History Literature / MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals

# 2016–19 Creator/{{ITV}} series ''The Durrells'' (starring Creator/KeeleyHawes as Louisa)

It has two sequels, ''Birds, Beasts and Relatives'' (1969) and ''The Garden of the Gods'' (1978), though these are not nearly as famous as the original. It has been adapted at least three times for television: as a 1987 [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] miniseries (starring Creator/BrianBlessed as Spiro), a 2005 BBC MadeForTVMovie (starring Creator/EugeneSimon as Gerry and Creator/ImeldaStaunton as Louisa), and the 2016–19 Creator/{{ITV}} series ''The Durrells'' (starring Creator/KeeleyHawes as Louisa). It was also adapted for the stage in 2006.

* [[TurtlePower Tortoise Power]]: There's Achilles, as well as the dueling tortoises that fight over the ladies.

It has two sequels, ''Birds, Beasts and Relatives'' (1969) and ''The Garden of the Gods'' (1978), though these are not nearly as famous as the original. It has been adapted at least three times for television: as a 1987 [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] miniseries (starring Creator/BrianBlessed as Spiro), a 2005 BBC MadeForTVMovie (starring Creator/EugeneSimon as Gerry and Creator/ImeldaStaunton as Louisa), and the 2016–19 Creator/{{ITV}} miniseries ''The Durrells'' (starring Creator/KeeleyHawes as Louisa). It was also adapted for the stage in 2006.

->''This is the story of a five-year sojourn that I and my family made on the Greek island of Corfu. It was originally meant to be mildly nostalgic account of a natural history of the island, but I made a grave mistake in introducing my family into the book in the first few pages. Having got themselves on paper, they then proceeded to establish themselves and invite various friends to share the chapters. It was only with the greatest difficulty, and by exercising considerable cunning, that I managed to retain a few pages here and there to devote exclusively to animals.''
-->--Gerald Durrell

''My Family and Other Animals'' is a hilarious [[BasedOnATrueStory semi-autobiographical]] account of Creator/GeraldDurrell and his family living on the island of Corfu between [[TheThirties 1935 and 1939]], as well as various fauna of the island. Each of Gerry's family, as well as other characters, have their own idiosyncrasies that make this one of the funniest books ever written. There's his long-suffering mother that never seems to be surprised by anything, his eldest brother Larry, another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell famous writer]]; Leslie the [[GreatWhiteHunter gun nut]]; his ditzy older sister Margo; the over-protective family friend [[LargeHam Spiro "Americano" Chalikiopoulos]]; and the distinguished naturalist and king of [[IncrediblyLamePun Incredibly Lame Puns]] Dr Theodore Stephanides.

It has two sequels, ''Birds Beasts and Relatives'' and ''The Garden of the Gods'' though these are not nearly as famous as the original. It has been adapted at least three times for television: as a mini-series in 1987 starring Creator/BrianBlessed, as a 2005 made-for-TV film, and as a 2016 mini-series. It was also adapted for the stage in 2006.

''My Family and Other Animals'' is a hilarious [[BasedOnATrueStory semi-autobiographical]] account of Creator/GeraldDurrell and his family living on the island of Corfu between [[TheThirties 1935 and 1939]] as well as various fauna of the island. Each of Gerry's family, as well as other characters, have their own idiosyncrasies that make this one of the funniest books ever written. There's his long-suffering mother that never seems to be surprised by anything, his eldest brother Larry, another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell famous writer]]; Leslie the [[GreatWhiteHunter gun nut]]; his ditzy older sister Margo; the over-protective family friend [[LargeHam Spiro "Americano" Chalikiopoulos]]; and the distinguished naturalist and king of [[IncrediblyLamePun Incredibly Lame Puns]] Dr Theodore Stephanides.

* LargeHam: Spiro, there's a reason why he was played by Creator/BrianBlessed.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Not just shortened, but there are a few inaccuracies. Larry is depicted as living with the family, though at the time he was living in another part of Corfu with his wife Nancy (shown in the film briefly but not in the book). Also, the reason that the Durrells leave the island in the book is for continuing Gerry's education, rather than [[WorldWarII the real reason]] for needing to go back to England.

It has two sequels, ''Birds Beasts and Relatives'' and ''The Garden of the Gods'' though these are not nearly as famous as the original. It has been adapted at least three times for television: as a mini-series in 1987 starring {{BRIAN BLESSED}}, as a 2005 made-for-TV film, and as a 2016 mini-series. It was also adapted for the stage in 2006.

* LargeHam: Spiro, there's a reason why he was played by {{BRIAN BLESSED}}.

It has two sequels, ''Birds Beasts and Relatives'' and ''The Garden of the Gods'' though these are not nearly as famous as the original. It has been adapted twice for television, once as a mini-series in 1987 starring {{BRIAN BLESSED}} and once in a 2005 made for TV film. It was also adapted for the stage in 2006.

* FrogsAndToads: Toads make Spiro throw up.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Cecily the Mantis, her fight with the gecko Geronimo is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** The 1987 TV series features {{BRIAN BLESSED}} as Spiro.
** In the 2005 film, [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Umbridge]] is Gerry's mother, and [[Film/WatchMen Ozymandias]] is Larry.

''My Family and Other Animals'' is a hilarious [[BasedOnATrueStory semi-autobiographical]] account of Creator/GeraldDurrell and his family living on the island of Corfu between [[TheThirties 1935 and 1939]] as well as various fauna of the island. Each of Gerry's family, as well as other characters, have their own idiosyncrasies that make this one of the funniest books ever written. There's his long-suffering mother that never seems to be surprised by anything, his eldest brother Larry, another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell famous writer]]; Leslie the [[GreatWhiteHunter gun nut]]; his ditzy older sister Margo; the over-protective family friend [[LargeHam Spiro "Americano" Chalikiopoulos]]; and the naturalistic and king of [[IncrediblyLamePun Incredibly Lame Puns]] Dr Theodore Stephanides.

* OneForSorrowTwoForJoy: Larry constantly accuses the Magenpies of being thieves and says they'll have to bury their belongings with an armed guard over them. They're given the run of the house until they are caged. Then during a party, they manage to undo the lock on their cage and get drunk.

* GilliganCut: At the end of Part One, Larry announces that he's invited a lot of guests to the family's rather cramped house, and suggests that his mother simply rent a bigger one. The chapter ends with the mother announcing that they are most definitely, absolutely ''not'' going to buy a bigger villa, and that's ''final''. The very first words of the next chapter? "The new villa was enormous."

* NeverMyFault: As far as Larry is concerned, all his personality flaws are actually his mother's fault. Somehow.

** In the 2005 film, [[HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Umbridge]] is Gerry's mother, and [[Film/WatchMen Ozymandias]] is Larry.

''My Family and Other Animals'' is a hilarious [[BasedOnATrueStory semi-autobiographical]] account of Gerald Durrell and his family living on the island of Corfu between [[TheThirties 1935 and 1939]] as well as various fauna of the island. Each of Gerry's family, as well as other characters, have their own idiosyncrasies that make this one of the funniest books ever written. There's his long-suffering mother that never seems to be surprised by anything, his eldest brother Larry, another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell famous writer]]; Leslie the [[GreatWhiteHunter gun nut]]; his ditzy older sister Margo; the over-protective family friend [[LargeHam Spiro "Americano" Chalikiopoulos]]; and the naturalistic and king of [[IncrediblyLamePun Incredibly Lame Puns]] Dr Theodore Stephanides.

-->''This is the story of a five-year sojourn that I and my family made on the Greek island of Corfu. It was originally meant to be mildly nostalgic account of a natural history of the island, but I made a grave mistake in introducing my family into the book in the first few pages. Having got themselves on paper, they then proceeded to establish themselves and invite various friends to share the chapters. It was only with the greatest difficulty, and by exercising considerable cunning, that I managed to retain a few pages here and there to devote exclusively to animals.''

-->''This is a very wicked, very funny, and I'm afraid rather truthful book — the best argument I know for keeping thirteen-year-olds at boarding-schools and not letting them hang about the house listening in to conversations of their elders and betters.''
-->--[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell Lawrence "Larry" Durrell]]

-->--Gerald Durrell, ''MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals''

''MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals'' is a hilarious [[BasedOnATrueStory semi-autobiographical]] account of Gerald Durrell and his family living on the island of Corfu between [[TheThirties 1935 and 1939]] as well as various fauna of the island. Each of Gerry's family, as well as other characters, have their own idiosyncrasies that make this one of the funniest books ever written. There's his long-suffering mother that never seems to be surprised by anything, his eldest brother Larry, another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell famous writer]]; Leslie the [[GreatWhiteHunter gun nut]]; his ditzy older sister Margo; the over-protective family friend [[LargeHam Spiro "Americano" Chalikiopoulos]]; and the naturalistic and king of [[IncrediblyLamePun Incredibly Lame Puns]] Dr Theodore Stephanides.