At Home with the Braithwaites

At Home with the Braithwaites
DVD cover for Series 3
Genre	Comedy-drama
Starring	Amanda Redman Peter Davison Sarah Smart Sarah Churm Keeley Fawcett
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	48 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV)
Original run	20 January 2000 – 9 April 2003

At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright (except for the final four episodes). The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery. It was broadcast on ITV1, for 26 episodes, from 2000 to 2003.

At the beginning of the first series, each member of the Braithwaite family has an issue. Alison (mother) has to decide what to do with the winnings, and when to tell her family. David (father) is having an affair with Elaine, his secretary at work. Virginia (eldest daughter) is on the verge of flunking out of university. Sarah (middle daughter) has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte (youngest daughter) suspects that her mother may be the mystery lottery winner.

Cast

• Amanda Redman as Alison Braithwaite
• Peter Davison as David Braithwaite
• Sarah Smart as Virginia Braithwaite
• Sarah Churm as Sarah Braithwaite
• Keeley Fawcett as Charlotte Braithwaite
• Julie Graham as Megan Hartnoll
• Kevin Doyle as Mike Hartnoll
• Lynda Bellingham as Pauline Farnell
• Sylvia Syms as Marion Riley
• Judy Holt as Elaine Fishwick (Series 1, 2 and 4)
• Ray Stevenson as Graham Braithwaite (Series 2 and 3)
• Lucy Whelan as Tamsin
• Hazel Douglas as Audrey Crowther
• Damian Zuk as Phil Skidmore
• Ishia Bennison as Denise Skidmore
• Garry Cooper as Colin Skidmore (Series 1, 2 and 3)
• Adam Rayner as Nick (Series 4)
• Scott Cooper as Jordan Fishwick (Series 4)

Adam Harrison & Jamie Harrison as baby William (Series 3)

Series One (2000)

In the first series (six episodes), Alison decides, for the time being, to not tell her family about the lottery win, as she worries it may have a negative effect on them. In an attempt to do something good with the money, she starts a charity, with the help of a good friend, Marion, and an idealistic out-of-work accountant, Pauline. David begins to regret having started an affair. Virginia falls in love with their the new next door neighbour, the selfish and manipulative Megan. A group of journalists attempt to track down and reveal the identity of the mystery lottery winner. Sarah has her advances toward her drama teacher rejected, and she reacts by sleeping with Phil, the boy next door, and becomes pregnant. By the end of the series, the truth comes out regarding Alison's lottery win and David's affair.

Series Two (2001)

In the second series (eight episodes), the Braithwaites have moved in to a mansion in the countryside. Alison and David struggle in an attempt to rebuild their marriage, and end up separating. Alison then has a romance with David's brother, Graham, much to David's dismay, until she realises that Graham is still seeing his wife. Sarah gives birth to a baby boy, William, and gets married to Phil in secret. Charlotte starts getting bullied at school, because of her family's new found wealth. Virginia is going out with Tamsin, a kind and sensible girl, but is still obsessed with Megan. By the end of the series, Alison and David decide to give their marriage another go.

Series Three (2002)

In the third series (six episodes), Alison discovers that she is pregnant with Graham's baby. David suggests that they pretend he is the father, until it comes out that Graham actually is. Tamsin is also pregnant, as the result of a one night stand with a guy from university. She and Virginia decide to raise the child together, until Tamsin realises that Virginia is still infatuated with Megan. A newspaper print a story saying that it was 12-year-old Charlotte who purchased the winning lottery ticket, and the lottery company take the family to court, claiming back all 38 million pounds. A heavily pregnant Alison cracks and confesses during the trial, forcing the Braithwaites back to their old home and their old lives. Sarah starts seeing a married teacher. By the end of the series, Alison gives birth to a baby girl, Kate, and the family manage to retrieve their fortune following a legal technicality and a retrial.

Series Four (2003)

In the fourth and final series (six episodes), Alison and David start divorce proceedings. Alison has a romance with her gardener, Nick. David starts seeing Elaine again. Sarah quits college and starts a business as a wedding planner. She also discovers that Phil, the father of her child, still has feelings for her. Charlotte starts going out with Jordan, Elaine's son, and the pair hatch a plan to get rid of the lottery winnings that Charlotte believes has caused all of the problems within her family. Virginia has to finally choose between Tamsin, who now has a baby girl, and Megan. Disapproving of her recent actions, Virginia, Sarah and Charlotte all struggle to get along with Alison. The final scene of the series sees the whole family, and their friends, arguing with each other, as Charlotte announces that she thinks she might be pregnant.

Sally Wainwright wrote the first two episodes of this series while Jonathan Harvey wrote the next two with the final episodes written by Katie Baxendale.

Overseas

The series has been shown on ABC1 and UK.TV in Australia, TV3 Ireland in Ireland, TV One and Prime in New Zealand, NRK in Norway, RTV Slovenija in Slovenia, BBC America in the United States, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, YLE in Finland and Yes Plus in Israel.

DVD release

Series one, two, three and four of At Home with the Braithwaites are all available on DVD (Region 2, UK).

The first and second series are also available on DVD (Region 1, USA and Canada) from Acorn Media.

Series one, two, three and four are all available on Region 4 (Aus) DVD individually, and as a complete series box set.

Australia Release:

• At Home With The Braithwaites - Complete Series 1 (2 Disc Set) - 16 February 2007
• At Home With The Braithwaites - Complete Series 2 (2 Disc Set) - 7 May 2007
• At Home With The Braithwaites - Complete Series 3 (2 Disc Set) - 3 July 2007
• At Home With The Braithwaites - Complete Series 4 (2 Disc Set) - 5 September 2007
• At Home With The Braithwaites - The Complete Series (8 Disc Box Set) - 2 December 2007

Ratings

Episode viewing figures from BARB

Series 1

Episode	Date	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Ranking
1	20 January 2000	9,450,000	19
2	27 January 2000	8,190,000	18
3	3 February 2000	8,230,000	18
4	10 February 2000	8,610,000	16
5	17 February 2000	8,560,000	18
6	24 February 2000	9,290,000	13

Series 2

Episode	Date	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Ranking
1	4 January 2001	8,080,000	23
2	11 January 2001	8,300,000	20
3	18 January 2001	8,520,000	23
4	25 January 2001	8,200,000	24
5	1 February 2001	7,840,000	26
6	8 February 2001	8,990,000	16
7	15 February 2001	8,850,000	17
8	22 February 2001	9,170,000	16

Series 3

Episode	Date	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Ranking
1	5 March 2002	7,340,000	16
2	12 March 2002	7,340,000	14
3	19 March 2002	6,930,000	14
4	26 March 2002	6,620,000	17
5	2 April 2002	7,690,000	13
6	9 April 2002	7,730,000	13

Series 4

Episode	Date	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Ranking
1	5 March 2003	8,290,000	17
2	12 March 2003	7,910,000	13
3	19 March 2003	6,390,000	21
4	26 March 2003	7,100,000	17
5	2 April 2003	5,570,000	26
6	9 April 2003	7,010,000	20

External links

• At Home with the Braithwaites at the Internet Movie Database
• At Home with the Braithwaites at TV.com