''Family'' is an

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series, first broadcast on 29 September 2003, starring

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

and

Jamie Foreman Jamie Foreman (born 25 May 1958) is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in ''Layer Cake'' (2004) and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski's ''Oliver Twist'' (2005). Career Foreman played opposite Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke in Gary Oldm ...

as two gangster brothers operating in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. ''Family'' ran for one series, comprising six episodes. A DVD of the complete series was released on 30 March 2009.

Plot

''Family'' follows a family of London gangsters headed by Ted Cutler ( David Calder). One of his sons, Joey (

), is happily married with two children and tries to keep 'business' separate from home life, while the other son, Dave (

) is a loose cannon with a nasty temper who has just returned from America, where he fled following a family rift. Only Joey sees a way out by running a high class restaurant - but this venture is not without violence.

Production

devised and co-wrote the show alongside scriptwriters Tim Vaughan and Roger Smith. Nick Elliott, controller of

drama, said of the series; "Jamie plays the loopy brother, while Martin is like Al Pacino's character in the Godfather, desperately wanting to be straight but going along with the dodgy stuff. There will also be this father figure. It's a contemporary London gangster show and it will have a lot of authenticity. There'll be a contrast between Martin living a normal suburban lifestyle, then going to meetings to discuss rubbing someone out and being involved in rackets and organised crime. He's got a wife and a daughter who takes cello lessons, who don't know about the other life he leads." Elliott commissioned the six-part series alongside Granada South drama controller, Michele Buck.

Reception

''Family'' was well received by critics and media buyers, who welcomed it as part of a "quality-based offensive" in ITV's autumn schedule. But after a respectable start with 6.1 million viewers watching on 29 September, the programme lost nearly two million viewers, drawing only 4.3 million in the same slot four weeks later. Although there were only two more episodes to be aired, Nigel Pickard, Head of

's programming, ditched the show from its prime time slot and consigned it instead to a graveyard slot of 11:30pm on Wednesdays. This meant that the episode previously scheduled for 27 October 2003 was replaced with a re-run of ''

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

''.

Cast

as Joey Cutler; Ted's youngest son *

as Dave Cutler; Ted's eldest son * David Calder as Ted Cutler; head of the Cutler family *

Simone Lahbib Simone Nicole Jean Lahbib Ould Cheikl (; born 6 February 1965) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her roles as Helen Stewart in the ITV drama series '' Bad Girls'', DCI Alex Fielding in the ITV crime series ''Wire in the Blood'' and Katy L ...

as Jacqueline Cutler; Joey and Dave's younger sister *

Camille Coduri Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Jackie Tyler, the mother of Rose Tyler, in '' Doctor Who'', and also for her roles as Faith in ''Nuns on the Run'', Miranda in ''King Ralph'', and Dot Clapto ...

as Sophie Cutler; Joey's wife * Holley Chant as Yvonne Cutler; Dave's wife, whom he met in America *

Sally Dexter Sally Julia Dexter is an English actress of stage and screen. She won the 1987 Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ''Dalliance''. Her other West End stage credits include the musicals ''Oliver!'' (1994), ''Sister Act'' (2010) and '' ...

as Natalie Parton; Ted's long-term partner * Rachel Crowther as Esmee Cutler; Joey and Sophie's eldest daughter * Florence Bass as Georgia Cutler; Joey and Sophie's youngest daughter *

Linda Marlowe Linda Virginia Marlowe (née Bathurst, born 26 July 1940) is an Australian-born British film, theatre, and television actress. She is noted for her association with Steven Berkoff, performing in many of his theatrical works, creating a one-woman ...

as Jean Cutler; Ted's ex-wife and mother of his children *

Matt Bardock Matthew Arthur Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon. He is an English actor who is known for playing Jeff Collier in ''Casualty'', DS Clive Barnard in ''A Touch of Frost'', DS Davey Higgins in '' The Coroner'', Albie in '' The Lakes'', Mark Craig ...

as Inspector Mickey Fowler; a corrupt police officer * Phil McKee as DS Bob Fletcher; a murder squad detective * Peter Marinker as Ronnie; an ex-con working as the Cutler's business manager * Danny Midwinter as Graham; Joey and Dave's driver and general skivvy *

Crispin Bonham-Carter Crispin Daniel Bonham-Carter (born 23 September 1969 in Colchester, Essex) is an English actor, theatre director, and educator. He was appointed Assistant Head at the Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, in 2019. His best known acting role is that o ...

as Mike; a suspected undercover cop, who is Jacqueline's love interest * Charles Daish as Rory MacLeod; co-owner of McLeod's, a high-class restaurant in the East End *

Pandora Clifford Pandora Clifford (born 13 December 1972) is an English actress who has appeared in various roles on stage and screen including ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', '' Wallander'', ''Taggart'' and ''New Tricks'' Born in 1972 in London, brought up nea ...

as Jenny McLeod; co-owner of McLeod's, who is married to Rory's *

Jo Joyner Joanne Mary Joyner (born 24 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Mandy Carter in Channel 4 drama ''Ackley Bridge''. Since 2018, she has starred as Luella Shakesp ...

as Lucy; service manager at McLeod's, and Dave's love interest * Samuel Clemens as Paul; waiter at McLeod's

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Family (TV Series) 2003 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series ITV television dramas 2000s British television miniseries Television series about families Television series about organized crime Television series by ITV Studios London Weekend Television shows English-language television shows Television shows set in London Films directed by David Drury