Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / My Family

Go To

Main Characters

Ben Harper

Played by: Robert Lindsay

  • Butt-Monkey: He is ignored, harassed and humiliated non-stop by his family, his colleagues, his patients and just about everyone he speaks to.
  • Deadpan Snarker: It's not hard to see why.
  • Depraved Dentist: Mostly averted as he seems to be reasonably competent and professional at his job, but he has been shown to get rather sadistic when his patients annoy him and nearly tortured a patient who he believed (wrongly) had attempted to assault his daughter.
  • Digging Yourself Deeper: He's always doing this.
  • Fluffy Cloud Heaven: He experiences this while receiving a life-saving operation in the 2006 Christmas Special.
  • I Need a Freaking Drink: He's always looking for an excuse to do this.
  • It's All About Me: As the series progresses, he becomes more and more like this.
  • It's a Wonderful Plot: He experiences this in Series 4's "It's a Window-filled Life".
  • Jaded Washout: A lifetime of being a Butt-Monkey has turned him into this.
  • Jerkass: He borders on this in the later series.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
    • He's very sarcastic to his family and appears to have a low opinion of them, but way, way deep down inside, he still cares about his family.
    • He was willing to help a young girl bring her feuding family back together in the 2010 Christmas Special.
  • Lazy Bum: He becomes more prone to trying to find an excuse to be this when he's not at work in the later series.
  • Mean Boss: He is frequently verbally abusive to his dental assistants. To be fair to him pretty much all of his assistants are irritating, incompetent or full on Cloudcuckoolanders.
  • No-Respect Guy: Except from his wife now and again and Roger
  • Not Helping Your Case: He's notorious for it.
  • Only Sane Man: Sometimes takes on this role. One episode where he's shown what life would be like if he was never born shows the rest of the family acting pretty much the same, and made him realise he was the normal one. This is much more questionable in the later series though.
  • Papa Wolf: Surprisingly so. He may not particularly like his children but they are still his children and when they're really in trouble he can get very protective.
  • The Scrooge: His general demeanour in the Christmas Specials.
  • Straw Nihilist: It's established as early as the final episode of Series 1 that he is one. He even upsets a young boy as a result of this in Series 4's "Friday the 31st".

Susan Harper (nee Riggs)

Played by: Zoë Wanamaker

  • Awful Wedded Life: How she sees her marriage to Ben in the later series.
  • Control Freak: Her husband and children aren't afraid to point this out.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Usually with Ben on the receiving end.
  • Dude Magnet: Quite a few men are interested in her, not all of them age appropriate, such as when a schoolmate of Michael's is attracted to her.
  • Hypocrite: For instance, she'll often try to act as the voice of reason in times of tension, especially if Ben is already the one obsessing over who or what is causing it but she usually eventually loses her rag over it herself.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Or at least she thinks she was, still doesn't stop her inflating her ego about her looks.
  • Instantly Proven Wrong: She can't stand it at all when this happens.
  • It's All About Me: Usually out of a combination of Never My Fault, being a Jerkass and generally feeling she's been wronged (though usually she hasn't and is just being petty and, more often than not, she deserves it).
  • Jerkass: She's not afraid to take delight in the misery of others, among other things, she chooses to willingly hold up a passenger-laden tube train by refusing to apologize for insulting the driver in the 2003 Christmas Special.
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All: So don't try to prove her wrong, even if she is.
  • Lethal Chef: Her family always react with horror once they know she's cooking, usually to the point of warning each other. She eventually snaps over such complaints in the flashback scenes of the 2009 Christmas Special.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Runs in the family, which is ironic, considering she can't stand her own mother.
  • My Beloved Smother: To her children, even though they're all grown up.
  • Never My Fault: Even when she obviously is at fault, she always tries to absolve herself of all blame.
  • Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Emphasis on the "entitled" part.
  • Only Sane Man: Sometimes. Not as often as she'd like to think, though.
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: She is 40 in Series 1 (2000), the final episode of Series 7 (2007) implies that she's now 50.
  • Sore Loser: She can't stand being beaten at anything, not even petty arguments.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: No matter how much Ben tries (when he does of course) she's always more disappointed than satisfied.
  • Women Are Wiser: Subverted. She likes to think women are more competent than men and that she's specifically more reasonable than her husband, but in reality she's just as crazy as Ben.

Nick Harper

Played by: Kris Marshall

  • Basement-Dweller: Lives at his parents well into his mid twenties.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He moves into his own flat in Series 3 and makes fewer appearances in Series 4 & 5, disappearing for good after the 2004 Christmas Special (and the 2005 Comic Relief Short), aside from flashback scenes in the clip-show episode "Kenzo's Project" in Series 9.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: All his attempts at getting a job fail due to his own harebrained schemes and stupidity.
  • Insane Troll Logic: He applies this to pretty much every aspect of his life and life in general.
  • Manchild: When he comes of age, he is as irresponsible as he was as a teenager and is incapable of holding down a job because of it.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Occasional moments seem to hint he is this.
  • The Pig-Pen: Nick is often noted to have very poor hygiene and both his room at the Harper house and his later flat are filthy.
  • Schemer: Let down only by his own stupidity and the harebrained nature of his schemes.
  • Too Dumb to Live: The most glaring example being the final episode of Series 2 in which he tries to form a motorcycle stunt display team without actually getting in any practice before hks first gig, one Noodle Incident later, he's in hospital with several broken bones.
  • The Un-Favourite: Of his entire family, which is hardly surprising.

Janey Harper

Played by: Daniela Denby-Ashe

  • Fourth-Date Marriage: Janey marries a guy she's known for only ten days, because they met at a wedding where a fortune teller said Janey would meet her true love. She runs off with someone else and asks for a divorce on the same day.
  • It's All About Me: Becoming a mother doesn't do much to change this.
  • Manipulative Bitch: On occasions; sometimes even outsmarting her mother.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Janey, who studied French, Economics and History at A-Level and went on to university, is a clear-cut example of this trope because she often plays dumb.
  • Parental Neglect: After Kenzo is born in Series 4, she spends most of the following series trying to fob him off on her parents, Ben eventually calls her out on this.
  • Put on a Bus: Her going to University in Series 3 leads to her being absent from Series 4.
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Janey is 16 in the first series, gives birth to Kenzo in series four when she is 19, but by the time of series 10 is "almost 30" (chronologically, she'd have to be 28 at the oldest by the end of the series).
  • Stage Mom: She tries to get Kenzo to audition for a cereal commercial and take piano lessons among other things.
  • The Unfavorite: She believes herself to be this in the earlier series as a result of her own perceived Middle Child Syndrome.

Michael Harper

Played by: Gabriel Thomson

  • Basement-Dweller: In the later series.
  • Child Prodigy: At the beginning of the show.
  • Cool Uncle: He tries to be this to Kenzo in the later series, mainly because of their similar interests, it takes time but he succeeds.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Gradually becomes one as he gets older.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: In Series 1-9, this is the story of his life.
  • Hates Their Parent: The feelings become more mutual with every passing series.
  • Little Mr Snarker: In the earlier seasons.
  • Loser Son of Loser Dad: Although he will refuse to admit, it's safe to say he devolves into this towards the end of the series.
  • Momma's Boy:
    • Not to extreme levels, but some episodes do draw attention to the fact that his mom adores him. He's the youngest child of the family and significantly younger than his brother and sister.
    • He plays along with this but only to the extent that he respects her more than he does his father.
  • Nerd Glasses: In Series 1 & 2, he starts to wear them less often over the course of Series 3-5, they're gone completely by Series 6.
  • Only Sane Man: Usually. Not always though.
  • The Reveal: He comes out as gay in Series 10.
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: He is 12 in Series 1 (2000) and 15 by Series 3 (2002).
    • Averted in the later series as he takes until Series 9 (2009) to reach his 20s.
  • Teen Genius: Later became this.
  • You're Not My Mother: He wishes this upon Susan but who can blame him? He still respects her more than he does his father though.

Roger Bailey

Played by: Kieron Self

  • Ax-Crazy: When Michael convinces him to destroy anything that reminds him of Abi with a mallet....
  • Bad Future: For him at least in the 2009 Christmas Special.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: On the rare occasions where he's really upset...
  • Butt-Monkey: Even moreso than Ben.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: He first appears in Series 3 but doesn't become a main character until Series 6.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Except for Abi.
  • Happily Married: To Abi from Series 7's "Abi Ever After" to Series 8's "The Abi Habit".
  • Manchild: Taken to LUDICROUS extremes. Roger, despite being a dentist, is child like, simple minded, always cheerful and enthusiastic.
  • Momma's Boy: As a result of years of mollycoddling on his mother's part.
  • My Beloved Smother: His mother Nerys mollycoddles him even though he's grown-up and willingly tries to sabotage his relationship with Abi.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: From Series 6 onwards.

Abi Bailey (nee Harper)

Played by: Siobhan Hayes

  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She joins a convent at the end of Series 8 and disappears for good, aside from flashback scenes in the clip-show episode "Kenzo's Project" in the following series.
  • The Ditz: She once got Nature confused with Naturism for example.
  • Expy: She's like a British Phoebe Buffay - blonde, kooky, eccentric, upbeat and a bit of a hippie.
  • Happily Married: To Roger from Series 7's "Abi Ever After" to Series 8's "The Abi Habit".
  • The Klutz: She is quite accident prone in her early appearances such as putting her hand through a window and unintentionally beating Ben with a cricket bat, thinking he's an intruder.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Janey. They are of similar age and have somewhat similar personalities (though Abi's less cynical than Janey). Abi comes into the Harper household to stay with them while she is at college. Susan invites her to stay when Janey goes off to University.

Alfie Butts

Played by: Rhodri Meilir

Kenzo Harper

Played by: Tayler Marshall; Pascal Langdale (adult Kenzo, A Christmas Oddity)

  • Badass Adorable: He tricks Ben into leaving the house and spends the rest of the episode keeping him locked out and only makes an exception for Michael.
  • Child Prodigy: In the later series, even more so than Michael.
  • Hates Their Parent: He once said he didn't like his mother.
  • Little Mr Snarker: In the later series.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: From the 2009 Christmas Special onwards.
  • Security Blanket: Janey trying to get him to give it up kicks off the sub-plot of the 2008 Christmas Special.
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: He is born in Series 4 (2003) but the 2005 Christmas Special focuses on his third birthday and by the 2007 Christmas Special, he's 7.
    • Averted as he's 8 in Series 11 (2011) like he should be.
  • Still Sucks Thumb: In Series 10, Janey tries to get him to break the habit on the condition that she gives up her favourite teddy bear, both mother and son end up reneging on the deal.
  • You're Not My Mother: He often denies Janey is his mother as she often embarrasses him.

Recurring Characters

Grace Riggs (nee Ryman)

Played by: Avril Elgar (Series 2), Rosemary Leach (Series 4-7)

  • Accidental Misnaming: The end credits of her debut episode refer to her as "Rebecca".
  • Brainless Beauty: A trait she shares with her granddaughter.
  • Control Freak: An alcoholic one who can't cook, according to Susan.
  • The Dreaded: No one looks forward to her visits, except maybe Janey, and Michael if he can think of a way of taking advantage of her.
  • The Favourite: Out of her three grandkids, only Janey really gets on with her.
  • Hypocrite: She claims her daughter has a drinking problem, SHE'S the one with the drinking problem!
  • It's All About Me: She's even worse than Susan!
  • Killed Offscreen: In Series 11.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Mainly to her daughter Susan.
  • Obnoxious In-Laws: She and Ben have a mutual hatred for one another.
  • The Reveal: She reveals Susan's previous marriage to a wrestler called Troy the Punisher in her final appearance.

Brigitte

Played by: Daisy Donovan

  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She is never seen or mentioned after Series 1 and Ben spends much of Series 2 and 3 going through many assistants who are no better than her until Roger is introduced.
  • Comically Missing the Point: Such as when Ben tries to tell her the story of The Cobbler's children who had no shoes.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: She often gets upset at Ben for petty reasons and refuses to cooperate until he apologizes.
  • The Ditz: For one, she claims her van to have been stolen, turns out she just forgot where she parked it.
  • George Jetson Job Security: Ben often threatens to sack her and her absence after Series 1 suggests he did.
  • Womanchild: She's old enough to drive and in "Farewell to Alarms", she claims to own a van ... with Bob The Builder painted on it.

Top