A reunion of the huge Symon family is reluctantly attended by bankrupt businessman Raymond, his wife Esther and their surveyor son Daniel. Raymond has had no contact with the family for some time and his father was regarded as the 'black sheep'. Arriving at the hotel, Daniel meets his cousins Charles and Rebecca, and is fascinated by their sophisticated, cynical attitude, although he is immediately waylaid by Irving, a property speculator who wants to utilise his skills as a surveyor.
Second of the three-part drama. Raymond suffers a stroke and Daniel discovers the extraordinary wartime memories of Edith, Violet and Grace.
Inspired by a similar incident in Stephen Poliakoff’s life, Perfect Strangers tells the tale of a family reunion, a gathering of the disparate clans of a family long separated. It focuses on Daniel, the son of the family’s ‘black sheep’, following him as the doors into his past and that of his family are opened by the stories he discovers. Written just a few years before Who Do You Think You Are? hit our screens, it explores the increasing interest in genealogy; the ability the internet gave us to investigate our past; and the power of family trees, archives, photos and the secrets they contain. Stephen tells us of the amazing cast: Lyndsay Duncan, Matthew MacFadyen, in his first leading role, and Michael Gambon. He reveals how he persuaded Michael not to go and shoot a cameo in a Mel Smith film on the first day of filming and talks of unexpectedly getting the free run of Claridge’s as a location and accidentally running into Margaret Thatcher mid-filming. He also explains the back
