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Familie

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Familie
GenreSoap opera
Created byHerman Verbaet
StarringSee Current main cast
Opening theme
Country of originBelgium
No. of seasons34
No. of episodes7600+
Production
Camera setupMultiple-camera setup
Running time25–35 minutes (with occasional 50-90 minute episodes)
Production companies
  • Studio's Amusement (1991-2006)
  • Studio-A / Tv Bastards (2006-2018)
  • Zodiak Belgium (2018-2021)
  • Banijay Belgium (2021-)
Original release
NetworkVTM
Release30 December 1991 (1991-12-30) –
present

Familie (Dutch for Family) is a Flemish television soap opera set in Mechelen. Created by Herman Verbaet, Familie was first broadcast on 30 December 1991. It has been broadcast consistently for 5-6 evenings per week, with only 2-3 month hiatuses during summer. It is currently being produced by Banijay Belgium and running on VTM.

Premise

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Pierre Van den Bossche and Anna Dierckx have raised three children. Their oldest son Guido is a bright student, eager to become a business mogul. His younger brother Jan and sister Rita are less gifted and often feel pushed back, but are nevertheless proud of their sibling. Once the children are starting their own family lives, shocking news arrives: Anna is pregnant again and Pierre has been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Pierre dies weeks before the birth of his daughter Marleen. Anna is devastated, but decides to stay strong.

Start of the series

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Anna still mourns her deceased husband Pierre, but as she is turning 65 years old she is also happy to see her children are all doing well. Marleen is now a young adult studying at a fashion academy. Guido has successfully founded the VDB Systems electronics company, is married to the eccentric Marie-Rose De Putter and has two children: Peter and Veronique. Jan also works for the company and married to Monique Stevens, he also has two children: Bart and Mieke. Rita has been struggling due to the death of her first son Paul, the illness of her second son Pierrot and the ongoing rivalry with her sister-in-law Marie-Rose, but manages to find happiness in her singing career and her husband Dirk Cockelaere.

Development of the main characters

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Marleen marries school teacher Ben Van der Venne. When she turns out to be infertile, the couple enters a long adoption procedure. On the day little Lovely finally arrives, fate strikes as Marleen gets fatally hit by a car while crossing the street. Ben has a hard time raising Lovely as a single father, but gets close help of Anna and her new live companion Albert. Eventually, Ben signs on for a development project in Africa and takes Lovely with him, after which contact fades. Years later, grown up Lovely comes to spend a couple of years in Belgium and tells her family that Ben has died.

After losing another child, Rita starts suffering a severe alcohol addiction. Dirk leaves her while she is pregnant of their third child, causing Rita to have a mental breakdown and trying to murder Guido and Marie-Rose. Rita ends up in prison, where she gives birth to another son, which she calls Pierrot again. After being released, she marries fellow alcoholic Rob Gerrits, yet both help each other to get their lives back on track. The family embraces her again and keeps a close eye on her, but cannot prevent her from a handful returns to drinking, such as the one following her divorce from Rob. She eventually revives her music career by signing on as a singer and animator on sea cruises. Pierrot grows up to be a very socially committed young man. After a failed career as a street worker, he moves to South America as a development aid.

Guido is a successful and well-respected businessman who founded the family business; VDB Electroonics. Unfortunately his personal life takes quite a few hits, such as his divorce from the adulterous Marie-Rose and the alleged death of their son Peter. Guido survives multiple murder attempts by his professional enemy Didier De Kunst, yet one of those makes him end up in a wheelchair for many years to follow. Luck seems to get back to his side when Peter turns out to be alive, but shortly after this joyful event, Guido dies following a stabbing incident. Peter rises as his father's successor, while Veronique establishes a fashion company. Years after, the two companies merge into a holding in which both siblings maintain management positions. Workaholic Veronique is having a troubled relationship with her son Cedric, who blames her for having neglected him his whole life. Peter's daughter Louise leaves for a sabbatical in Australia before deciding how to start adulthood. Both Peter and Veronique have been married several times. In 2021, Peter becomes father for the second time when his son Victor got born. Unfortunately Victor's mother, Iris Massant, died in a car crash right before Victor was born. In March 2022 both Peter and Marie-Rose die in a house fire and Victor is now being raised by family friends Mathias Moelaert and Vanessa Mariën.

Jan gets married two more times, with Nele Van Winckel and Linda Desmedt, which leads to three more children: Maarten, Leen and Guido Jr, the latter named after Jan's deceased brother. His professional life highlights when he gets appointed mayor, yet after his return to VDB he keeps getting downgraded until he decides to quit and take over the local café. Bart becomes an engineer and has a long run at VDB, while marrying Brenda Vermeir and getting two children: Hannah, who grows up to be a fashion designer for VDB, and Jelle, who wants to become a professional soccer player. After Brenda dies in a car accident, Bart starts a relationship with Peter's ex-wife Trudy Tack de Rixart de Waremme. The couple moves to Dubai, where Bart is pursuing a new career. Mieke spends her first years of adulthood doing development aid in Africa and South America. Back in Belgium, she marries Marc De Waele and gets a son Lennert, but father and son eventually die in a car crash. During her next marriage with Wim Veugelen, she has a miscarriage and becomes infertile. When she starts working as a nurse in the local hospital, she has an affair with one of the doctors, leading to her divorce. Eventually she enters a surprising but successful marriage with the younger Niko Schuurmans. After an accident, she suffers a change in personality, leading her to quit welfare and start a business career at VDB. Maarten becomes a chef and gets his own restaurant, managed by VDB. After the death of his girlfriend Roos, he joins a development program in Asia. Leen becomes a doctor and works in the local hospital for a while, after which she decides to become a general practitioner. A medical suspension after having committed a flight crime, leads her to join a development program in Africa. She takes her son Arthur and boyfriend Faroud Kir with her. Leen is killed in 2024 by family archenemy Bert Van den Bossche. Guido Jr becomes a car mechanic and owns a garage together with one of his former classmates. He and his girlfriend Emma Verdonck get a daughter Mila. Later on, it is revealed that she was switched with another child right after birth, and that a girl named Milou is their real daughter. Guido and Emma meet the girl's father and they agree to co-parent. In 2018 Emma cheats on Guido with the father and they break up.

Back in 2002, Anna discovered that her late husband cheated on her with a German woman during World War II and had fathered a child; Georges Van den Bossche. When Jan goes to Germany to learn more about Georges, he finds out that he died not too long ago and that he also has a child; the shy and introverted Bert Van den Bossche. Jan takes Bert back to Belgium, so he can spend time with his family. In the beginning Anna has trouble accepting Bert as part of the family but eventually welcomes him as well. A few years later, Bert moves to China but comes back to Belgium in 2006. By then, he had turned into a tough and confident business man and later he also starts working for the family business. Though he's very competent, it becomes clear that he doesn't always have the best intentions. He also starts plotting against Peter with the enemy of the family; Xavier Latour. In 2011, Bert gets fired by Peter and by then had already lost much respect with the rest of the family. Bert wants revenge and sets the business on fire during a party, with the intention of killing Peter and the other major shareholders. While everyone survived the fire itself, Bert was caught by Rob and was forced to murder him. Later, Peter discovers that Bert was the arsonist and the one that killed Rob and Bert gets arrested. Anna visits him in prison and tells him he's not longer considered part of the family. This seemingly breaks Bert and tries to commit suicide in his cell, but he doesn't succeed in doing so. In 2013, Bert is still in jail and is out for revenge on the family and Peter in particular. He kills an inmate, steals his identity and manages to escape, but gets arrested again just as he arrives at Peter's apartment. In 2015, Bert escapes jail yet again but this time with the help of Peter's ex June and Bert's henchman Stan Lauwers. Bert wants to flee to Asia, undergo plastic surgery there and then come back as someone else in order to start his big revenge plan. Stan manages to get him on board of a containership to Asia, where he can stay in a container with enough provisions to last the entire trip. Unknowingly to Bert however, Stan double crosses him by making a deal with the captain to dump the container in the ocean. The rest of the family is unaware of this and assumes that Bert has fled to Asia, never to return to Belgium again. In 2021 it was revealed in the Familie spin-off book 'Alter Ego' that Bert turned out to have survived his ordeal on the containership and that he had gone to South-Africa instead to undergo plastic surgery and take on a completely new identity. After having undergone plastic surgery, Bert returns to the family's environment in 2024 under his new identity "Joris Nuyens". By starting to work again for what used to be the family business, Bert slowly comes back into contact with most of his family members that are still living in Belgium, though they are completely unaware that "Joris" is actually Bert. Bert starts his revenge plan and wants to take out all the Van den Bossches one by one. It's also revealed that it was he who was responsible for the deaths of Peter and Marie-Rose two years prior. He hires a sniper to kill Bart Van den Bossche who lives in Dubai, but his plan fails as Bart only sustains a graze wound. Bert reconsiders his plan. He starts a relationship with Mieke, who's still unaware of his intentions and true identity, and suggests to organize a big family reunion. In reality, the reunion is part of his revenge plan. He wants to bring the whole family together in one place so he can kill them all at once by detonating two bombs. A few days prior to the reunion, his plan was almost foiled by Leen, who had discovered his true idenity. Bert manages to kill her before she can warn the family and hides her body. In the meantime, Bert has developed a fatherly bond with Peter's daughter Louise and desperately tries to keep her from going to the reunion. He seemingly succeeds but just as he is about to detonate the bombs, Louise arrives anyway and he is forced to cancel the detonation. Instead, he proposes to Mieke and seemingly plans to try his plan again at their wedding in January 2025.

Current main cast

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Actor Character Duration
Annie Geeraerts Anna Dierckx 1991–present
Jef De Smedt Jan Van den Bossche 1991–present
Ray Verhaeghe Albert Thielens 1992–present
Caroline Maes Mieke Van den Bossche 2002–present
Margot Hallemans Hannah Van den Bossche 2006–2009, 2013–present
Peter Bulckaen Mathias Moelaert 2008–present
Jo Hens Niko Schuurmans 2009–present
Sandrine André Veronique Van den Bossche 2012–present
Roel Vanderstukken Benny Coppens 2012–present
Werner De Smedt Rudi Verbiest 2013–present
Jan Van den Bosch Zjef De Mulder 2013–present
Kürt Rogiers Lars De Wulf 2016–present
Jaak Van Assche Alfons Coppens 2016–present
Janine Bisschops Brigitte De Wulf 2017–present
Yanni Bourgignon Cédric Moelaert 2017–present
Karen Damen Vanessa Mariën 2020–present
Aaron Blomaert Raven Rodeyns 2020–present
Charlotte Sieben Louise Van den Bossche 2021–present
Maarten Cop Jelle Van den Bossche 2021–present
Jelle Palmaerts Emiel Bauwens 2021–present
Belinda Voorspoels Samira Jibrell 2021–present
Jools Jatta Janssens Jamila El Moussaoui 2022–present
Amine Boujouh Brahim El Moussaoui 2022–present
Senne Meynendonckx Ilja El Moussaoui 2022–present

Current supporting cast

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Actor Character Duration
Jasmijn Van Hoof Stefanie Coppens 2012–2016, 2017–2021, 2024-present
Tinne Ceuppens Sam Coninx 2022–present
Cyra Gwynth Yoko Daniëls 2022–present
Maureen Vanherberghen Marlies Kennis 2023–present
Britt Das Jill Delrue 2023–present
Jan Sobrie Bert "Joris Nuyens" Van den Bossche 2024–present

Former main cast

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Character Actor Duration
Rita Van den Bossche Jacky Lafon 1991–1996, 1997–2015, 2024
Bart Van den Bossche Chris Van Tongelen 2001–2015, 2016–2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Maarten Van den Bossche Michael Vroemans 2006–2013, 2014–2015, 2016, 2018, 2024
Guido Van den Bossche Vincent Banic 2016–2022, 2024
† Peter Van den Bossche Gunther Levi 1999–2022, 2024[a]
Bert Van den Bossche Steven De Lelie 2006–2011, 2013, 2015, 2024
† Leen Van den Bossche Cathérine Kools 2013–2018, 2024
Patrick Pauwels Ludo Hellinx 2012–2022, 2023
Jenny Versteven Hilde Van Haesendonck 2014–2022, 2023
Quinten Godderis Maxime De Winne 2015–2023
Kato Vermeersch Alix Konadu 2021–2022
† Marie-Rose De Putter Martine Jonckheere 1991–1998, 2005–2015, 2018–2019, 2021–2022
† Iris Massant Marianne Devriese 2019–2021
Simon Feyaerts Braam Verreth 2015–2017, 2021
† Jonas Versteven David Cantens 2018, 2019–2021
Robyn Versteven Jits Van Belle 2017–2020, 2020–2021
Amelie De Wulf Erika Van Tielen 2016–2017, 2017–2020, 2020–2021
Viv Neyskens Ini Massez 2016–2018, 2021
Liesbeth Pauwels Hilde De Baerdemaeker 2012–2016, 2017, 2020
Arno Coppens Arthur Le Boudec 2012–2015, 2015–2016, 2017, 2019, 2020
Emma Verdonck Bab Buelens 2014–2019
† Marie Devlieger Lien Van de Kelder 2017–2019
Jelle Van den Bossche Felix Jamaels 2018–2019
Wout Raaffels Vincent-Laurent Seys 2016–2018, 2019
† Evy Hermans Marianne Devriese 2013–2019
Ayo Buhari Adam Mensah 2018
Faroud Kir Begir Memeti 2014–2018
† Guido Van den Bossche (Senior) Karel Deruwe 1991–1999, 2018
Louise Van den Bossche Sarah-Lynn Clerckx 2006–2018
Trudy Tack de Rixart de Waremme Silvia Claes 1998–2018
Stan Lauwers Kristof Verhassel 2015–2018
† Wim Veugelen David Michiels 2006–2009, 2016–2017
Cédric Van de Caveye Bas Van Weert 2013–2017
Linda Desmet Hilde Van Wesepoel 2001–2017
Jelle Van den Bossche Jens Gruyaert 2006–2017
† June Van Damme Katrien De Becker 2009–2016, 2017
Agnes Moelaert Monika Dumon 2013–2014, 2014–2016
Guido Van den Bossche Jelle Florizoone 2015–2016
Guido Van den Bossche Jordi Rottier 2010–2015
† Thomas Van den Bossche-Feyaerts Pieter Verelst 2014–2015
Pierrot Van den Bossche Guillaume Devos 2006–2012, 2013, 2014
Axel De Meester Bram Van Outryve 2011–2012, 2014
Lovely Van der Venne Vandana De Boeck 2003–2006, 2013
Evy Hermans Sofie Truyen 2006–2013
Victor Praet Robert De La Haye 2009–2013
† Paul Jacobs Johan De Paepe 2007–2012
Veronique Van den Bossche Anne Somers 1991–1994, 2001–2012
Hannah Van den Bossche Ellen Van den Eynde 2009–2012
† Caroline De Meester Kadèr Gürbüz 2011–2012
† Rob Gerrits Erik Goris 1998–2011
Mario Van de Caveye Patrick Vandersande 2003–2011
† Brenda Vermeir Vicky Versavel 1997–2001, 2002–2011
Leen Van den Bossche Ruth Bastiaensen 2006–2011
Morgane Maes Tine Laureyns 2009–2010
Els D'hollander Kristine Perpête 1997–2009, 2010
Malika Van Gils Sophie Van Everdingen 2009–2010
† Xavier Latour Eric Kerremans 2003–2009
† Christel Feremans Ingrid Van Rensbergen 2001–2009
Suzy Mariën Nele Snoeck 2005–2009
Kobe Dierckx Stoffel Bollu 2003–2009
Guy Maeterlinck Luk De Koninck 1999–2007
Eline Vaerenbergh Lulu Aertgeerts 2005–2007
† Andreas Mitsides Kristoff Clerckx 2003–2007
René D'hollander Dirk Meynendonckx 1997–2007
Heidi Janssens Helga Van der Heyden 2003–2006
Leen Van den Bossche Saskia Raë 1996–2006
Maarten Van den Bossche Gianni Verschueren 1997–2006
Pierrot Van den Bossche Kristof Van de Vondel 1995–2006
† Walter Dierckx Guido Horckmans 1991–2006
† Marc De Waele Jeron Amin Dewulf 2003–2006
Koen Lamoen Geert Hunaerts 2000–2006
† Annemarie Govaert Brigitte De Man 2003–2005
Tinne Huysmans Veva De Blauwe 2000–2004
Bert Van den Bossche Mout Uyttersprot 2002–2004
† Sarah De Kunst Els Meeus 2000–2003
† Thomas Maeterlinck Bert Vannieuwenhuyse 1999–2003
Eric Bervoets Stephane Croughs 2002–2003
Nele Van Winckel Hermine Selleslagh 1994–2003
† Jo Bervoets Jan Schepens 2001–2002
† Monique Stevens Riet Van Gool 1991–2002
† Cathérine Misotten An Nelissen 2000–2002
† Vincent Misotten Hugo Van den Berghe 1999–2001
Veroniue Van den Bossche Ann-Christine Hendrickx 1996–2001
† Didier De Kunst Ronny Waterschoot 1993–1999, 2001
† Bertje Baetens Marc Lauwrys 2000–2001
Henk Terjonck Dieter Troubleyn 1994–2001
† Femke Maeterlinck Stéphanie Meire 1999–2001
Bart Van den Bossche Wim Van de Velde 1997–2000
Mieke Van den Bossche Lieselotte Mariën 1991–1994, 1995–2000
Noortje Moortgat Veerle De Jonghe 1997–1999
† Babette Van Tichelen Bieke Ilegems 1992–1999
† Rikkert Moortgat Remco Van Damme 1997–1999
† Lieve Vleugels Lieve Desloovere 1997–1999
Lenka Wuytack Petra Winckelmans 1995–1998
† Hugo Beckers Hans Royaards 1994–1998
Manou Van Steen Tania Kloek 1993–1997
Michel Yves Michiels 1995–1997
Bart Van den Bossche Christophe Du Jardin 1991–1997
† François Van den Bossche Bob Stijnen 1992–1996
† Claire De Ruyter Nora Tilley 1994–1996
Sarah De Kunst Debbie Schneider 1994–1996
Peter Van den Bossche Erik Goossens 1991–1995
Alex Le Croix Donald Madder 1994–1995
Liliane Faes Liliane Raeymaekers 1993–1994
† Simonne Vercauteren Nini Van der Auwera 1992–1994
† Ben Van der Venne Ben Rottiers 1992–1994
† Marleen Van den Bossche Hilde De Roeck 1991–1993
† Pierrot Cockelaere Steve Mees 1991–1992

Notes

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  1. ^ In 2024 Peter only appeared in the web series 'Het ware gelaat van Joris'

Episodes

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Season Airdates Episode
numbers
Amount of
episodes
1 December 30, 1991 – May 29, 1992 1 – 110 110
2 August 31, 1992 – May 8, 1993 111 – 290 180
3 August 30, 1993 – May 28, 1994 291 – 507 217
4 September 5, 1994 – May 27, 1995 508 – 735 228
5 August 28, 1995 – June 1, 1996 736 – 975 240
6 September 2, 1996 – May 30, 1997 976 – 1208 233
7 September 1, 1997 – May 30, 1998 1209 – 1442 234
8 August 31, 1998 – May 29, 1999 1443 – 1676 234
9 August 30, 1999 – June 6, 2000 1677 – 1918 242
10 August 28, 2000 – June 29, 2001 1919 – 2181 263
11 September 3, 2001 – June 28, 2002 2182 – 2421 240
12 September 2, 2002 – June 27, 2003 2422 – 2636 215
13 September 1, 2003 – June 27, 2004 2637 – 2852 216
14 August 30, 2004 – June 26, 2005 2853 – 3112 260
15 August 29, 2005 – June 30, 2006 3113 – 3375 263
16 September 4, 2006 – June 29, 2007 3376 – 3632 257
17 September 3, 2007 – June 27, 2008 3633 – 3889 257
18 September 1, 2008 – June 26, 2009 3890 – 4146 257
19 August 31, 2009 – June 25, 2010 4147 – 4403 257
20 August 30, 2010 – June 24, 2011 4404 – 4660 257
21 August 22, 2011 – June 29, 2012 4661 – 4885 225
22 August 27, 2012 – June 28, 2013 4886 – 5105 220
23 August 26, 2013 – June 27, 2014 5106 – 5325 220
24 August 25, 2014 – June 26, 2015 5326 – 5545 220
25 August 24, 2015 – June 29, 2016 5546 – 5768 223
26 August 29, 2016 – June 30, 2017 5769 – 5988 220
27 August 28, 2017 – June 29, 2018 5989 – 6208 220
28 August 27, 2018 – June 28, 2019 6209 – 6428 220
29 August 26, 2019 – April 24, 2020 6429 – 6603 175
30 August 24, 2020 – June 25, 2021 6604 – 6823 220
31 August 23, 2021 – June 24, 2022 6824 – 7043 220
32 August 29, 2022 - June 23, 2023 7044 - 7258 215
33 August 28, 2023 - June 28, 2024 7259 - 7477 219
34 August 26, 2024 - June 27, 2025 7478 - 7697 220

References

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