LouBeale
Since I started watching Family Affairs in November 2004 I've been hooked, I was honestly astonished to find such a fantastic show on a channel such as five. Story lines like Denise's rape, Pete's demise and Chrissy's cancer have kept me glued to my screen for these past 13 months and I for one am going to miss this fabulous soap a great deal when it comes to an end tomorrow night.Many characters have left Charnham this year and the show has suffered huge losses but still struggled on, August 3rd was a dark day indeed when I was horrified to find Family Affairs had gotten the chop.While Pete & Eileen Callan, Sadie & Pamela Hargreaves, Dave Matthews, Jake Walker, Lucy Day, Tanya Woods and Conrad Williams were very big parts of the show, It has somehow managed to still entertain me on a daily basis with the 10 new characters introduced these past 2 months - That takes something special that no other genre of television has, something that only soaps have. It seems, with this axing, the great British soap is dying a slow and painful death.So, to Family Affairs! 2285 episodes on and finally coming to an end, We'll miss you!
bh2003_imdb
Family Affairs is without a doubt the best of all the UK soaps. Why? Take the quality of the production first - There is a cinematic style to all the camera work, using jibs and dollies - keeping the cameras moving, all these things add up to a "professional" production. The show is shot on video (as it has to be when filming at least 5 episodes a week) and then filtered in post production to give the "film" look. Just look at the cheap video production of Eastenders and Coronation Street for comparison. It was certainly the quality of the Family Affairs production that led the producers of Brookside to totally change their production (too late to save the show as the script writing had unfortunately deteriorated to a level beyond redemption) style to attempt to emulate this high quality cinematic style.Secondly, the show's writers keep the plot lines within semi-believable boundaries, choosing to deal with everyday characters and situations rather than the plane crashes and larger than life "comedy" characters utilised so often by Eastenders and Coronation Street.Last, but certainly not least, is the superb cast who interact superbly. Actors like David Easter (Pete Callan) and Nicola Duffet (Cat Matthews) have an absolutely brilliant "natural" on screen friction that just cannot be duplicated by any of the shallow characters from the other two soaps.Well done the whole Family Affairs crew, Actors/Actresses, Technicians and the Producers.
PeteStud
I know most of you would draw and quarter me for this but I would take this show anyday over Coronation Street and Eastenders.why? Because they do not have a villain so complex and evil as the incredible David Easter's PETE CALLAN. He is the England's answer to DALLAS' JR Ewing. A real son of a bitch but not without his own weakness' (ie kids) who revels in other people's misery and suffering especially when it suits his own agendas. This show really ought to be called the David Easter hour as every scene with his character is eagerly awaited. The shows brisk pace is excellent too and you will definately miss out if you forget a episode.The acting on this show is superior to most soaps and all cast and crew should take a bow. hell, and I usually don't even watch soaps!
smoothy
This is a nice addition to the soap world by new channel Channel 5. It started out boring but has picked up since Brian Park joined the cast and wrote out an entire family (who were boring really). Me and my girlfriend religiously watch this. Doesn't compare to the big two (Eastenders and Coronation Street), but worth a look.