---
title: "The Durrells"
year: 2016
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-durrells"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_score: 78
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-09-17T16:07:22.264232+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T16:07:35.842025+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Durrells (2016)

Created by Simon Nye · 46m · MPA NR · Drama, Comedy, Family

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 78 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* Corfu looks like a holiday until the children start talking

> Keeley Hawes gives *The Durrells* the harassed, affectionate mother its sunny family comedy needs. We recommend it for her performance and the family squabbles, with a caveat about leisurely pacing and Corfu doing rather too much of the work.

## Synopsis

In the 1930s, widow Louisa Durrell (Keeley Hawes) moves her unruly family to Corfu to start again. Lawrence Durrell (Josh O’Connor), Gerald Durrell (Milo Parker), Margo Durrell (Daisy Waterstone) and Leslie Durrell (Callum Woodhouse) bring their competing demands with them. A Venetian villa, island animals and encounters with the locals fill their new lives, but family feuds continue in the sunshine. Among those they meet is Spiros Halikiopoulos (Alexis Georgoulis). Louisa must find a way to make this island household work while attending to children who offer little prospect of a quiet life.

## Review

*The Durrells* is good company, provided we accept that its family will not always get anywhere quickly. Simon Nye’s comedy-drama gives Louisa Durrell the difficult job of starting again in Corfu with children who have brought their bad temper along with everything else. The scenery promises a holiday, but Keeley Hawes keeps reminding us that someone still has to manage the household. Its best jokes come from the work required to keep this quarrelsome family together.

Keeley Hawes makes Louisa Durrell’s exasperation funny without making her seem foolish for wanting things to improve. We laughed at her struggle to manage the children’s competing demands, then felt sorry for her because the effort looks so tiring. The performance leaves room for impatience, affection and the wish to have a life beyond sorting out the children. When the programme threatens to become too contented with its setting, she gives us a mother who cannot simply sit back and enjoy it.

Josh O’Connor, Milo Parker, Daisy Waterstone and Callum Woodhouse make a useful nuisance of the Durrell children, whose squabbles keep interrupting any prospect of tranquillity. Simon Nye lets affection survive a quarrel without asking everyone to become nicer before the next one. The animals add welcome variety to the human fuss, and help prevent the family arguments from becoming the programme’s only source of comedy. Alexis Georgoulis, as Spiros Halikiopoulos, adds to the welcoming atmosphere around them. The cast makes that disorder enjoyable, even when we would be reluctant to share a house with the family.

The island is a considerable advantage. With Ashley Rowe and Sam Renton among the cinematographers, the series makes Corfu inviting enough that a lull in the dialogue need not feel like wasted time. The Venetian villa gives the production design a similarly useful starting point: the setting is somewhere we want to spend an episode, even when the inhabitants are being difficult. There are stretches, though, when the scenery supplies more pleasure than the story, and the programme seems happy to leave it at that.

That ease extends to the rhythm. The editing team, which includes Dave Thrasher and Vicky Tooms, gives the family friction room to develop instead of hurrying each exchange towards the next joke. Ruth Barrett’s music supports the gentle comedy without demanding that every disagreement should matter terribly. The relaxed pace occasionally leaves the cast sustaining interest without much fresh material, and a firmer cut would help.

Family comedy needs people we can tolerate at close quarters, even when they are behaving badly. *The Durrells* understands that affection need not make the children easy, and that Louisa Durrell deserves attention beyond her usefulness to them. That gives Simon Nye’s writing enough adult interest to hold us between the squabbles and the animal encounters. Choose it when a difficult family in a pleasant place sounds like company.

*Fi1m score 80, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics welcome The Durrells as gentle, funny family television, with all seven reviews positive. Praise centres on Keeley Hawes as Louisa, whose handling of the frazzled, spirited mother gives the family’s quarrels and adventures a dependable centre. The Corfu locations, animals and convivial supporting characters contribute to its appeal, while the warmer notices find emotional depth beneath the light escapism. Humour and charm are the consistent points of agreement across reviews of both the opening and final series.

The differences are chiefly in enthusiasm, with little substantial dissent. The Times acknowledges an initially uninspired feel but finds that the one-liners and Hawes’s performance supply the necessary charm. Digital Spy describes the family story as twee but appealing, whereas Paste places greater emphasis on its emotional depth and low-stakes pleasures. The spread runs from qualified approval to wholehearted affection, rather than any dispute about what the programme offers.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **The Guardian**, Julia Raeside (80/100, inferred): The critic finds it a charming TV adaptation of Gerald Durrell’s Corfu trilogy starring Keeley Hawes as a widow relocating her unruly family to a sunny island. The spirited children, convivial locals and Hawes’s capable performance make it an absolute sunny delight. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/03/sundays-best-tv-undercover-the-durrells-life-in-the-air)
- **The i Paper**, Jeff Robson (★★★★): The fourth and final series delivers classic warm-bath television with humour, charm and pathos amid the darkening shadow of 1930s European politics. Nye expands skilfully on the source memoirs while retaining their elegiac yet earthy tone, with the Louisa-Spiro relationship providing a solid dramatic thread. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-durrells-itv-review-series-four-final-series-keeley-hawes-277050)
- **The Telegraph**, Gerry O’Donovan (4/5): The critic calls the adaptation a gem that improves on prior versions by centering the spirited matriarch Louisa Durrell played by Keeley Hawes and embracing a more adult tone with humor and exoticism. Sumptuous Corfu scenery, authentic casting and feelgood family fare make it tip-top Sunday night viewing. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/04/03/keeley-hawes-is-a-ray-of-sunshine-in-the-durrells---review/)
- **Radio Times**, Mark Jefferies (75/100, inferred): The series offers a gentle mix of family feuds and adventures in beautiful Corfu locations with lots of animals, providing feelgood Sunday night viewing reminiscent of The Darling Buds of May. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/itvs-new-drama-the-durrells-could-bring-a-gentler-feel-to-sunday-nights/)
- **The Times**, James Jackson (★★★★☆): The critic notes that despite seeming uninspired, the series matches the charm of the beloved 1987 adaptation with one-liners, buckets of charm and Keeley Hawes as the frazzled mother. The sapphire Aegean, Venetian villa and buzzing cicadas create a wonderfully inviting Greek Eden. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/undercover-the-durrells-dgpfqt0q2)
- **Paste**, Allison Keene (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as one of TV’s brightest gems, highlighting its humor, quirky family dynamics, and emotional depth. They single out Keeley Hawes’ portrayal of Louisa and the show’s whimsical, low-stakes charm for particular praise. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-durrells-in-corfu/the-durrells-in-corfu-season-4-review)
- **Digital Spy**, Tom Eames (70/100, inferred): The critic positions the series as a relaxing, charming ITV drama perfect as light escapism after heavier crime shows. It highlights the twee but appealing family story set in 1930s Corfu with potential to become a major hit. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a787590/new-itv-drama-the-durrells-might-just-be-the-ultimate-laid-back-tv-treat/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Simon Nye
- **Creator:** Simon Nye
- **Director:** Roger Goldby, Steve Barron, Niall MacCormick, Edward Hall
- **Writer:** Simon Nye
- **Cinematography:** James Aspinall, Sam Renton, Ben Wheeler, Ashley Rowe, Julian Court, Damian Bromley
- **Editor:** Vicky Tooms, Dave Thrasher, Nick McPhee, Mary Finlay, David Yardley
- **Music:** Ruth Barrett
- **Producer:** Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, Rebecca Eaton
- **Cast:** Keeley Hawes as Louisa Durrell; Josh O'Connor as Lawrence Durrell; Milo Parker as Gerald Durrell; Daisy Waterstone as Margo Durrell; Callum Woodhouse as Leslie Durrell; Alexis Georgoulis as Spiros Halikiopoulos; Yorgos Karamichos as Theo Stephanides; Anna Savva as Lugaretzia
- **Runtime:** 46m
- **Certificate (MPA):** NR
- **Release (the US):** 3 April 2016
- **Genres:** Drama, Comedy, Family
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQnu9PDkUkY

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Apple TV: buy, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AT, AU, CA, DE, FR, GB, IE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Railway Children* (1970): Another displaced family finds its feet, with kindness that survives the sentiment.
- *Our Little Sister* (2015): Sisters sharing a house, with patient observation and affection beneath the daily irritations.
- *The Good Life* (1975), Fi1m 85: A fresh start produces domestic arguments, stubborn optimism and excellent comic company. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-life.md)
- *My Father's Glory* (1990): A child’s countryside summer, attentive to family foibles and the pleasures of place.
- *Detectorists* (2014), Fi1m 87: Gentle outdoor comedy whose quiet friendships give the picturesque setting something to do. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/detectorists.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-durrells