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), theoretically a writer
- 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.
- Animated Credits Opening: The show has an animated montage representing events from the series, different for each season.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Spiro has a thing for Louisa, but he's married and she's not interested, so he hangs around as a dear family friend. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Parental Favoritism: Downplayed Trope. Larry is subtilty Louisa's favorite child. Or at least, he's the most her confidant.
- 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.
