Family Affairs

[Ben]

Oh, it was very well researched and plotted. All of the Costellos big storylines were.

She was the first actor to ever win a BSA for the show, and rightly deserved it was. It put the show on the map, and got people to look at it differently. This was why the cancellation was such a shock. I guess Channel 5 were tiring of the show, and thought the positive exposure of the awards would suddenly translate into bigger ratings, which didn't happen. They said the show had a £1 million budget, and it was a cost saving measure; I guess splashing £40 million on Home & Away left them strapped for cash...

Edited October 20, 2012 by Ben

[DRW50]

The Yasmin stuff in the first articles in this post - was that a main story, or a B or C level story? I think the brothers both wanting her is a little trite.

It seems like they wanted to take Pete's stories in a very different direction when he returned, as there's no mention of crime sagas.

Was Charlotte gone by the time he hooked up with her sister?

[DRW50]

Someone uploaded this episode to Dailymotion earlier this year. Not sure what time period of the show its from.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xo8vs1_family-affairs-channel-51997-rar_shortfilms

[Ben]

Yasmin's story with Deke and Ziggy wasn't a main story; it was probably a C-story. I never liked it. None of it felt true, and Yasmin never suited either character. Both characters were dire. I was glad when they left town.

The crime stuff was toned down, but not for long...

Charlotte didn't stick around for as long as I would've liked. She was a good character, who only lasted several months. I can't remember if Charlotte was still around when Pete/Lucy happened - I want to say she wasn't... But don't quote me on that. LOL.

That episode looks like it is from 1998-99, give or take a year.

This first article should have featured further above.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Ben

[DRW50]

That last story sounds very good.

So Pete was with mother and her two daughters. That's one of those wonderful soap records I can never remember how many others have reached.

[Ben]

I'm so sorry Carl (and to anyone else) that the articles have all been deleted. Photobucket redesigned their layout, so I took the opportunity to reorganise the scans, not realizing the links would change! Doh!

I don't remember too much about the Cheryl stalker story. She was a guest character, so she didn't stick around for long. She and Dave weren't that great a couple, IMO. They seemed like they were for the long haul.

[DRW50]

I had to laugh at both ladies saying they didn't want their character with Marc. Way to inspire voting!

Who did he choose?

This story doesn't sound very interesting to me.

[Ben]

Marc (or the viewers) chose Yasmin. However, Geri ended up getting cancer, and Yasmin, finally finding her self respect and dignity (and out of loyalty to Geri) kicked Marc out and got a divorce! Due to the viewer vote, Marc stayed around for a little while not doing anything, until he left town, only to return a year later wanting to get back with Yasmin.

It was more interesting on screen, however, Marc wasn't an interesting character, really. It was also the first time a British soap had launched an interactive service like this. I did wonder if TPTB were inspired by Days viewer vote in 2001, to choose the father of Hope's baby...

This is the last batch of articles. I'll post some character/story bios to help fill in the blanks of some these, too.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Ben

[DRW50]

From the side in that one article Caleb looks like Lenny Henry.

The show seemed committed to a diverse canvas, at least.

I'd never heard of this Denise.

Did Sean and Tanya do artificial insemination?

[Ben]

The longer the show went on, the more diverse it got. I'd say, it was the best at diversity, as you never really had stereotypes, and they weren't afraid to mix it up and have black or Asian characters be both villains and good guys, or gay characters not being just white. You know what I mean? These days, everything is scrutinised and analysed, and people complain about this and that. I guess maybe being a minority soap, it was never in the public spotlight to be critiqued to death.

The Boulters came into the latter half of 2005, and while the family wasn't that great to begin with, Denise's rape put them on the map and showcased how talented they were (well, how talented Denise was - she'll be good on EE, I hope).

I'm sure Sean and Tanya did... it sounds familiar, and a story that writes itself.

I'm not seeing the Lenny Henry comparison, but maybe that's b/c he's older and tubbier these days.

[DRW50]

He looks like him in that Final Kiss article.

So the Boulters came in at the very end?

[Ben]

Looking at Wiki, I'm totally mistaken. It says the Boulters arrived in December 2003 and were all gone by the latter half of 2005. This makes more sense, otherwise their stories would have been all squashed in to a few months!

Here's a brief story overview for Denise Boulter.

[DRW50]

That taxi rape story was originally on Brookside, I think.

[Ben]

Really?! It was a good storyline. Graham was one of those characters who was nice to everyone, but then nasty to Denise. At one point, she let doubt filter through and started to believe she was mistaken and even apologised to him, but then he switched and revealed she was right all along. He was so nasty and creepy, who had no remorse; he totally got off on terrorising/taunting her, knowing that no-one believed her. It went on for months, and was so good when Denise was finally able to unmask him.

Here's Pete and Eileen's bios, and you can see how there stories intertwine.

[DRW50]

No mention of the threesome.

Why did Pete shoot at the police? Was he wanted? Was he having a breakdown?

Eileen sounds like such a mess I'm surprised the town was happy to have her back.

So they brought her back because they knew the show was ending? That was nice of them. Did they bring anyone else back?