Next of Kin

After To the Manor Born, this is Penelope Keith's best series. The balance between comedy, pathos and relationships between the grandparents and the grandchildren is excellent.

In particular, the growth of the relationships as the series progresses is very natural and at times achingly funny.

Some people cannot grasp the humor stemming from a serious subject, but the characters here are real. Most families are NOT like The Waltons!

Give it a shot if comes on PBS again. If only it had run longer and there were more episodes.

Penelope Keith CBE OBE is better remembered for her roles as Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton in "To the Manor Born" and "The Good Life" as Marjery Ledbetter. In this series which was prematurely shortened, she and William Gaunt plays parents and grandparents who must raise their three orphaned grandchildren after their son and daughter-in-law have died in a car accident. The children are now orphaned and now must be raised by their grandparents who are not normally affectionate towards children even their own son. The news and circumstances that they must endure but the writers do a splendid job in bringing the unlikely pair of grandparents who probably would prefer traveling the world rather than raising their own grandchildren. This show could have been a hit if it was allowed too.

I remember viewing this show on a local PBS station. While I do have a taste for British comedy, the whole dramatic premise just kills it. It could be have been brilliant but the whole idea is flawed: why should we care about three whiny know-it-all brats being taken care of their until-now-unknown grandparents? It's not a show as much as it's being at the funeral of a stranger: you don't know where you fit in, but you rather just be somewhere else. That's how I felt, and felt better when I turned the channel.

Finally saw this comedy series, which ran for 3 seasons in the 1990s. It stars Penelope Keith and William Gaunt as a self-absorbed couple about to retire and move to France, where the food and wine are so much better. On the very verge of their idyll, they receive news that their estranged son and his wife (called Bootface) have been killed in an auto accident and that they are the only kin of the three children. What to do? In short order, their plans for a Continental life are scrapped and the three kids (and various pets) arrive on their suburban doorstep. Two are young teens, and the third is even younger. Keith and Gaunt are faced with at least a decade of child care, schools, and all that comes with raising children.

Yet what ensues is hilarious. The sea change necessary to cope with kids means that Keith and Gaunt have to do a 180 in their lives ... and quickly! The kids are challenging. The oldest, a girl, is a sulky thing with a strict, self-imposed vegetarian diet. The elder boy only eats Spam. The youngest won't eat anything that's round. Gone are the vintage wine collection, the antique car, and all their child-free friends.

The series never gets that fuzzy, warm feeling. As the brittle Maggie, Penelope Keith is wondrous, bemoaning her fate while she deals with the daily regimen of meals and dishes and noise. Gaunt is also excellent as the slightly (only slightly) more tender grandparent who tries to accommodate the demanding kids. The grandparents are resentful. The grandchildren are resentful. Yet they muddle on.

A highlight is a birthday party for the ever-harping girl. Nothing is ever right, and she belittles every around her (she's very realistic) to the point where Keith can't stand another moment and smacks her in the face with a cream pie (a dessert trifle). I imagine audiences across the land cheered. Later, in the girl's bedroom, Maggie asks, "So, did you like your trifle?"

For anyone who has enjoyed Penelope Keith in GOOD NEIGHBORS or TO THE MANOR BORN, this is a must-see series. What a pity the BBC canceled the show after its third season. There was so much more humor to mine.

While I agree that the T.V. series was not really up to much, I seem to remember it being about three children who had been orphaned after their parents were killed in a horrific car accident. Yes the children may have been portrayed as a bit snotty and maybe even up themselves, I think that the story demanded that of them as they have lost the two main elements of their lives then to have to live with two grandparents who are "out of touch to say the least". I thought Penelope Keith was actually very good in the role of the Grandmother who had issues about showing love and adapting to the needs of three young children. I think it was quite moving on occasion for her character to be quite introspective and confronting her feelings.

So Nick, why not actually watch the show first before commenting on it?

Matt.