Channel 4 was the first to regularly present a less sanitised view of family life in Brookside
– a world of divorce, incest, domestic violence and poisonous family disputes. Over the last quarter century, television has successfully charted the evolution of family life; the Waltons gave way to the Gallaghers, the 2.4 children of the eponymous BBC sitcom were replaced by something more complex. But drama is not the only story. Channel 4’s extensive documentary output has also explored every corner of family life in the UK, from the harsh to the humorous. This tradition is being continued in 2008 as Channel 4 undertakes its most comprehensive study ever of family relationships with the observational documentary series, The Family, which will seek to understand whether the modern family unit really is becoming as dysfunctional and unorthodox as it often portrayed.
In This Chapter
- Introduction
- From Brookside to Supernanny by Frank Furedi
- Family Trees by Rachel Cusk
- Post-Nuclear Family Values by Gautam Malkani
- The Family Football by Camila Batmanghelidjh
- Nuclear Family by Gwyneth Lewis
- Gallery
Chapter Gallery
