to think it's rather odd that we are always being told that the nuclear family is ideal but that they make so few appearances on children's TV?

[spicemonster]

Weird isn't it? Balamory is all single people as far as I can see. Granny Murray is about 35 so she was clearly a teenage mum, as is her daughter. Charlie and Lola's parents seem fairly competent but never appear. Only the Pontipines and Wattingers appear to be couples with children and the Pontipines are neglectful in the extreme.

I still miss the Munsters and The Addams Family. Must be a gap in the market for weirdo occult family surely.

Lockie Leonard is also part of a nuclear family.

I don't know how old granny murray is but she can't be more than about 40 surely?

I think I once read on MN that another, much older actress had the Granny Murray part but was taken ill or something so current 'Granny' got the gig. Should have renamed her 'Auntie' or something.

of course postman pat has a wife! her name is sarah

upon googling to confirm this before i posted, i never knew pat's surname was clifton

Well it took me a while to figure out that the one with Justin and Sarah Jane wasn't about 2, erm how shall I say this... care in the community types.

I remember when I was little in the 1970s the books we got were all 'right on' ('Joe has 2 dads' type of thing).

Peppa Pig lives in a Nuclear Family and has Grandparents - tho it's never clear whether they are paternal or maternal grandparents.
There are single-parent families too, Danny Dog has a mum and a grandad. No sign of Mrs Elephant, Mr Cat, etc.

Can you tell what DD likes most atm

pmsl at the pingu family being a nuclear family

Tigerschick, Peppa Pig's gps are maternal, there's an episode with them going through things in the garage & Peppa's mum talks about her favourite record as a child. I've seen a lot of PP as you might've guessed

What about Lazytown? Stephanie lives with her uncle but don't think you see her aunt, & you never see the other kids parents.

I think that Granny Murray looks like the kind of woman who has a deep dark secret.

georgiemum, yep, she's way too cheerful. Ds1 always asks to turn it off as 'its a bit scary'!

I think Grandpa Murray is buried under the patio. Or she used to be a stripper.

rosisdreamingofchocolate - Thanks. I've never seen that episode (and have always wondered )

I was thinking of Lazy Town when I re-opened the thread but you beat me to it!

..and who let Sarah Jane adopt in the Sarah Jane adventures then?

Exposing him to daleks and God knows what.
Tut, tut.
Get the social services round right now!

She is mentally imbalanced, she thinks her computer is her husband.

Dear dear dear.

tigerschick - great minds! (Btw, were we on the Harry Potter threads together?)

rosisdreamingofchocolate - ah, the good ol' days
Can't wait for 17th July ...

I thought so, I miss those threads! I have to start being nice to dh now so we can go

Rosie - its the attic. Can you sense I watch too much Peppa pig? The sheep go moo and the cows go baa...the birds go woof and the dogs go tweet moo baa woof tweet moo baa woof tweet...or something like that!

Daddy pig has a brother who is uncle to peppa and george - he and his wife also have two children - cousin chloe and the baby (cant remember his name lol).

Am a bit worried about Danny dog though - he is only ever with his grandad and I worry he has been orphaned.

I think Rebecca Rabbits mum must be a single mum though as she works about 27 different josb - have seen her selling christmas trees, working at the fayre...she gets everywhere lol

Granny Murray was born in 1970! She (the actress) was hilarious as Isa in Still Game, but at least she looked old in that

i cant believe that granny murray is only 5 years older than me, either sha has had a tough life (sorry granny murray if you are reading this) or i look bloody young for my age! ( idont by the way)

I think Charlie and Lola's parents go out every night on the lash with Max and Ruby's parents.

You never see either and they always leave the wayward younger sibling to be looked after by the older, more responsible one.

Ooh, I agree that Granny Murray looks like she runs a specialist website for discerning gentlemen !

Ds has taken to watching The Flumps on DVD, a bit eyebrow-raisingly northern stereotypes by today's standards, but they've got got 3 generations of woolly hats living together.

BUT Postman Pat defiently didn't have a wife or a dc when I was a little girl

I know someone who refuses to let her dd watch disney princess as all the mothers are dead

Peppa Pig - I clearly have seen more Peppa Pig than you Peppa's little baby cousin is called Alexander and Mrs Rabbit does have a husband - there is an episode where George and Peppa go and visit the burrow and both parents are there.

Now that is embarrassing that I know so much about Peppa Pig - double

exp sleeping beauty but she was hid in the forest for years