Radio Times

Review by:

Jane Anderson

Ray, Glenn, Jean and their large, extended family are Swampies and very proud of the fact. They live on the small Isle of Sheppey, just off the north coast of Kent, much of which is marshland. A party thrown for their 80-year-old mother brings this already close family even closer together and award-winning reporter Sara Parker — daughter of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker, so damn hot on family bonds herself — encourages them to talk about their lives in an unobtrusive and non-patronising fashion.

The older members of the clan are far fonder of Sheppey than their younger offspring, but one thing unites them all through tales of love, birth, scandal, job losses, terminal illness and death. And that is Family, very much spelt with a capital “F”.

About this programme

Sara Parker visits the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. She speaks to members of a large extended family about their lives, discovering their affection for the place and the difficulties of living on the island. It once had a steelworks, glass factories and a Royal Doulton pottery, but unemployment is now high and much of the work that remains relies on its port at Sheerness.

Cast and crew

Cast

Reporter

Sara Parker

Crew

Producer

Simon Elmes

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