...the actors do a terrific job of being the most infuriating people you will probably ever see on TV. If this show is indicative of British family dynamics then God help the Queen. The stories are cliché' except they do skip over the typical issues faced by step families. The young boy is a poster child for ADHD on the surface, but actually just lacks any discipline or structure. He is allowed to run amok with basically no correction. The younger daughter is merely the son's sidekick with no noteworthy story lines. Eldest daughter is the typical low self-esteemed, college dropout desperate for Daddy's approval. The father is self-centered and overly focused on his work. The mother is a pushover that is left to try to be the glue when all she does is enable everyone else to behave poorly. Her mother is a shrew who whines incessantly about being there when in fact she has no where else to go. The only likable person in this family isn't even family but the owner of the compound they all live in, Dup. Blunt, coarse, and boozed, he is the only person who expresses any real emotional depth. He efforts to help the family often end badly or hilariously, but at least he's trying to do something for someone else. Everyone else is completely self-absorbed in their own problems - usually created by their own stupidity. I've only seen 3 seasons of the show, the last two seasons being strictly background noise for housework. The scenery and animals are gorgeous. It's a shame there wasn't equally impressive writing.

Mr D.Stewardstone and Miss H.Mills pull "Wild at heart" from unacceptable sentimentality to perfectly acceptable sentiment.It is not - nor does it set out to be - cutting edge drama.Most of the performers are - to put it kindly - of the journeyman level,standard Weekend TV material,happily earning their corn then moving on. Since "Daktari!",Africa has been a happy hunting ground for programme makers wishing to top up their tans and keep their ratings nice and high. Picturesque landscape,exotic animals and careful post - colonial attitudes,beautiful sunsets,rainbow nations...what's not to like? Perhaps it bears little relation to real life,but many people have had it up to here with real life and want a break from it now and then. "Wild at heart" is ideal for them and for me. Vet Danny Trevanion(Mr S.Tompkinson,lugubrious and fey for the most part,takes his family to South Africa for a new life on a Game Reserve owned by Anders Duplessis (Mr D.Stewardstone,hugely enjoyable whilst chewing the scenery). Er,that's about it really. Visited by those two impostors triumph and disaster most weeks,a 60 minute episode gets enough animal action to satisfy even a picky viewer,although the story lines are often a little banal it is usually good natured enough to retain interest. With the arrival of the marvellous Miss H.Mills it all moves up a gear as she effortlessly sneaks away with every episode she graces. Good family entertainment doing exactly what it says on the tin.

Wild at Heart has risen from the ashes of former family dramas like Heartbeat to become the centre piece of ITV's Sunday nights and rightly so. With it's strong cast and writing combined with the beautiful African background it deserves it's place and the affections of the public.However like all shows that are going into their 7th series things are going a little bit stale. There's only so many stories you can get out of Brits abroad and the finale's are getting more and more far-fetched.My fear for this show is that it will be milked by ITV until people get sick of it and forget why they liked it in the first place. It was the same with Heartbeat and look how that ended up.

This series is quite a tasty chocolate mousse. There is light, fluffy cream on the top, for what we see of the series at first sight. Then, there is a very dark chocolatey bit, for the part of the series that we do not necessarily see at first. The characters are little bits of toffee crunchy stuff at the top. Characters like Sarah, Danny and Dupleci (or however you spell it) are shining, fresh bits of toffee crunchy stuff. Characters like Evan are just slightly plainer. For the setting (Africa), there is a beautiful swirl of milk and white chocolate mousse in the middle. For the plots in each series, there is just a layer of plain chocolate (although it is still quite tasty). When you eat the chocolate mousse (when you start watching the series) you receive a comfortable, exciting taste, although it may not be the best chocolate mousse you've ever had. The series, in short, is about a family who go on a holiday to Africa and decide to live there. In each episode there is a chaotic adventure, which takes a while to solve and calm down.This is for people who like predictable, beautiful TV series which still keep you interested yet you can easily sit back and relax at the same time.Enjoy your chocolate mousse/"Wild at Heart"! :-)