The 1990s; The persistence of the nuclear family, The end on Thatcherism, the media-domination of Princess Di and the emergence of the digital age. Yes it's ALL present here in this witty, realistic comedy about the average British family struggling to maintain that status ! Essentially about carnage-obsessed son David, dysfunctional teenage daughter Jenny, semi-juvenile Dad Ben(hence the .4!) and straight- laced Mum and family boss Bill, not to forget UK comedy's mandatory slut-next-door Rona, the 1990s family household was portrayed pretty much EXACTLY as it was in real life, with little exaggeration! Facing all the contemporary family issues of unemployment (hence the extremely realistic jobcentre interview!), teenage relations, 'controversial' youth culture (that's revolting! My son a metalhead!), NHS faults (We lost him...No no,I mean we literally lost him!) and inadequate banking (I'm your Pers-On-Al Bank-Er),the show gave the British public a good chance to laugh off all the everyday chaos of contemporary society ! Family-friendly yet with plenty of innuendo - "I'm waiting for him to pot the pink"; "Aren't We All!" - a universal audience could enjoy the hilarity of flatulent dogs, Bimbo housewives, Star Trek funerals and (unexplicitly portrayed) strip dancers. Not to forget the gloriously kitsch sing-songs at the end of the Christmas episodes !All in all, this light-hearted perspective of the complexities of everyday life was witty and entertaining, yet insightful and loosely thought-provoking; if only they'd known back in 1994 that 15 years later 'Electronic Mail' would be mandatory! I give it 9/10 for being ALMOST PERFECT!

Average family sitcoms have usually been popular with viewers over the years, such as 'Bless This House', 'Bread' and 'Keep It In The Family'. '2 Point 4 Children' is nothing like any of these. In fact, it probably has more in common with Matt Groening's animated classic 'The Simpsons'.The Porter family are an average family who seems to find themselves in all manner of surreal situations. The matriarch of the family is the long suffering Bill ( played the the gorgeous Belinda Lang ), who like Marge Simpson, is able to keep hold of her sanity despite the never ending stream of chaos that takes place around her. Her husband Ben ( were they any relation to 'The Flower Pot Men'? ), like Homer Simpson, was an overweight, overgrown child who worked as a central heating repairman. The children, who could be the Lisa and Bart equivalents, are Jenny and David, her a bright but fiery individual and he a mischievous delinquent with a fondness for horror movies.Bill initially works in a bakery with her man-mad friend Rona ( Julia Hills, who I thought was one of the hottest women on television in the '90's ) but in later episodes they end up running their own catering business.Lang and Hills made a formidable comic pairing however the late Gary Olsen was the one who stole the show as the laddish Ben. He was taken from us incredibly young in 2000 at the age of 42 after losing a battle with cancer. The lovely Claire Woodgate ( now known as Georgina Cates ) played Jenny in the first two series but her place was later taken by the equally sexy Claire Buckfield. John Pickard portrayed tearaway David. Other appearances included Kim Benson as Ben's surly assistant Christine, Liz Smith as Bill's interfering, chain-smoking mother, Patricia Brake ( later replaced by Sandra Dickinson ) as Ben's snooty sister Tina and and Alex Kew as Declan.Andrew Marshall, like his former partner David Renwick, may not have ever created outstanding comedy ( that's my personal view at least ) but he knew how to write funny dialogue and was unafraid to explore darker areas.Among some of the funniest moments included Rona and Bill attempting to bring back duty free alcohol from France, only to end up accidentally smuggling back a dangerous animal, Ben being stuck on top of a piano which ends up careering at speed down a hill, Ben purchasing a life-size replica of the FAB-1 car from 'Thunderbirds' and a very funny spoof of Patrick MacGoohan's '70's drama 'The Prisoner'. Less funny were the Christmas specials, usually featuring a spoof musical item at the end of each episode.The first three series were released on DVD some time ago however clearance issues have prevented further releases. UK Gold ran all eight series a few years ago however it is unlikely to be seen again anytime soon, which is sad as while it is no classic, it is superior to many modern sitcoms such as 'My Family' or 'Gavin & Stacey'. The thought of '2 Point 4 Children' festering away somewhere in a vault whilst something as lame as 'Miranda' gets nominated for an award makes my heart sink

This programme 2 point 4 children was very funny and entertaining. After meeting Belinda Lange on the train on the 18th April 2016 I could not believe how down to earth she is. Very friendly and just like one of your best friends very chatty. I thank her for being this way and not letting fame go and ruin her intelligence and humorous personality. Well done Belinda and thank you for speaking to me I just wish I had asked for your autograph. Good luck with the rest of your career and hope to see you again soon either on the train or TV. Please can you make more programmes like 2 point 4 children's? Or maybe do a serious who done it with Belinda as the lead?

This first two seasons of this comedy series were very strange and they weren't very funny and had a drama element where Bill (the mother) was struggling with all the usual problems in life but that element was a bit depressing and didn't mix well with th comedy elements which is probably why it was dropped. After that it soon became one of the funniest comedy series the BBC have ever made! The chemistry between Bill and Ben's character's were very funny and there was always so many brilliant and memorable sketches in each series. The Christmas specials were hilarious and a real treat for Christmas. The show came to a stop when the main actor Gary Olsen playing Bill passed away which was very sad because he was a brilliant actor in films such as Up 'n' Under and a very funny man RIPThis underrated show has sadly disappeared from our television screens and doesn't to be repeated that often - Though it does appear on UKTV Gold once in a while but it should be repeated on BBC one or two to show this brilliant Comedy to a new audience