
Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Written by acclaimed novelist Roddy Doyle & directed by Michael Winterbottom Family is a searing television drama that aired on BBC One & RTe One in 1994 Family is a compelling characteristically no-frills look at life in an Irish suburb where Charlo Spencer&s violent behaviour infidelities & criminal activities are pushing his wife & children to breaking point The original transmission was a watershed moment in Irish TV history leading to an outcry & national debate about domestic violence Family centres on the Spencers a family living in a Dublin housing project Charlo played by Seán Mc Ginley is the abusive & cheating husband of Paula played by Ger Ryan They have four children teenagers John Paul & Nicola & younger children Leanne & Jack Told over four episodes each one devoted to a different family member this series gives an often harrowing picture of Irish working class life in the 1990s The first episode focuses on Charlo; the abusive alcoholic father & husband who makes his living as a small-time crook Episode two takes up the story of rebellious teenager John Paul just as he’s starting secondary school The third instalment tells the story from the perspective of Nicola who works in a clothing factory & has a particularly strained relationship with her father In the fourth & final part we meet the emotionally & physically battered matriarch Paula who reclaims her identity by throwing Charlo out of the house & getting a job