Bread
The Boswell family, from Liverpool, are experts at living off
Social Security while making ends meet by whatever means
necessary. None of them are (legitimately) employed but they own
their own house and live quite a good life with the help of
frequent supplemental Social Security payments and various jobs on
the side and moneymaking schemes.
The matriarch and head of the family is Nellie - a robust and
capable woman who has brought up her children without much help
from her unfaithful husband Freddie.
Nellie is fiercely proud, loyal (and Catholic) and uses her
sheer force of personality to keep the family on her version of
the straight and narrow.
The four boys are Joey (who holds the family together
financially - it was he who bought the family home), Jack, Adrian
and Billy.
The Boswell's daughter, Aveline, spends most of her time
dreaming of being a model and/or having a baby.
Completing the immediate family are Grandad (who lives next
door) and the various wives and girlfriends of the lads (Julie for
Billy, Carmen for Jack, Irenee for Adrian) and Aveline's beau (and
later husband) Oswald.
Rounding off the set is Lilo Lil (Freddie's "bit on the
side"), a sharp-tongued DHSS official named Martina, Shifty
(by name and nature), his ex-girlfriend Celia and a whole swag of
memorable irregulars.
Initial response to the series was poor with critics taking a
predictable stance, labelling the series "stale" and
"crummy" and utilising every other bread pun they could.
More damning was the response from writer Carla Lane's beloved
Liverpool, where local reviewers accused her of reinforcing the
stereotype of Scouse scrounger.
 The controversy abated though, when the show fell into its
stride and the audience figures picked up.
By the fourth series, popularity for the comedy was gigantic.
The episode where Aveline and Oswald married in December 1988
attracted more than 21 million viewers.
The 30 October 1988 episode featured a cameo appearance from
Carla Lane's friends Paul and Linda McCartney.
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