Review of 2 Point 4 Children

Introduction

2.4 children was originally aired (amazingly) in 1991, though was repeated up until as recently as 1998. In the clear BBC family-sitcom genre tradition of `Not in front of the children` and `Butterflies`, and continued to this day with `My Family`, 2.4 children used many of the same ingredients - but with a few subtle but important twists.
Most notably, the action centred around the lady of the house (Bill) rather than on the man about the house (unbelievably - Ben!). The 2.4 children of the title was both a reference to the average family size of the time (now down to 2.0 a mere decade later) and was dig at the man of the household, making up the 0.4! There are also 2 children (David and Jenny) to provide fun and misery in equal measure too.

In Series 1, Bill (Belinda Lang, who I have had the pleasure and privilege to work with on a number of occasions) is a feisty, sharp-witted working Mother who finds herself in all sorts of dilemmas and difficulties which are generally resolved in time for the end credits, though mixed in with the fun are some issues with real depth and importance. It`s also worth noting that, whilst there is much to enjoy in each separate episode of 2.4, that there is a kind of `soap` style thread that runs from episode to episode, so it pays to watch them in the right order.

For those who can`t recall the fine detail, Bill (that`s the mum) works in a bakery with friend and neighbour, the man-eating Rona, a single-lady of a similar age. In episode 1 a chance meeting with a handsome biker starts to fuel the thought that maybe she has missed out on the wild side of life a little by settling down to family life so quickly. In other words - the series kicks off on a kind of female mid-life crisis.

Ben, her husband (played by the late Gary Olson) is straight talking, instantly likable working guy who`s a plumber by day, and a typical `bloke` by night. David and older sister Jenny are both teenagers (David a couple of years younger than big sis), and Jenny is constantly embarrassed by her parents whilst younger Dave is just plain trouble.
The great thing about the series, and maybe a clue to its incredible popularity at the time (with an audience of over 13 million at its peak) was that it was really very life-like and believable. The house was just a normal house (not the usual `easy to shoot in` mansion that normally features), and the characters everyday life was very much a reflection of most viewers` lives too.

Andrew Marshall had a long pedigree writing for comedians like Kenny Everett, and it`s noteworthy that his writing partner (David Renwick) enjoyed equal success as a solo-scribe with `One foot in the grave`, another show who`s humour relied on situations that would reflect many people`s experiences in everyday life.

Sadly, Gary Olsen tragically died from cancer on 13 September 2000, aged 42, which meant that any possibility of a reunion recording was out of the question.

Video

The picture here is curiously aged. Shot on broadcast quality video which has since been replaced by a `harder` digital format, it has a look that we no longer really see on broadcast TV. Despite it feeling like a relatively recent series, it looks like it belongs to another time. That said, it`s all in perfectly good condition here. As a TV broadcast from over a decade ago it`s naturally 4:3.

Audio

Dolby stereo. Nothing remarkable, but certainly fine.

Features

There`s a very brief and moving tribute to actor Gary Olsen, who tragically passed away at the prime of his career. There`s also a stills-gallery set to music.

The disc itself has a running time of 177 minutes with each episode feeling a little longer than the usual sitcom pack, but these were designed to fit the whole half hour slot sans advertising so you`re getting three hours worth of material here.

Conclusion

I really liked 2.4 Children. It was a little edgier that standard BBC family sit-com, featuring a family that felt real and dealing with issues that reflected that reality. It also achieved that magical mix of humour and pathos that all really great sit-coms seem to do so well (Only fools and Horses, Steptoe and Son, Hancock etc). It`s choc-o-bloc full of laugh aloud moments too. Like when Bill (the mum) walks down the street behind a younger girl. As the young girl passes some leering builders she gets wolf-whistled, and one shouts `nice ar*e!`. As Bill (Belinda Lang) passes, the builders look down at their feet and carry on working. Incensed she turns to see the fat builder bending over to dig. `Nice ar*e!` she shouts, half in anger, half in despair.

Good scripts, perfectly cast, and thoroughly engaging, I`d thoroughly recommend this to nostalgia freaks and the young and curious too. It`s probably worth noting that my 13-year-old daughter really enjoyed this too.