So confused by the hate.

Just a small note, Margo is the daughter. Louisa is the mother.

But yea, I really felt at the end of the episode that the family is starting to congeal. There's only two episodes left in the season so I'm hoping they continue on this path.

As for Gerry and his animals. I'm wondering if they'll address the cage thing cos in real life Gerry was a naturalist. He believed in observing animals in their own habitat so maybe he will have a revelation of some sort.

I didn't read the book(s), so I can enjoy this show for its own merits. And I do enjoy it immensely. The characters are all beautifully drawn, warts and all. The locations are beautiful, and the natives all seem to be warm, wonderful people, even the grumpy housekeeper.

I often find myself to be a harsh critic of TV shows and I wouldn't change a thing about this charming little show. It's a jewel.

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You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU ... WILL ... ATONE!

For those overly concerned about the historical correctness about the show, understand the books didn't entirely reflect reality either. Literary license.....


"Durrell fictionalised this period of his sojourn on Corfu in the lyrical novel Prospero's Cell. His younger brother Gerald Durrell, who became a naturalist, published his own version in his memoir My Family and Other Animals (1954), and the following two books of Gerald's so-called Corfu Trilogy, published in 1969 and 1978. Gerald describes Lawrence as living permanently with his mother and siblings—his wife Nancy is not mentioned at all. Lawrence, in his turn, refers only briefly to his brother Leslie, and he does not mention that his mother and two other siblings were also living on Corfu in those years. The accounts cover a few of the same topics; for example, both Gerald and Lawrence describe the roles played in their lives by the Corfiot taxi driver Spiro Amerikanos and the Greek doctor and poet Theodore Stephanides. In Corfu Lawrence became friends with Marie Aspioti, with whom he cooperated in the publication of Lear's Corfu"

The family described in "My Family and Other Animals" was a chalk outline. This show attempts to take the actual story of the family, gathered from multiple sources, and accurately represent it, while also throwing in some modern sensibilities.

It might be ACCURATE that Gerald's mother was little more than a depressed maid, but that's no kind of role model for young people these days. It does us no good to enforce bad examples in our entertainment, in the name of accuracy.

The show follows the tradition that the heart of the family is the mother, and if there is a downside to the ITV adaptation it's that they can't show that a mother isn't 100% necessary for a happy family. Baby steps.

The character of Gerald's brothers seems perfect, and completely in fitting with both the books and the extensive biography available.

Ultimately it's a Sunday, early-evening light entertainment show on ITV with the intention to entertain. An accurate portrayal of the family's life would be profoundly depressing. Why would anyone want that?

Absolutely my favourite ITV show this year, and for the first time in ages that isn't a sarcastic award.

Yes, maybe sometimes. But except for Larry, none of them is an adult yet. Gerry is only eleven years old, and Leslie and Margo are still just teenagers. So they would still have some maturing to do at this point.

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I see.

Well, I have not read those books yet. So I can't compare them to the TV show.