CBBC Memories – The Wild House.

The Wild House (CBBC, 1997-1999)

This is a CBBC sitcom that was shown regularly in the late-90s. I even remember watching this one! The Wild House is a title that has a double meaning, because this focused on a family that had the surname Wild, and they lived in a house… and they were all wild. The unusual animated opening sequence was also a clue that this was going to be something a little different. The main family are the parents, and their three children.

They are Serena (the oldest, played by Honeysuckle Weeks), Natalie (the middle), and Arthur (the youngest). The main character of these is Natalie, who is in her early-teens, and often observes and explains what is happening in the house, although this is usually rather difficult. Serena is in her mid-teens, and is at that age where she has started to think about what she might do after leaving school, and boys as well.

Arthur is in his pre-teens, and he is interested in wildlife, often playing with animals and creepy insects, and constantly hearing the bickering of his older sisters irritates him. And the parents watch all of this happen, and wonder how they could’ve raised such strange children. One of the things that made The Wild House stand out were the intervals, where one of the characters would directly address the camera.

They would talk about their thoughts on the current situation, accompanied by a suitable background image. Even their trusty dog Jasper would do this. In the second series, Serena left to live in America (and Weeks went on to appear in various series for the grown-ups, including Foyle’s War), and the parents eventually departed as well, leaving only Natalie and Arthur, so this meant that there were some cast changes.

Serena was replaced by her cousin Georgina, who was around the same age, although she was much more feisty. And they would all be looked after by various other crazy relations, including their aunts, uncles, and grandparents. By the end of the run, the rest of the family went off to live in America. There were 37 episodes of The Wild House in three series. Some thought this was a little gimmicky, but I enjoyed it.

Repeat runs continued for a while on CBBC into the early-2000s. I don’t think that any episodes were ever released on VHS or DVD though. After this ended, the main writer went on to create Welcome To Orty-Fou, which was shown on CITV for two series from 1999-2000, and had a similar idea featuring a quirky family, although this was more of a comedy-drama. I might review this one day soon as well.