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{{infobox television |
| show_name = Family Affairs
| caption =
| image = [[Image:Familyaffairs.jpg|right|250px]]
| format = [[Soap Opera]]
| runtime = 30 [[minute|min]] per episode
| creator = UNKNOWN
| starring = (current cast)
[[Rosie Rowell]] -
[[Leah Coombes]] -
[[Kazia Pelka]] -
[[Gary Webster]] -
[[Kate Williams]] -
[[Florence Hoath]] -
[[Ebony Thomas]] -
[[Perdita Avery]] -
[[Nicola Duffett]] -
[[Gareth Hale]] -
[[Ryan Davenport]] -
[[Graham Bryan]] -
[[Andrew Hinton-Brown]] -
[[Hosh Kane]] -
[[Adam Rhys Dee]] -
[[Robyn Page]] -
[[Jan Harvey]]br>
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| network = Five ([[Five (TV)]])
| first_aired = [[31 March]], [[1997]]
| last_aired = [[30 December]], [[2005]]
| num_episodes = 2285
|}}
'''''Family Affairs''''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[soap opera]]. The flagship soap on [[Five (TV)|five]], it was the first programme to air on [[March 30]], [[1997]], the channel's launch night, and has aired every weeknight since. It is the first British English-language soap to air five episodes regularly every week. <!--- NOTE: It is NOT the first British soap to air five episodes regularly every week, the Welsh-language Pobol y Cwm was doing it 9 years earlier, and still is. --->
On [[August 2]], [[2005]], five announced that they would not be renewing ''Family Affairs'' for another year and that shooting would cease in October, meaning that the last episode will air in December.
==History==
The show was initially based around a single family, the Harts, consisting of parents Chris ([[Ian Ashpitel]]) and Annie ([[Liz Crowther]]) and their four children: ladies' man Duncan ([[Rocky Marshall]]), confused 24-year-old virgin Holly ([[Sandra Huggett]]), police constable Melanie ([[Cordelia Bugeja]]), and schoolboy Jamie ([[Michael Cole]]). Chris and Annie's parents were also to be featured, including grumpy granddad, Angus ([[Ian Cullen]]), and on the other side of the family, the staunchly conservative Grandma Elsa ([[Delena Kidd]]) and philandering Grandpa Jack ([[Ken Farrington]]). All of the show's storylines centred around the Hart family and their friends and acquaintances living in the fictitious town of Charnham. Other initial characters included Chris's business partner, Nick Trip ([[Barry McCormick]]), Melanie's bubbly best friend Claire Toomey ([[Tina Hall]]), Annie's baby-obsessed friend Maria ([[Annie Miles]]) and Duncan's loyal drinking partners, Tim ([[Idris Elba]]), and Roy ([[Miles Petit]]).
Later in 1997, Maria's ex-husband, the villainous Pete Callan, played by ex-[[Brookside]] resident [[David Easter]], appeared in town. He became an instant hit with the viewers and would remain in the show until 2005, making Pete the longest-running character in the soap's nine-year history. Sassy bisexual Susie Ross ([[Tina Landini]]) and Nick's troublesome teenage son Liam ([[Stephen Hoyle]]) also arrived to spice up Charnham, and producers even managed to secure a guest appearance by entrepreneur [[Peter Stringfellow]].
However, it soon became clear, not least due to the poor ratings, that the close-knit family approach simply wasn't working for ''Family Affairs'', and the production team drafted in 'the axeman' [[Brian Park]], famous for his ruthless overhaul of [[ITV]]'s [[Coronation Street]], to reinvent the show. It was decided that the Harts and various other characters should be written out, and in the interim period a plethora of diverse new characters was brought in to replace them. The newcomers were headed by former [[Prime Suspect]] star [[Richard Hawley (actor)|Richard Hawley]], who played loveable rogue Dave Matthews, an accomplished wheeler-dealer and extramarital love interest for Annie Hart. Dave and his shameless chain-smoking wife Cat (ex-EastEnder [[Nicola Duffett]]) quickly became popular fixtures and would remain with the show for years to come. Among the other new faces to arrive in late 1998 were teenager with attitude, Yasmin McHugh ([[Ebony Thomas]]) and resident busybody Sadie Hargreaves ([[Barbara Young]]), both of whom were to play a major part in shaping the show's future.
On January 29th [[1999]], what was left of the central Hart family was wiped out in one fell swoop when, on Roy and Melanie's wedding day, a gas explosion swept through the boat on which the reception was being held. Roy was the only survivor. Immediately, the show's theme tune and opening titles were revamped to reflect a grittier feel, while Charnham itself was uprooted from Kent, losing such locations as The Lock wine bar and the picturesque Charnham Marina, and was repositioned as the fictitious W15 borough of West London. All the remaining characters gradually began to move into a more defined area of Charnham - namely Stanley Street, the screen name for a huge outdoor set at the soap's headquarters which had been constructed to house the new-look ''Family Affairs''. Complete with a new drinking hole, The Black Swan, a grocery store, an antiques shop, a cybercafé and even a tube stop, Charnham Station, the world of Charnham shortly became thus limited, reducing the necessity for expensive ___location shots and confining much of the action to the one street. Throughout the rest of 1999 and 2000, the departures of Claire, Nick and Maria left Roy Farmer as the show's only remaining original character (although Claire later returned, hardened by her disastrous marriage to Pete, for a lengthy period spanning 2000 to 2003).
Before long the show came under fire due to the fact that Stanley Street seemed to be populated entirely with numerous single twentysomethings, resulting in a bed-hopping formula that was perceived as having become very tired very quickly: the storylines that didn't revolve around Pete Callan and his various crimes and spouses tended to involve a slew of younger characters with an alarmingly fast turnover. In order to compensate, and to return the show to its roots, producers brought in a new family in early 2000, the Warringtons, who soon became embroiled in scandal of their own when mum Nikki ([[Rebecca Blake]]) embarked upon a tempestuous affair with her stepson Luke ([[Royce Cronin]]). Their relationship became one of the show's most memorable storylines, and was played alongside that of Pete Callan's latest misdemeanour - framing new wife Siobhan ([[Jemma Walker]]} for the murder of Dave's son, Josh ([[Terry Burns]]), when in fact it was Pete who had battered him to death with a candlestick in his own kitchen.
As 2001 came around the Warringtons were extended to include their relatives, the Webbs/Ellises, comprising Nikki's brother, Matt ([[Matthew Jay Lewis]]), his girlfriend Karen ([[Tanya Franks]]) and Karen's brother and nephew, Jim and Paul ([[Jo Dow]] and [[Martin Delaney]]), the former of whom provided a second husband for Cat and the latter of whom soon paired up with [[Angela Hazeldine]]'s character, orphaned Gemma Craig, who was now a long-standing member of the show along with her foster-mother, Fern ([[Belinda Sinclair]]), who was married to Roy's father Vince ([[Stephen Yardley]]). Karen, meanwhile, embarked upon a controversial lesbian affair with her child's surrogate mother, Australian-born Kelly Hurst ([[Nicky Talacko]]). The scandal also allowed for a guest appearance by Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]'s father-in-law, [[Tony Booth]], as Kelly's father (and Sadie's brother-in-law) Barry.
2002 arrived, and Charnham received another breath of fresh air in the form of Cat's niece Geri Evans ([[Anna Acton]]), and yet another new family, the ill-fated Davenports.
By late 2003 constant cast reshuffles left just a handful of old characters on board, with Pete, Sadie, Yasmin, Cat and Dave as the only old characters remaining in the show. Pete Callan was now the show's longest-serving character, who had now gone on to marry his fourth but most deadly wife, feisty Eileen Day ([[Rosie Rowell]]), who, along with her fiercely independent daughter Lucy ([[Julia Lee Smith]]), was involved in much of the action in Charnham from this point up until the end of the show in 2005. The Davenports, it was agreed, were not working out as a family, and the father, Robert ([[Brian Cowan]]) was killed off in a dramatic car smash along with Fern Farmer. In September 2003 another revamp began; the Warringtons, Webbs and Ellises were also hastily written out as new Series Producer Alison Davis arrived, presented with the onorous task of finally getting viewing figures up to an acceptable standard. The biggest casualty of her arrival was the death of original character Roy Farmer, whose apparent murder became the centre of one of his arch-enemy Pete Callan's biggest storylines to date.
Meanwhile, another series of new characters were brought in to remould ''Family Affairs'' once again. Undoubtedly the most significant of these were the Costello family, with members portrayed by such television veterans as [[Kazia Pelka]] as highly-strung mum Chrissy, [[Kate Williams]] as dependable gran Myra and [[Gary Webster]] as the mild-mannered dad, Gary. With a winning combination of original storylines (such as Chrissy's compulsive lying and the more recent child abuse storyline) and likeable characters, the Costellos have become the show's central figures. Other important newcomers in 2003 included the fractious Boulter family, a young 'couple' comprising nurse Tanya ([[Carol Starks]]) and her gay best friend Sean ([[Sam Barriscale]]), and last but least, a third husband for both Cat and Yasmin in the form of salt-of-the-earth Doug (played by comedy veteran [[Gareth Hale]]) and his womanising son, Marc ([[Michael Wildman]], and later [[Graham Bryan]]). Younger son and local clown Justin ([[Ryan Davenport]]) was to provide some much-needed comic relief. Over at the Swan, we were introduced to two recurring villains capable even of rivalling Pete: the sinister Mike Shaw ([[Tony O'Callaghan]]) and psychotic Trish Wallace ([[Gabrielle Glaister]]). Following on from Mike and Eileen's inadvertent murder of Roy in order to frame Pete for arson, producers took great pleasure in playing Pete and Eileen off against each other as they lied, cheated and stabbed one another in the back, culminating in a dramatic 2000th episode in late 2004, and Pete's eventual comeuppance following an armed showdown between Pete, Trish and Eileen in September 2005. After almost a decade of tyranny in Charnham, Pete Callan was finally dead.
As well as Pete, several other characters, including Sadie, Dave and Lucy, were gradually given their marching orders as Alison Davis ended her reign at the soap to be replaced by ex-[[Hollyoaks]] producer, Sean O'Connor. O'Connor quickly outlined his huge plans for the show, including a name change and many new younger, more glamorous characters - some of which have already been introduced - although his plans have been cut short by the news that [[Five (TV)|five]] will not be renewing the soap's contract for 2006. The revelation means that producers are in the unfortunate position of having numerous barely-known new characters for the finale, making the final episode all the more challenging to pull off convincingly.
==Current Cast==
As of October 11th 2005, the regular contract cast of ''Family Affairs'' were as follows:
* [[Rosie Rowell]] plays Eileen Callan, brassy landlady of The Black Swan pub
* [[Hosh Kane]] plays Sami Shafiq, the single, gay, Muslim owner of Dusty's Store
* [[Jan Harvey]] plays Babs Woods, shop assistant and glamorous grandmother
* [[Nicola Duffett]] plays Cat MacKenzie, a narcotic-dependent beautician with a heart of gold
* [[Gareth Hale]] plays Doug MacKenzie, Cat's kindly third husband, ex-mayor of Charnham
* [[Graham Bryan]] plays Marc MacKenzie, manager of the Corner Café and Doug's elder son
* [[Ryan Davenport]] plays Justin MacKenzie, builder and Marc's younger half-brother
* [[Adam Rhys Dee]] plays Ben Williams, works for Justin having been released from the YOI
* [[Ebony Thomas]] plays Yasmin Green, formidable (and loud) owner of the Cuti-licious salon
* [[Gary Webster]] plays Gary Costello, local cab driver and husband of Chrissy
* [[Kazia Pelka]] plays Chrissy Costello, receptionist at the Cuti-licious beauty salon
* [[Leah Coombes]] plays Chloe Costello, the ten-year-old daughter of Chrissy and Gary
* [[Kate Williams]] plays Myra Costello, Gary's mother and fond grandmother of Chloe
* [[Florence Hoath]] plays George Fitzgerald, a friendly nurse from St. David's hospital
* [[Perdita Avery]] plays Meredith Lovechild, also a nurse and George's manipulative best friend
* [[Andrew Hinton-Brown]] plays Hector Price, a doctor; housemate of George and Meredith
* [[Robyn Page]] plays Katie Williams, the eldest of the siblings and self-proclaimed maneater
==Storylines==
The show generally concentrates on family-based storylines and marital upsets, although more extreme storylines involving [[murder]], [[rape]], [[prostitution]], [[blackmail]], [[drug use]], and brother-sister [[incest]]uous relationships have also occurred. Perhaps most significantly, ''Family Affairs'' has often been acclaimed for its constant inclusion of minority groups, having featured a higher density of [[gay]] and [[lesbian]] characters over its history than any other British soap. It has also been praised for its treatment and integration of characters from ethnic minorities, notable examples of which include the inimitable Yasmin, who will have been with the show for seven years at its final episode in December, and the more recent addition of a gay Muslim character, Sami Shafiq ([[Hosh Kane]]).
''Family Affairs'' also went to unprecedented lengths in its treatment of the controversial issue of child abuse; in 2005 the soap won its first British Soap Award for a storyline in which young Chloe Costello ([[Leah Coombes]]) was sexually abused by a family friend. The storyline, backed by the [[NSPCC]], aimed to destroy some unhelpful stereotypes about what we expect a paedophile to be like. Partly as a result of the storyline, Kazia Pelka, who plays Chloe's mother Chrissy, also won the award for Best Dramatic Performance, culminating in a double victory for the show.
[[Category:Soap operas]]
[[Category:Five television programmes]]
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0183068|title=Family Affairs}}
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