Category: TV Drama
Date: 12.09.2005
Printable version
Trevor Eve is to star as a charismatic fertility expert in a moving new drama for 91Èȱ¬ ONE, set in the ever-changing world of IVF.
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The drama also stars Michelle Collins (Two Thousand Acres of Sky, EastEnders) as one of his patients.
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Written by Bafta award-winning Tony Marchant (Holding On, Passer By), The Family Man takes an engaging and thought-provoking look at the business of making babies in the 21st Century - a business which can make dreams come true.
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The main cast also includes Daniela Denby-Ashe (North and South, My Family), Claire Skinner (Life Begins), Lennie James (Buried), Sara Powell (Vanity Fair), Dominic Rowan (Doc Martin), Katy Cavanagh (The Cops), Lee Ross (Playing the Field) and Peter McDonald (Sea of Souls).
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Trevor Eve plays the passionate and principled Patrick Stowe. Over the years he has helped hundreds of couples to have babies of their own.
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And in a sea of developing technologies and shifting ethical opinion, he believes that each couple's case deserves to be judged individually and that blanket rules should not apply.
A belief which puts him at odds with many of his colleagues.
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The Family Man centres on the emotionally-charged stories of four couples who have all turned to Patrick for help, and his attempts to realise their dreams.
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Gillian (Michelle Collins) is a forty-something career woman who has found love too late to enable her to become a mother naturally. Impatient to get things moving, she finds an egg donor on the internet in the shape of Kelly (Daniela Denby-Ashe), who will have a profound effect on the life of her and her husband Steve (Peter McDonald).
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Jane (Sara Powell) and Paul (Lennie James) are heartbroken over the death of their son - the only boy in a family of three girls - and ask Patrick to help them conceive another boy.
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After numerous unsuccessful attempts at IVF, Natalie (Claire Skinner) and Matthew (Dominic Rowan) ask Patrick to bend the rules in order to give them more chance of conceiving, but they don't bargain for the ensuing consequences.
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And Tina (Katy Cavanagh) is forced to face up to events in her past as her relationship with partner Gary (Lee Ross) buckles under the strain of failed IVF treatment.
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Head of Drama Series and Serials, Laura Mackie, says: "This drama will take viewers on an emotional rollercoaster. As more and more couples are turning to the fertility industry for help in making babies, science is developing apace and what is considered morally acceptable is changing all the time.
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"The Family Man takes an accessible look at some of the key issues facing the industry - where do the rights and wrongs lie? Should boundaries be crossed if that is right for the individual patient? And where should the pursuit of the perfect baby end?"
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The Family Man is produced by Sarah Brown, directed by John Strickland (Bodies, Hustle) and executive produced by Sally Haynes.
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The Family Man is part of a broad portfolio of projects including The Virgin Queen, Shakespeare, Bleak House and Waking The Dead from 91Èȱ¬ Drama Series and Serials, headed by Laura Mackie.
