Robert Lindsay

Big Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker Interview

As the BBC sitcom reaches its 100th episode, Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker explain why playing sweet can be hard work. After various run-ins the stars became concerned about the consistency of the writing. There were even times when they refused to perform because they were so unhappy. This was not just a one-off either, Lindsay adds. "There is some real dross in there and we are aware of it," he says. "We had many fights. Out of 100 episodes maybe we've done ten that you can say are really good shows."

Zoe Wanamaker and Robert Lindsay star in this fun family sitcom, now in its ninth series. The most popular comedy of recent years, this series about the doings of a middle-class family in Chiswick has been trundling along for the best part of a decade.

You know just where you are with this sitcom. The gags are set up and knocked down with metronomic precision; the characterisations are as subtle as a sledgehapper; the laughter comes right on cue; and there's nothing too risque - unless you find the odd sexual innuendo offensive. In fact, it's so middle-of-the-road that you can almost see the white line painted down it.

The only surprise is that there's no sign of Zoe Wanamaker in this first episode of the new series (apparently Susan is staying with her mother). Responsibility for generating the laughs, therefore, lies mainly in Robert Lindsay as Ben Harper who gets into an argument at a pub quiz.

Viewers cosy up to My Family

BBC1's family orientated sitcom My Family is still a huge attraction for viewers even with the show now entering its ninth series. The long-running sitcom, starring Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker, which first aired in 2000 was the nation's most watched sitcom last year out of the 32 that ran.

I don't know anyone who watches this BBC show and yet it's been a ratings winner for years. Robert Lindsay is a put-upon dentist and Zoe Wannamaker is his wife who can't cook. So far, so Butterflies... except that Butterflies was original. My Family is generic in every way you can think of: generic middle class family, generic plots, generic storylines, generic laughter...

The soporific family sitcom lumbers away, garnering ratings, which can only be due to the talent and likeability of the two leads, Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker, as they face weak domestic dramas episode after episode. Cue the sound of canned laughter.

While I love Peep Show and Garth Marenghi and all those cool shows, I'm quite happy to admit that I've always thought that the first few series of My Family were alright, and better than alright on occasion.

But now it's just so workman-like. Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker even recently refused to record an episode they thought was too poorly written to be associated with, and are clearly now just using it to pay the bills. Kris Marshall jumped shipped years ago, and the new characters haven't added a great deal. The fact that it's middle-class and filmed in front of a studio audience isn't the problem, the fact that there's no life left in the show is. Last night's episode was plodding in the extreme, and you've got to say that this series of My Family should really be the last.