Zoë Wanamaker

The 10th series of this surprisingly popular sitcom about an average middle-class family trundles on, with an episode mixing elements of psychological thriller and music-hall farce, as father Ben Harper (Robert Lindsay) discovers that his neighbour Martin (Sam Kelly) has built a creepy shrine to Ben's wife Susan (Zoë Wanamaker). Cue a bungled attempt at breaking into Martin's house, a call from the police and a crisis which only an apology and a sharp pair of scissors can untangle.

Tonight's episode of this usually lumbering sitcom perks up with a plotline that puts an amusing slant on competitive parenting. When the Harpers' son Michael (Gabriel Thomson) announces he's gay, the focus is less on the shock of his homosexuality than on Susan's (Zoë Wanamaker) fury that the boy chose to come out to his father, Ben (Robert Lindsay) and not her.

Much derided by the critics, this gentle sitcom is nothing if not resilient. Tonight marks the beginning of its 10th series, a feat which seems all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that there is no longer a family to speak of, the kids having grown up and left home years ago. There are still some decent lines - "putting sealant round the bath does not qualify as a present!" - but it's hard to shake the feeling that, after a decade on air, Zoë Wanamaker (as mother Susan Harper) and Robert Lindsay (as her husband Ben) are largely going through the motions.

Never let it be said that My Family avoids meaty issues. Series 10 opens with a searing indictment of benefit fraud. Or rather, it stars Robert Lindsay as Ben, who hams it up in a wheelchair when he mysteriously receives cheques he's not entitled to for disability allowance.

Some might say the wheels came off My Family years ago but still it bowls along unstoppably while Daniela Denby-Ashe and Zoe Wanamaker get blonder, curlier and ever more theatrical.

Right now, Janey's nine-year-old son Kenzo is acting all the grown-ups off screen simply by doing not very much, while Wanamaker's Susan comes on like Lady Macbeth: The Panto Years.

Criticising the quality of the scripts recently, she said: "You sometimes have to use all of your talent to make it sound OK." Perhaps she could try using a little less of her talent.

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Robert Lindsay interview

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The good news is that there are laughs aplenty in this hour-long festive edition; the bad is that you'll have to wait at least 10 minutes before they start. That's due to the creaky device of pitching the Harper clan 30 years into the future in order to have flashbacks of their worst (ie most insanely destructive) Christmases past. But the wait is mostly worthwhile as the cast led by Robert Lindsay, Zoë Wanamaker and Nathaniel Parker throw themselves into the fun with abandon.

This year's Christmas special is set in the year 2039. Ben has turned grey. His son Michael has lost his hair, daughter Janey has put on weight and the living head of Roger sits in a glass bowl on the sideboard. Otherwise, it's business as usual, with the family reminiscing about Christmases past and looking back on "injuries, law suits and mental scars that therapy has yet to heal". In an impressively honest interview to mark My Family's 100th episode Zoë Wanamaker talked about the unevenness of the scripts. "You sometimes have to use all of your talent to make something that sticks in your craw sound OK," she said. But despite all their talent, they can't even begin to make this one sound OK.

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.