My family and other animals (Darren Redmayne)

(Amazon UK link)

Many years ago, it was inexpensive and reliable to buy DVDs from online UK shops to send to Cyprus. I browsed the sites regularly, and bought quite a few classic films at excellent prices. We introduced our sons to some of our favourites from the 1980s, and bought some TV series on DVD too. 

But I hadn’t realised, when I bought it, that ‘My family and other animals’ was a BBC series rather than a single film. So for various reasons, we hadn’t seen it. I loved the book, which I first read when I was about twelve, and most recently in 2006. 

The story is well-known, based on what actually happened. Gerald Durrell and his family moved to Corfu when Gerry was twelve. He was passionate about animals of all kinds, and brought many of them home. His mother was mostly calm and long-suffering, and dealt not just with Gerry’s increasing menagerie, but with the foibles and demands of her older three offspring. Larry wanted peace and quiet to type, Leslie kept shooting things, and Margo liked to sunbathe and go out with a series of unsuitable men. The book has a nice balance of amusing family situations, and Gerald’s discoveries and acquisitions. 

We finally watched the TV series over the past month or so, a couple of episodes at a time. It was made in 1987 though it looks older than that. But the book was set in the 1930s, so it’s inevitably rather old-fashioned in style. And, as far as I recall, it sticks quite closely to the book. Hannah Gordon and Brian Blessed are billed as the stars, and they are both excellent. 

Hannah Gordon is exactly as I imagined Mrs Durrell - quite laid-back about her quirky family, and with a sense of humour. Brian Blessed is perfect as Spiro, too, their self-appointed Corfiot guide and chauffeur, who becomes a close family friend. Most of the locals in the series are clearly locals from Corfu; they are similar enough to Cypriots that we found a lot of the local scenes quite familiar, even though they happened over 90 years ago. 

It’s quite slow-moving, which is fairly typical of films and shows made in the 1980s, but also reflects the slow lifestyle that the family adopts. There are some great scenes with dialogue which I’m fairly sure was taken directly from the book, and the chemistry between the family members feels entirely believable. Larry’s demands increase, and his mother goes along with them, wanting to keep the peace. 

So there are scenes of the family at mealtimes, and also quite a few showing their attempts to have Gerald (Darren Redmayne) educated with a variety of different tutors. Theodore (Christopher Godwin), with his stammer, is just as I recall him from the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the family scenes, with the authentic backgrounds and local people. 

On the other hand, I didn’t much like the scenes involving local wild-life. There are, in my view, far too many close-ups of lizards, snakes, large insects and more, and I had to hide my eyes several times. I also found myself feeling very sorry for some of the animals, particularly birds, which were housed in cages that seemed rather too small. 

Still, as a series showing events from the book, we thought it very well-done. I would recommend it to fans of the book who would like something that (as far as I recall) sticks really very close to the original. I’d also recommend it to people who are familiar with Greek culture, as it feels so authentic. I’d have preferred it a bit faster-paced and with fewer animal scenes; but Gerald Durrell was famous for his knowledge and treatment of animals later in life, so it’s not unreasonable that they have a significant role. 

Each episode is about half an hour, and they are mostly complete in themselves. The music works well in the background and over the (short, by today's standard) titles sequences.

There are no extras in our DVD series. 

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