaite, scripting starring roles for her in two other dramas; Sparkhouse and Jane Hall.
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[edit] 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)
[edit] Series 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.
[edit] Series 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.
[edit] Series 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 is pregnant - 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 her teacher. Luckily, the Braithwaites manage to get their fortune back before the end of the series with the help of Ray Winstone.
[edit] Series 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!
[edit] Overseas
The series has been shown on ABC and UK.TV in Australia, TV One and Prime in New Zealand, NRK in Norway, RTV Slovenija in Slovenia and BBC America in the United States and TVB in Hong Kong.
[edit] DVD release
Series One, Two and Three of At Home with the Braithwaites are available on DVD (Region 2, UK) from Network Network DVD
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).
