The Brothers

The series is currently being shown on Talking Pictures - Sky 328 - and is still watchable all these years later. Unfortunately the viewing quality isn't as good on today's televisions, which are much larger than they were in the 1970's, but if you can see through that what you have is a very enjoyable series with lots of twists, turns and, of course, backstabbing.

In some ways this was a forerunner to such series such as Dallas and Dynasty, but they did take things to a higher level and The Brothers was set in the U. K. which hasn't got quite the same ring to it. Notwithstanding that, good characters, good acting and a good series.

I've been watching The Brothers every Thursday evening on Talking Pictures and, whilst getting thoroughly engrossed in it, snippets of it were very familiar.

So it was with a "hah!" of excitement that i stumbled across my old diaries for 1974 and 1975 recently which didn't just inform me that, as a teenager, I never missed this show on a Sunday evening but that the character I most associated with was Brian (yes, I eventually became an accountant, like him).

Watching it now I expect it's easier to see the warning signs (especially with Paul Merroney) but at the age of 14 one lacks the experience of life to immediately spot a baddie.

The diary also tells me that the sitcom that followed The Brothers on a Sunday evening (at least it did in my region) was "Sadie, It's Cold Outside" which I watched but have zero recollection of! Well, it was half a century ago now.

Has The Brothers aged well? I'd say yes, very much so. The business and personal issues it highlights are still issues in many families and companies 50 years later. I spent 35 years of my working life in family-run businesses and the portrayal in this series is very true-to-life....all the way down to how non-family members address those on the board.

One minor point - the wallpaper in Brian & Ann's house is of a design which would induce a hallucinogenic trip just by looking at it. No wonder they had difficulty communicating - they were probably in a trance.

An interesting and intelligent 'soap opera' from the '70s. The dialogue and acting are first-rate and constructive while the very ''70s' bourgeois props and costumes are evocative: I saw a framed print of Vermeer's ''Girl With A Pearl Earing'' in one domestic scene showing good taste. The young graceful English actor - the Chaucerian Malcolm Stoddard was in the brilliant scientifically fascinating documentary series, ''The Voyage of Charles Darwin'' (1978). Prim and proper actress, Jean Anderson was born in the remote year of 1907! The series was a big hit in Holland. The first episode was aired in 1972 - that greyest of hippy years although the early-'70s were pioneering years.

It's great to see this show has been picked up for a re-run from Series 1 by Talking Pictures TV.

The children of a highly successful businessman fight to carry on the business, each with their own idea of how it should be run and ultimately seeking overall control. Various outsiders including rival entrepreneurs and financial whizzkids want a slice of the action. Add in the spice of a long-hidden illicit relationship, ongoing conflicts between hurt and betrayed parties, and you have a storyline which could easily find its place on mainstream TV today. No, it's not "Succession", but could easily be seen as a 1970's "ancestor" to that phenomenon.

I remember vividly how "The brothers" were an integral part of my family's life in the late 70's - Our town's public library held 50 copies of the book which followed the series, yet it was always out of copies! Jean Anderson was very good as the mother, cultivating her children's guilt feelings for "not paying enough attention to her". Patrick Occonnel is Edward, the oldest son which always tries to please her, Robin Chadwick is her youngest who handles the problem by running away from it, and Richard Easton is the sandwich kid trying desperately to remain calm. Naturally, in the midst of all these family bickering, the company, which is the reason they supposedly stick together despite it all, falls into the hands of others, led by the unforgettable Paul Merrony (Colin Baker). I wish there was more stuff about this show available on the web - Unfortunately I was unable to find any. It seems as though this show was undeservingly set aside and forgotten.

THUMBS UP!!!