Television series

The Durrells

Name: The Durrells
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Released: 2016
Cast: Keeley Hawes, Daisy Waterstone, Callum Woodhouse, Josh O'Connor, Milo Parker

A skint, widowed mother drags her four squabbling children from grey suburban England to sun-blasted 1930s Corfu, and gentle chaos follows. Based on Gerald Durrell's memoirs, it's Sunday-night telly at its most soothing — eccentric neighbours, escaped animals, a teenage poet insufferably pleased with himself. Perfect for anyone who wants scenery and warmth over tension and twists.

TVMaze rating

7.9

If you liked this

All Creatures Great and Small2020

Same cosy register exactly: a young outsider finds his feet among rural eccentrics and animals, all shot in that golden, unhurried period light the Durrells fans will recognise instantly.

But Swap Corfu's turquoise sea for Yorkshire mud and rain — the setting does a lot of the Durrells' charm, and it's absent here.

Call the Midwife2012

The same warm ensemble spirit — a found family, period detail, laughter arriving right alongside heartbreak — but set among East End midwives instead of Corfu goats.

But It leans much harder into grief and hardship; some episodes are genuinely upsetting in ways the Durrells never is.

Death in Paradise2011

Fish-out-of-water Brit, blinding Caribbean sunshine, a colourful cast of locals — pure holiday escapism with a smile permanently attached.

But It's a murder-mystery procedural at heart, so expect a body every episode rather than a running family saga.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Zorba the Greek1964no page yet

Same Greek island, same culture clash between reserved Brit and life-embracing local — but treated as a matter of mortality, not sitcom fodder.

A buttoned-up Englishman meets a force-of-nature Greek who teaches him to dance through grief and ruin — the same collision of English restraint and Mediterranean vitality that powers every Durrells scene, played here for keeps.

But Black-and-white and genuinely philosophical, it sits with real loss rather than resolving everything by the credits.

A Year in Provence1993no page yet

A British family upends their life for the slower rhythms of rural France, complete with leaking roofs, baffling neighbours and total culture shock — the Durrells' blueprint, basically.

But It's older, slower telly with none of the modern polish, and the plot is thinner on the ground.

Enchanted April1991no page yet

Four Englishwomen flee drizzly London for an Italian castle and are quietly transformed by the sun — the same golden light and gentle life-lesson glow as Corfu.

But It's slower and more introspective, with a melancholy undertow that's less kid-friendly than the Durrells.

Doc Martin2004

A brilliant, oddball ensemble in a beautiful seaside town, with the same knack for finding comedy in small-town eccentricity and big personalities colliding.

But The prickly, difficult protagonist makes it a sharper, less cuddly watch than the Durrells' easy warmth.

Grantchester2014

Period England, a lovable ensemble, and enough warmth and humour to balance out the plot — comfort telly with a bit more mystery stitched in.

But Murder investigations bring a darker, moodier undercurrent than anything in the Durrells' Corfu.

Lark Rise to Candleford2008

A whole village of gossiping, squabbling, ultimately affectionate characters in period England — the same ensemble-comedy DNA as the Durrells, just muddier.

But It's gentler still and more old-fashioned in pace, with none of Corfu's sunshine to liven the visuals.

Detectorists2014

The same generosity of spirit and delight in small, odd people living small, odd lives — just relocated from a Greek hillside to an English field.

But No exotic scenery, no culture clash, and a stillness that some will find soothing and others simply slow.

My Octopus Teacher2020

Both are really about watching someone fall in love with a creature; one's a boy's memoir turned sitcom, the other the real adult version of that same obsession.

Gerry Durrell's whole future as a naturalist starts with a boy staring into rock pools. This is that exact wonder, grown up, aimed at an octopus off South Africa's coast.

But No jokes, no ensemble, no plot beyond one man and one animal — it asks for patience and stillness.

Mediterraneo1991no page yet

Same island fantasy of outsiders shedding their old selves in the Greek sun, but with history pressing at the edges instead of just family squabbles.

Italian soldiers stranded on a tiny Greek island during WWII forget the war entirely and go native — falling for local women and becoming the eccentrics themselves. It's the Durrells' plot with a rifle nobody wants to fire.

But Subtitled, and the comedy sits right next to wartime absurdity, so the stakes feel higher even when nobody's fighting.