BBC says goodbye to Chiswick's middle class Harpers after an 11 year run

The BBC has decided to axe Chiswick based sit com My Family after eleven years. The three children of the couple, Ben and Susan Harper played by Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker, have grown up and left the family home so the broadcaster felt it was time to call an end to the long running series deemed 'too middle class' BBC1 boss Danny Cohen.

Cohen said: "Now that all the Harper children have fled the nest we feel it's time to make room for new comedies on BBC1."

With over 100 episodes already screened, the 11th series will be the show's final outing.

Cheryl Taylor, controller of comedy commissioning, said: "We're looking to the future with new families and new comedies that we hope will prove equally popular."

Following his recent appointment to BBC1, Cohen said he wanted to see more of Only Fools And Horses (filmed on South Acton Estate) style of characters and less of Chiswick's middle class My Family.

A BBC insider told The Daily Mail: "Danny is not reinventing the wheel. But he feels the BBC has lost its variety and become too focused on formats about comfortable, well-off middle-class families whose lives are perhaps more reflective of BBC staff than viewers in other parts of the UK.

"One of his priorities is getting more programming that reflects the different social classes and what he describes as “blue collar” comedies. In the past programmes like Porridge, Birds of a Feather and Bread were about real working families and the workings of their lives."

March 28, 2011