The Durrells (2016–2019) is a British ITV comedy-drama television series loosely based on Gerald Durrell's autobiographical Corfu trilogy about his family's four years (1935–1939) on the Greek island of Corfu.
Mother Louisa (Keeley Hawes) has been widowed for years and is trying to wrangle her unruly quartet of children:
- Lawrence "Larry" Durrell (Josh O'Connor), a young author
- Leslie Durrell (Callum Woodhouse), a Gun Nut
- Margo Durrell (Daisy Waterstone), The Ditz
- Gerald "Gerry" Durrell (Milo Parker), an Animal Lover
Tropes:
- Adaptational Protagonist: The series is based on Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. The show focuses most on the perspective of his mother, Louisa. Young Gerry's tendency to bring animals into the house is just one more thing she has to deal with.
- Anchored Ship: Spiro is constantly hanging around as a dear family friend. He has a thing for Louisa. At first it looks like Louisa is uninterested (if flattered) and he's a Dogged Nice Guy. Eventually it is becomes clear that Louisa does reciprocate — but since he's a married man and she's a Proper Lady, she's keeping it under lock. Season 3 moves it more into Unresolved Sexual Tension territory.
- Animated Credits Opening: The show has an animated montage representing events from the series, different for each season.
- Double Meaning Gag: In episode 2.03, Leslie — a Gun Nut — briefly gets really into photography. The boy loves shooting.
- Evolving Credits: The show has opening titles consisting of semi-animated artwork depicting events in the series, and changed each season.
- Femme Fatale: The Durrells' landlady, Vasilia, tries to evict the Durrells and tries to have sex with Larry.Florence: I hear rumors all the time, but the latest one is she once poisoned a lover who jilted her.
- Frontier Doctor: Downplayed Trope. Dr Petrides is the only doctor in their small island town. He has a nice office, but it's a single doctor's private practice, not a hospital. In more than one episode a plot derives from there being more than one medical emergency on the island at the same time.
- Hot for Preacher: In 2.01 and 2.02, Margo is trying to date, Pavlos, is a Greek Orthodox monk. She thinks he's her Boy of the Week; he thinks they're Just Friends.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Tween Gerry has almost exclusively friends with adults, most prominently Theo.
- Like A Duck To Water: Gerry, alone of the family, takes instantly to life in Corfu because it lets him indulge his fascination with wildlife.
- Parental Favoritism: Downplayed Trope; it's up to interpretation whether Larry is subtilty Louisa's favorite child, or if he's merely her confidant because he's the eldest.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Inverted Trope. Larry publishes his first book (Pied Piper Of Lovers) which contains a lot of sex. Louisa doesn't read it, and Larry interprets this as unsupportive until she explains why.Louisa: The real reason I find it difficult to read is... well, you're my son so the sex makes me feel queasy.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Season 3 ramps up the Ship Tease between Louisa and Spiro. At the end of the season, Spiro's wife leaves him. He and Louisa are just about to start a relationship — but then his wife comes back. In "What the Durrells Did Next", his great-granddaughter reports that in real life, they were the subject of Did They or Didn't They? rumors.
- Rule of Perception: It is occasionally mentioned that Spiro has a wife and children, but only rarely. The audience knows it in an abstract sort of way. His wife doesn't appear on-screen until season 4, and his children never appear on-screen. (In real life, his son Michalis was a friend of the Durrell boys.) How bad the prospect of Spiro cheating on his wife with Louisa seems is directly proportional to how real his family seems. Thus, keeping them offscreen is a shippy choice on the writers' part.
- Scenery Porn: The Durrells pick up from their dreary hometown of Bournemouth and move to a hovel on Corfu. Look out their window, who could blame them?
- The Un-Favourite: Implied Trope. Leslie isn't unloved, but he is... unrespected, maybe, by Louisa. She calls him "my most vulnerable child," and he's the child she most struggles to see having a sucessful future. When Lugaretzia declares him "best son", this is genuinely surprising to Louisa.Louisa: All parents have one child that they fear for — y'know, the one who gets bitten, or rejected, or the one who chooses bad friends. [Beat] Or falls off Bournemouth pier.