The Durrells

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***The Durrells*** (or ***The Durrells in Corfu*** in North America) is a 26-episode British comedy-drama series inspired by Gerald Durrell's three autobiographical books about his family's four years (1935–1939) on the Greek Island of Corfu, which began airing on 3 April 2016 and ended on 12 May 2019. The series is written by Simon Nye, directed by Steve Barron and Roger Goldby, and produced by Christopher Hall. The executive producers are Lee Morris and Sally Woodward Gentle. Lee Durrell, Gerald Durrell's widow and director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, acted as consultant. The series was partly filmed at Ealing Studios and Twickenham Studios in London.

## Story

The series begins in 1935, when Louisa Durrell suddenly announces that she and her four children will move from Bournemouth to the Greek island of Corfu. Her husband died some years earlier and the family is experiencing financial problems. A battle ensues as the family adapts to life on the island which, despite a lack of electricity, proves that Corfu is cheap and an earthly paradise.

## Characters

### Series 1 (2016)

**1935**
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### Series 2 (2017)

**1936**
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### Series 3 (2018)

**1937**

A third series was confirmed to be in production by writer Simon Nye at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival on 8 April 2017. He described the third series as having "some exotic new animals", and that production would begin in three weeks' time, upon Keeley Hawes's arrival in Corfu for filming. It is set in 1937.

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### Series 4 (2019)

**1939**
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## Reception

Reception to the first episode was positive, with Gerard O'Donovan (*The Telegraph*) calling it "a series that's not only sun-drenched and liberating, but also catches its source material's high good humour without labouring it and weaves an authentic sense of the innocent exoticism of the original," before awarding it four stars.

The opening episode averaged just under 6.4 million people and was watched by 29% of the audience over the hour, including those watching on British television network ITV's +1 channel, and was the biggest drama launch of any channel so far in 2016 and the most-watched show of the day (including +1). Following a seven-day catch-up period, the figure aggregated to just under 8.2 million people. Citing the show as its "best rating new drama of the year and its highest rating new show since September 2014", ITV recommissioned the show for a second series on 15 April 2016. Over the course of the first series, ratings averaged out at 6.9 million viewers.

## Broadcast

Internationally, the series was acquired in Australia by the Seven Network and premiered on 24 August 2016. In the United States, PBS began airing the show, retitled as *The Durrells in Corfu*, on 16 October 2016 at 8 pm. *The Durrells* started screening in New Zealand on 26 October 2016 on Prime TV. In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation began airing Series 1 on 13 September 2017. In Spain, the series has been acquired by the streaming platform FilminTemplate:Not a typo.

The third series of *The Durrells* was announced by writer Simon Nye at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival on 8 April 2017. It began filming in May 2017 and aired on ITV in the Northern Hemisphere in the spring of 2018.

A fourth series was announced by ITV on 22 June 2018, with filming scheduled for later in the year. It was transmitted between 8 April and 12 May 2019. This has been confirmed as the final series.

## See also

* Gerald Durrell's Corfu trilogy books:
	+ *My Family and Other Animals* (1956)
	+ *Birds, Beasts, and Relatives* (1969)
	+ *The Garden of the Gods* (1978)
* *My Family and Other Animals*, a 1987 BBC series based on the book by the same name
* *My Family and Other Animals*, a 2005 BBC telemovie based on the book by the same name

## External links

1. ↑ Template:Cite news
2. ↑ Template:Cite news
3. ↑ The Durrells (TV Series 2016–). Retrieved on April 1, 2016.
4. ↑ Template:Cite news
5. ↑ Template:Cite news
6. ↑ Miles Jupp on guest-starring in The Durrells and why the news depresses him. Retrieved on August 8, 2018.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `BFI`
8. ↑ There's going to be a third series of The Durrells. *Radio Times*.
9. ↑ The Telegraph – Keeley Hawes is a ray of sunshine in The Durrells – review. Retrieved on April 11, 2016.
10. ↑ Twitter – ITV Media. Retrieved on April 11, 2016.
11. ↑ Digital Spy – Forums – The Ratings Thread (Part 67). Retrieved on April 11, 2016.
12. ↑ BARB – Weekly Top 10 Programmes (w/e 3rd April 2016). Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved on April 11, 2016.
13. ↑ ITV Media – Press Releases – "ITV recommissions hit drama The Durrells". Retrieved on April 16, 2016.
14. ↑ ITV Press Centre – "More Sun, Sea and Animals as the cast of *The Durrells* return to Corfu to film the second series of the ITV drama". ITV. Retrieved on August 12, 2016.
15. ↑ Knox, David (30 June 2016). Seven picks up UK drama The Durrells. *TV Tonight*. Retrieved on August 27, 2016.
16. ↑ Dunk, Tiffany (24 August 2016). Seven takes punt that The Durrells can recreate Downton Abbey's huge success. *news.com.au*. Retrieved on August 27, 2016.
17. ↑ Screener – TV Listings – "The Durrells in Corfu on Masterpiece" (8 October 2016). Retrieved on October 8, 2016.
18. ↑ CBC ANNOUNCES FALL 2017 BROADCAST PREMIERE DATES FOR NEW AND RETURNING TELEVISION SERIES. CBC Media Centre.
19. ↑ Los Durrell. Retrieved on September 27, 2017.
20. ↑ When will The Durrells return for series three?. Radio Times. Retrieved on June 28, 2018.
21. ↑ The Durrells will return for a fourth series on ITV. *Radio Times* (22 June 2018). Retrieved on June 28, 2018.
22. ↑ The Durrells return to Corfu.
23. ↑ Broadcasting Press Guild – Awards – 2017. Retrieved on April 9, 2018.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 BAFTA – Media Centre – Press releases – Nominations List for the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards in 2017 (Plain Text). Retrieved on April 9, 2018.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 RTS Craft & Design Awards. Retrieved on April 9, 2018.