Parents (TV series)

*Parents*
Parents
Genre	Sitcom
Written by	Lloyd Woolf; Joe Tucker
Directed by	Simon Delaney
Starring	Sally Phillips; Darren Strange; Tom Conti; Susie Blake; Jadie Rose Hobson; Christian Lees
Composer	Samuel Karl Bohn
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30mins (inc. adverts)
Production company	Objective Productions
Original release
Network	Sky 1
Release	6 July –; 3 August 2012

Parents is a British sitcom starring Sally Phillips as Jenny Pope, a middle-class woman in her forties who moves, along with her husband and their teenage son and daughter, from London, to live with her parents in Kettering. The show ran for one series, broadcast on Sky 1 from 6 July to 3 August 2012. On 5 March 2013, Sky confirmed that Parents would not return for a second series.^[1]

Cast

Sally Phillips as Jenny Pope
Darren Strange as Nick Pope
Tom Conti as Len Miller
Susie Blake as Alma Miller
Jadie Rose Hobson as Becky Pope
Christian Lees as Sam Pope

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions) ^[2]
1	"Episode One"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	6 July 2012 (2012-07-06)	538,000
Fortysomething Jenny asks a favour of Mum and Dad: Can she and her family move in with them?
2	"Episode Two"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	6 July 2012 (2012-07-06)	445,000
Nick tries to work his persuasive powers on Len to get some office space; Jenny has an awkward encounter with an ex.
3	"Episode Three"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	13 July 2012 (2012-07-13)	<382,000
Alma attempts to cheer Jenny up with a surprise visit from one of her London pals, but the visitors aren't exactly welcomed with open arms.
4	"Episode Four"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	20 July 2012 (2012-07-20)	363,000
Feelings of resentment towards Alma flood back when Jenny stumbles upon her old diary; the first test batch of Nick's energy drink X-Celsior arrives.
5	"Episode Five"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	27 July 2012 (2012-07-27)	260,000
Valentine's Day brings out the best and worst in the Pope-Miller household. Alma is unimpressed with Len, and Jenny is preoccupied by the auction of her house.
6	"Episode Six"	Simon Delaney	Lloyd Woolf, Joe Tucker	3 August 2012 (2012-08-03)	257,000
It looks like the Popes could be back on track when Jenny lands a promising job interview.

Home media

The complete series was released on DVD on 29 July 2013 by Channel 4 DVD.^[3]

Reception

The show was met with a generally positive critical response, becoming increasingly positive throughout its run. The Independent called it "a broad family comedy, both funny and 'now'".^[4] Heat Magazine described the first episode as "good fun"^[5] whilst The Telegraph said it "shows some promise and boasts a good cast"^[6] and praised the writing, saying "the script is sharp, zeitgeisty, and just the right side of cloying".^[7] The Guardian was more critical of episode one, saying it "fails to make the leap from paper to screen"^[8] but responded much more positively to subsequent episodes, calling the show "an utter pleasure"^[9] and "beautifully written".^[10] The Mirror also praised the series, calling it "very funny"^[11] and saying that "as well as a great cast, Parents also has a great big heart and it's this that could keep it beating into further series".^[12]

References

^ Munn, Patrick (5 March 2013). "Sky1's Comedy Series 'Parents' Cancelled After One Season". TVWise. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
^ "Weekly Top 10 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
^ "Parents [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
^ Craig McClean (1 July 2012). "Quirk ethic: Sally Phillips finally lands a lead role after 20 years of playing oddballs". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ "Over on Digital: Parents, Sky One, 8.30PM". Heat Magazine. 26 June 2012.
^ Simon Horsford (5 July 2012). "TV Highlights". The Telegraph.
^ Smith, Patrick (6 July 2012). "Sally Phillips on Sky1's Parents: 'Please God, let it not be like My Family'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ Stubbs, David; Mueller, Andrew; Mumford, Gwilym; Verdier, Hannah; O'Neill, Phelim (6 July 2012). "TV Highlights 06/07/2012". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ Julia Raeside (13 July 2012). "TV Highlights 13/7/2012". The Guardian.
^ Raeside, Julia; Stubbs, David; Mueller, Andrew; O'Neill, Phelim; Skegg, Martin; Catterall, Ali (3 August 2012). "TV Highlights 03/08/2012". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ "Parents tonight is not just very funny but heart-warming too". The Mirror. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ Jenny Eclair (14 July 2012). "Have I gone soft on sitcoms? Blame the Parents". The Mirror. Retrieved 22 September 2012.