My Family (series 2)

My Family Series 2
My Family Series 2 DVD Cover
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	31 August – 30 November 2001
Season chronology

The second series of the BBC family sitcom My Family originally aired between 31 August and 30 November 2001. The second series was commissioned after good ratings from the first series. The opening episode, "All Roads Lead To Ramon", re-introduces the five main characters from the first series, with the addition of Brian, played by Kevin Bishop, who appeared in nearly every episode in the series. All thirteen episodes in series two are thirty minutes in length. The series was produced by Rude Boy Productions,^[1] a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron.^[2] The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in London,^[3] in front of a live audience.^[4]

Episode Information

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate	Duration	Viewership
9	"All Roads Lead To Ramon"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	31 August 2001	30 minutes	8.94 million
When Nick is fired from an employment agency for being "chronically unemployable", Susan is forced into giving him a job as a tour guide, which proves a disaster. Meanwhile, when Janey has a different boy round each day, each one coaching in her A-Levels, Ben accidentally calls her a prostitute. Also, Stupid Brian (Kevin Bishop) tries to win Janey back, and Ben has dental assistant problems. The agency sends him a temporary assistant, Ramon, who turns out to be Nick in disguise.
10	"The Unkindest Cut"	Dewi Humphreys	Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida	7 September 2001	30 minutes	9.04 million
After a weekend together in Paris, Susan thinks she is pregnant. After discussing whether to have the baby or not, Susan finds out it was a false alarm, but insists Ben has a vasectomy so it does not happen again. Meanwhile, Nick follows Jamie Oliver and becomes a "naked chef".
11	"Parisian Beauty"	Dewi Humphreys	Andrea Solomons	14 September 2001	30 minutes	8.24 million
As part of a French Exchange programme, Sylvie, a French exchange student, comes to stay with the Harpers, but Janey's really only doing it so she can go to Paris with Stupid Brian in return. Sylvie's arrival causes the usual amount of disarray – Michael has to stay in Nick's room and as a result turns into a virtual clone of his older brother and Nick tries to impress Sylvie using a number of different guises. Everything seems to be going well until Ben thinks Sylvie is starting to fancy him.
12	"Trust Never Sleeps"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	21 September 2001	30 minutes	9.55 million
Janey has got an A for French and would like a party. Susan says as she trusts Janey she can have one while they are away visiting friends in Oxford, but Ben thinks she's crazy. Ben and Susan set out for Oxford, but on the way they stop at an off-licence and Ben overhears the salesman talking about a girl whose parents are mad enough to leave her alone to have a party. They decide to sneak home and make sure all is well, and end up having to retreat to their bedroom and hide – they don't want to be discovered by Janey, as she will think they don't trust her.
13	"Death and Ben Take A Holiday"	Dewi Humphreys	Fred Barron	28 September 2001	30 minutes	9.65 million
Ben's Aunt Margaret has died and with Susan in bed with the flu, he has to take one of the kids, he first tries to persuade Michael, and then Janey, to go to Leeds to the funeral with him. They refuse, but Nick asks to come instead. Arriving at the hotel, it seems Ben has brought death on holiday with him, with body bags being taken out of the hotel and then the remains of a crime scene in his bedroom. Janey gives some pills to Susan which she got off stupid Brian and persuades her to take them… they seem to have a positive effect, but arriving at the hotel, Susan finds Nick's date in bed with him and Ben, and to make matters worse, the pills start to have a strange effect on Susan at the funeral.
14	"Driving Miss Crazy"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	5 October 2001	30 minutes	11.00 million
Janey is revising for her driving test, while Ben is having problems with his neighbour Mr Casey (Nickolas Grace) and his dog, Gemma, who always soils the Harper's porch. Mr Casey complains non-stop about Ben's scruffy shed, untidy garden and other things. Both Ben and Mr Casey refuse to back down, and a huge war ensues. Guest: Mr Casey (1st of 3 appearances)
15	"I Second That Emulsion"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	12 October 2001	30 minutes	11.16 million
Susan decides to redecorate the living room, and Stupid Brian offers to do the job, but Susan has problems deciding what colour to paint it, and to make matters worse, Ben goes to a paint shop only to discover Nick working there, who persuades him to buy some. Inevitably, when Ben gets it home it is the wrong colour. After all of the commotion with the paint, Brian still can't start decorating the living room so Janey asks him to stay for the 'day, night and whatever', much to the horror of her parents. Janey comes downstairs to take Brian up to bed. Brian confesses to Ben he doesn't know what to do about staying over. Ben says he doesn't want to know but suggests he pretends to leave, and then climb through Janey's window.
16	"The Age of Romance"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	19 October 2001	30 minutes	11.22 million
Michael has a new computer, Nick had a new girlfriend, and Janey is starting to feel neglected. But there's just the smallest of problems with Nick's girlfriend Amanda – she's old enough to be his mother! Ben jokingly claims she isn't that old, which annoys Susan. When a talk between Susan and Nick fails, Susan suggests Ben talk to him, but the conversation isn't quite what she was probably after when they end up in the cupboard. After a rocky start and some shocks, things seem to be going well, until Susan discovers Amanda is married.
17	"Get Cartier"	Dewi Humphreys	Fred Barron	26 October 2001	30 minutes	11.05 million
When Ben gets a new patient called Mr Smith (Michael Attwell), he suspects that he is an "underworld kingpin", although Mr Smith says his business is "organised dance and waste removal". However, Ben soon starts to get suspicious when he receives lots of gifts, and when Susan finds one of them, a Cartier watch, she thinks Ben has bought it for their upcoming 23rd wedding anniversary.
18	"'Tis A Pity She's A Whore"	Dewi Humphreys	Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida	2 November 2001	30 minutes	11.06 million
When Susan's mother (Avril Elgar) rings and says she's dying again, Janey goes to visit her. She then tells Janey that her mother Mary was a prostitute, which shocks Ben as Susan never told him. Meanwhile, Michael is standing in the school elections as a Conservative, much to Ben's annoyance as he claims it is a "Labour household", but Michael does manage to get Ben a park bench with his name on it.
19	"The Last Supper"	Dewi Humphreys	Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida	9 November 2001	30 minutes	12.54 million
Scott Tailor (Mac McDonald), Susan's new American boss, comes round for dinner. After arguing with him about his new ideas, which includes her dressing up as a Beatle, she triggers his acid reflux disease so he has to sleep in their bed overnight. When he then dies in his sleep, Susan thinks she argued him to death and goes to a priest (Andy Greenhalgh) to confess. Meanwhile, Nick dates a policewoman (Kaye Wragg).
20	"Ben Wants To Be A Millionaire"	Dewi Humphreys	Steve Armogida and Jim Armogida	23 November 2001	30 minutes	11.22 million
Ben and Susan go out to dinner with a multi-millionaire old school friend of his, Andy Banks (Daniel Hill), and his young wife Ambyr (Kim Ross), who is going in for cosmetic surgery. After taking advice from Andy, both Ben and Susan invest in the stock market. Meanwhile, Susan is learning Russian for a new tour group, Janey wants some Prada shoes and Nick tries out two new jobs: selling his organs on eBay, and being a sperm donor.
21	"Breakable"	Dewi Humphreys	James Hendrie and Ian Brown	30 November 2001	30 minutes	11.15 million
Susan finds £1,255 in Nick's trousers, and Nick uses this to buy a motorcycle so he can form a motorcycle stunt display team called The League of Mentalmen. His first performance is at the Peterborough Rock Festival, where he gets injured when he launches himself off a ramp and hits a cow and ends up in hospital with a broken arm, leg, three broken ribs and whiplash. Susan visits Nick and persuades Ben to act fatherly to his son, making him converse with Nick and give him his beloved childhood toy, Sir Edworth Tedworth. She also tries to make Ben confess to Nick that he loves him. Meanwhile, Janey gets a job as a waitress in Soho and hopes to be discovered by film producers, but ends up being fired.

Reception

Viewers

Upon the success of appearing in a prime-time Friday evening slot, the second series was given the same slot for the majority of episodes. The series continued to be a hit with viewers, with the first episode of the series gaining 8.95 million viewers, the second highest rating for the week.^[5] The second series averaged 10.38 million viewers for each episode.

Rank	Episode	Viewership	Audience Percentage
1	The Last Supper	12.54 million
2-3	Ben Wants To Be A Millionaire The Age Of Romance	11.22 million
4	I Second That Emulsion	11.16 million
5	Breakable	11.15 million
6	Tis A Pity She's A Whore	11.06 million
7	Get Cartier	11.05 million
8	Driving Miss Crazy	11.00 million
9	Death And Ben Take A Holiday	9.65 million
10	Trust Never Sleeps	9.55 million
11	The Unkindest Cut	9.04 million
12	All Roads Lead To Ramon	8.95 million
13	Parisian Beauty	8.24 million

References

1. "Sitcom Production Companies".
2. "Rude Boy Productions".
3. "My Family".
4. "Television Audiences".
5. "Weekly terrestrial top 30 (BBC 1) w/e 2 Sep. 2001".

External links

• My Family: Series Two at the British Comedy Guide
• My Family: Series Two at My Family Online
• BBC Comedy- My Family Series 2