My Family And Other Animals

BBC adaptation of Gerald Durrell's bestselling autobiography, telling the story of the naturalist's childhood years spent on the island of Corfu. Escaping the dreary weather of 1930s England, the eccentric Durrell family uproots and ships itself off to the sun drenched Greek island of Corfu. With the help of larger-than-life local taxi-driver Spiro (Omid Djalili), the family, headed by Mother (Imelda Staunton), move to a succession of different, fantastically-coloured villas dotted across the landscape. While his sister Margo (Tamzin Merchant) fights off the advances of would-be suitors, his gun crazy brother Leslie (Russell Tovey blasts the island's bird life to smithereens and the overbearingly intellectual Larry (Matthew Goode) invites a stream of artistic types to stay, young Gerald explores the glorious scenery and the wildlife it has to offer. Watching one sort of the animal kingdom in their natural habitat allows Gerald to learn more incisively about the habits of an altogether different group: his own family.