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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 406252" data-attributes="member: 673">It is so long since I’ve watched it (it started in September 1998 in Ireland) and because there’s so little of it online, my recollections of the earlier episodes are vague enough. I think initially, it may have had aspirations of being a more middle class version of early Brookside. Because it was fixed on the family interactions so much, I recall a lot of scenes in people’s houses and on Charnham Common, rather than down the local pub or shop (although they did frequent a wine bar but that didn’t really lend itself to the same dramatic possibilities that the Roman Colosseum-like Queen Vic did). And while Brookside managed that type of thing well in the early years, I think Family Affairs may have felt a bit restricted or sluggish as a result (possibly in the same way that Castles was described earlier in this thread).I don’t really recall them getting into the nuanced stuff as they were constantly reinventing the show to try and keep it alive (more on that tomorrow). Before 1997 was out, Maria’s ex husband Pete Callan (David Easter) had been brought in as the villain while within 12 months of premiering, the show was becoming more like the other UK soaps of the time, with a shop setting being introduced and the aforementioned wine bar (The Lock) becoming a more prominent setting after Pete bought it. So for all of the talk of being different and focusing on the family, they were following the standard UK soap template within a year.Quite a few familiar-ish soap faces popped up in it over the years. Annie Miles who played Sue (she of the controversial scaffolding murder) in Brookside was part of the original cast as was Ken Farrington (Corrie’s Billy Walker and later Emmerdale’s Tom King). Howards’ Way couple Jan Harvey & Stephen Yardley both appeared in it (although I don’t think their stints overlapped). Nicola Duffett (who played Nigel’s wife Debbie in EE) had a lengthy run on the show. Margi Clarke appeared as Pete’s mother while Brookside & Corrie star Gabrielle Glaister appeared in the final year. It was actually a starting point in a lot of actors careers who’d go on to appear in more high profile roles in other soaps (Tanya Franks, Richard Hawley, Rupert Hill to name a few). And of course, it was one of Idris Elba’s early TV roles.</blockquote>

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