diveinthedark-89834 The 1990s; The persistence of the nuclear family, The end on Thatcherism, the media-domination of Princess Di and the emergence of the digital age. Yes it's ALL present here in this witty, realistic comedy about the average British family struggling to maintain that status ! Essentially about carnage-obsessed son David, dysfunctional teenage daughter Jenny, semi-juvenile Dad Ben(hence the .4!) and straight- laced Mum and family boss Bill, not to forget UK comedy's mandatory slut-next-door Rona, the 1990s family household was portrayed pretty much EXACTLY as it was in real life, with little exaggeration! Facing all the contemporary family issues of unemployment (hence the extremely realistic jobcentre interview!), teenage relations, 'controversial' youth culture (that's revolting! My son a metalhead!), NHS faults (We lost him...No no,I mean we literally lost him!) and inadequate banking (I'm your Pers-On-Al Bank-Er),the show gave the British public a good chance to laugh off all the everyday chaos of contemporary society ! Family-friendly yet with plenty of innuendo - "I'm waiting for him to pot the pink"; "Aren't We All!" - a universal audience could enjoy the hilarity of flatulent dogs, Bimbo housewives, Star Trek funerals and (unexplicitly portrayed) strip dancers. Not to forget the gloriously kitsch sing-songs at the end of the Christmas episodes !All in all, this light-hearted perspective of the complexities of everyday life was witty and entertaining, yet insightful and loosely thought-provoking; if only they'd known back in 1994 that 15 years later 'Electronic Mail' would be mandatory! I give it 9/10 for being ALMOST PERFECT!

RaspberryLucozade Average family sitcoms have usually been popular with viewers over the years, such as 'Bless This House', 'Bread' and 'Keep It In The Family'. '2 Point 4 Children' is nothing like any of these. In fact, it probably has more in common with Matt Groening's animated classic 'The Simpsons'.The Porter family are an average family who seems to find themselves in all manner of surreal situations. The matriarch of the family is the long suffering Bill ( played the the gorgeous Belinda Lang ), who like Marge Simpson, is able to keep hold of her sanity despite the never ending stream of chaos that takes place around her. Her husband Ben ( were they any relation to 'The Flower Pot Men'? ), like Homer Simpson, was an overweight, overgrown child who worked as a central heating repairman. The children, who could be the Lisa and Bart equivalents, are Jenny and David, her a bright but fiery individual and he a mischievous delinquent with a fondness for horror movies.Bill initially works in a bakery with her man-mad friend Rona ( Julia Hills, who I thought was one of the hottest women on television in the '90's ) but in later episodes they end up running their own catering business.Lang and Hills made a formidable comic pairing however the late Gary Olsen was the one who stole the show as the laddish Ben. He was taken from us incredibly young in 2000 at the age of 42 after losing a battle with cancer. The lovely Claire Woodgate ( now known as Georgina Cates ) played Jenny in the first two series but her place was later taken by the equally sexy Claire Buckfield. John Pickard portrayed tearaway David. Other appearances included Kim Benson as Ben's surly assistant Christine, Liz Smith as Bill's interfering, chain-smoking mother, Patricia Brake ( later replaced by Sandra Dickinson ) as Ben's snooty sister Tina and and Alex Kew as Declan.Andrew Marshall, like his former partner David Renwick, may not have ever created outstanding comedy ( that's my personal view at least ) but he knew how to write funny dialogue and was unafraid to explore darker areas.Among some of the funniest moments included Rona and Bill attempting to bring back duty free alcohol from France, only to end up accidentally smuggling back a dangerous animal, Ben being stuck on top of a piano which ends up careering at speed down a hill, Ben purchasing a life-size replica of the FAB-1 car from 'Thunderbirds' and a very funny spoof of Patrick MacGoohan's '70's drama 'The Prisoner'. Less funny were the Christmas specials, usually featuring a spoof musical item at the end of each episode.The first three series were released on DVD some time ago however clearance issues have prevented further releases. UK Gold ran all eight series a few years ago however it is unlikely to be seen again anytime soon, which is sad as while it is no classic, it is superior to many modern sitcoms such as 'My Family' or 'Gavin & Stacey'. The thought of '2 Point 4 Children' festering away somewhere in a vault whilst something as lame as 'Miranda' gets nominated for an award makes my heart sink

Jane Ridley Typical 90's comedy, situational comedy similar to our modern day "My Family". Thatcher being the height of most political jokes, Bill (Belinda Lang) blames Thatcher for anything she can. "Bloody Thatcher" possibly shared with most of us. David the typical teenager, cutting up brains with bread knives, Jenny, the moody older teenage child, only interested in boys and more boys. Bill and Ben working as much as they can to keep their family afloat struggling within the economical climate of the early 90's. Granted the first two series were not as successful as the latter however, series 3 onwards is where it all kicks off with more laughs that i care to count. overall this show didn't get the best viewing times and they ought to have held on a bit longer. clearly they couldn't have carried on after Gary Olsen died but i think they should get rid of "catherine Tate" "the office" "little Britain" and bring back the classics!

Julia The BBC has brought us many exceptional programmes which have broken the boundaries of comedy. Unfortunately this was not one of them. It was completely predictable, devoid of originality and lacking in any comic capacity. It was a nice try and the actors had some skill which was completely wasted. Perhaps they should consider pantomime of which they are ideally suited. I only thank God its over and hope the BBC can finally bring us good comedy.