Nice effects though.

Let's be realistic.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The high score for this thin and canned-laughter filled comedy baffles me. The first season is 'moderately' funny in a slow-moving...gentle comedy sort of fashion but from then on it progressively slides down the slope. Penelope Keith, capable of very talented acting shows her age and lack of enthusiasm and her co-star, although somewhat better, is still just delivering most of the lines. Probably my fault for expecting the quality of her abilities exhibited in The Good Life or To the Manor Born. Like many other comedies produced in the 90's by BBC it is what one might term a 'Bic comedy'...that is to say it is completely disposable. Watch it once and never think of it again. By the time season 3 has started the show is now nothing about the 'next of kin' and the children, but simply a vehicle to rant on about the loss of their previous privileged lifestyle. From improbable to ridiculous the canned laughter can't keep this dog alive and mercifully it is put to sleep after an exhausting 3 seasons. For lovers of Penelope it's worth a watch IF ONLY to demonstrate how even good actors can't save a poorly and thinly written storyline. It's no surprise as well that aside from the 2 leads, the other actors did NOT go on to any great success.

DOES CONTAIN SOME DETAILS OF EPISODES AND Story lines FEATURED.Starting in 1995 Next of Kin joined a long list of hit BBC sitcoms.Like 2 Point 4 Children it was based around a family, 2 grandparents (Penelope Keith and William Gaunt) Maggie and Andrew Prentice who after their estranged Son Graham and his Wife (They call her 'Bootface') are killed in a car crash, are left with their grandchildren, Georgia (Ann Gosling), Philip (Matthew Clarke) and Jake (Jamie Lucraft) not to mention their collection of animals.To make life more difficult for Maggie and Andrew the children come with their own different needs, not only is Georgia an environmentalist, she is also a vegetarian and comes with her own special dry sense of humour. Philip only eats Spam, nothing else. He also discovers girls, one in particular, Roxanne who owns a very large dog called Die Hard (you can sense the jokes that this brings). He is more reserved than Georgia but can more than speak up for himself. Jake won't eat anything that is round. He loves stick insects, pigeons, hamsters, rabbits, parrots and almost all animals. He is also sick if he stands on his head for too long.Series 1 sees the initial fallout after the death of the children's parents and Maggie & Andrews realisation that they will not be retiring to France. Their cleaner Liz is also on hand to help out but gets rather distracted by Tom, a builder, hired to add another bedroom to the house.Series 2 sees Liz and Toms relationship develop further and Liz becomes pregnant. The children's relationship with their grandparents is still being put to the test on a daily basis with party's, puppies, sports days and even a spot of camping, which is not to Maggies liking at all.Series 3 - The Last, sees Georgia believing that nobody likes her and starves herself for 3 days in an attempt to get attention. Philips interest in Roxanne grows and is put to the test when she invites him over to stay - when her parents are out! Philip flees home and confesses to Andrew about where he has been.Next door want to move as they want their peace and quiet back, only to sell their house to a family of Hells Angels. Jake tries to shave and starts to use deodorant(too much). Philip goes to Swan Lake, with another girl, much to Roxannes annoyance. Georgia goes on a demonstration and hugs a treeThey all have a canal boat holiday , which turns into one of the best episodes along with the final episode 'The Bully' which sees Philip being blackmailed by a boy from his school.The last scene, rather fittingly is of Maggie pulling an envelope from Philips coat pocket (thinking it is yet another school letter she is never destined to read) and opening it to find it is in fact a Mothers Day card.Overall i think this series deserved at least another series to wrap it up. The story could have easily developed even further as the children got older. The ratings weren't dreadful, the show held it's own in its time slot, but the BBC decided to drop it, much to the dismay of Penelope Keith who did a fine job in the role of Maggie. All the actors did an excellent job.Yes it wasn't always 'Laugh Out Loud' comedy, it was more like 'As Time Goes By' with its gentle humour and slower pace than some of its contemporaries. But it was GOOD!The premise of the show was repeated, in a slightly altered version (Mans wife leaves and dumps the kids on him AND his Mother In-Law!) in another BBC1 sitcom 'After You've Gone' which coincidentally, also only lasted for 3 series despite getting decent viewing figures. How the mind boggles.

Penelope Keith CBE OBE is better remembered for her roles as Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton in "To the Manor Born" and "The Good Life" as Marjery Ledbetter. In this series which was prematurely shortened, she and William Gaunt plays parents and grandparents who must raise their three orphaned grandchildren after their son and daughter-in-law have died in a car accident. The children are now orphaned and now must be raised by their grandparents who are not normally affectionate towards children even their own son. The news and circumstances that they must endure but the writers do a splendid job in bringing the unlikely pair of grandparents who probably would prefer traveling the world rather than raising their own grandchildren. This show could have been a hit if it was allowed too.

My first impressions on seeing this series was: "Yes, Penelope Keith is still brilliant, but this series isn't really funny." I felt the children were too antagonistic - it felt real, but not funny. But, seeing that La Keith was on great form, I kept watching and grew to love the series. The children grew as actors, and you could, to purloin a phrase, "feel their pain". Pain is not something you normally associate with sitcoms, but here it was. Now I think the series should be considered a groundbreaking show: the way the pain, sorrow and frustration the children felt was dealt with intelligently and moving. And I reiterate what the others have stated: THIS SERIES SHOULD BE RELEASED ON DVD!