Presidential soap opera

AN ambitious father and a charismatic son with a beautiful wife have formed the plots of many soap operas.

This one is, largely, true as the seemingly perfect Kennedy family ended up tarnished by tragedy.

This ongoing mini-series charts the key moments of the story, and features an allstar cast, including Greg Kinnear as JFK and Katie Holmes as his wife, Jackie.

It’s now August 1961, and the Russians are moving troops into Berlin, although it’s not clear just what they are planning.

At the White House, reports start to emerge suggesting Russian Premier Khrushchev is planning to build a wall dividing the city, which Jack knows could prove disastrous for those living in the East. He also realises the cost of getting involved in a fight he may not be able to win.

His brother, Bobby, definitely has a battle on his hands forming the Organised Crime Division, a move which does not go down well with Chicago mobster Sam Giancana.

Meanwhile, Jackie is finding it hard to juggle her family, her duties as First Lady and life in the public eye as an all-round style icon.

Like all of the most successful US TV series, this one features a well-known Brit.

Tom Wilkinson plays one of the driving forces behind JFK’s rise to power, Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy, Sr. He says: “When Joe Sr’s ambitions had been thwarted and were finished forever, he pushed his children into positions that that they really didn’t want to be in.

“No sense of perspective. There was the Kennedys and the rest, and the rest weren’t worth anything. His world view was kind of propped up by the triple stanchions of ambition, money and family.

And it’s almost medieval in its simplicity.”

Wilkinson was born into a family of farmers in Leeds, in 1948, and he admits the only time he felt confident as a youngster was when he stepped out onto the stage.

“It was the only thing I was any good at really. I was forced to direct a play at school and, from day one, I knew I could do it. Three weeks later, I knew I could do it for a job.”

He graduated from the University of Kent, at Canterbury, with a degree in English and American literature, but it took until 1997, and the stripping success of The Full Monty, for Hollywood to come calling.

For the past 14 years, he has juggled mainstream hits such as Rush Hour and Batman Begins, with riskier art house projects, including his Oscar-nominated turns for In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton.

With The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Samuel L Jackson movie The Samaritan keeping him busy, we will see a lot more of Wilkinson in the next 12 months.

DESPITE annoying the TV critics, My Family has become the most watched British sitcom of the last decade. It was also voted number 24 in a Britain’s Best Sitcom poll, so it obviously has a loyal fanbase, and that includes comedienne-of-the-moment Miranda Hart, who was upset when she heard it had been axed.

“It’s done a lot for studio-audience sitcoms,”

she says. “I have always stood by it. Having that many viewers says it all really.”

In tonight’s episode, the introduction of timecards at work outrages Ben, so he decides to take a stand and forms a union.

However, when he gets collared by Mr Griffith, the grumpy dentist fears he may get fired.

Elsewhere, Susan auditions to be a kids’ TV presenter, but she faces competition from a familiar face – Janey.

ON tonight’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man, BAFTA-winning Thandi Newton teams up with actor-turned-director Ben Miller for the movie Huge. Plus, Supernanny Jo Frost drops into the studio to discuss new series Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance, and former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher performs The Beat Goes On with his band Beady Eye.