Families (TV series)
| Families | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Kay Mellor |
| Starring |
Malcolm Stoddard Morag Hood see Main cast section for longer list |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 320 (There were actually 324 episodes, with episodes 323 and 324 making up the final episode, subsequent repeats on Granada Plus showed these as separate episodes). |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30mins |
| Production company(s) | Granada Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 23 April 1990 – 24 August 1993 |
Families was a daytime soap opera produced by Granada Television from 1990 to 1993 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. It was produced and recorded at Studio 6 at Granada Studios in Manchester.
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. This plot line was somewhat similar to the opening storyline of the popular Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters which had successfully aired on ITV daytime since 1983.
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 Australian-based characters (including Diana Stevens and her husband Anton Vaughan) were re-located to England.
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