"My Family and Other Animals," Nov. 25, PBS

NEW YORK (CNS) -- There are so many creatures large and small in the latest "Masterpiece Theatre" presentation that if you happened upon it midway through the broadcast by channel surfing you'd be forgiven for thinking the weekly drama anthology had been pre-empted by "Nature."

But no. This is noted zoologist Gerald Durrell's best-selling 1956 memoir of his childhood, "My Family and Other Animals," co-produced by the BBC and WGBH Boston. It's airing again Sunday, Nov. 25, 9-10:30 p.m. EST on PBS stations (check local listings).

It's far from an English-style "Little House on the Prairie," as the Durrell brood was eccentric, to put it mildly, and the narrative concerns how in the years just before World War II their widowed mother (Imelda Staunton, Oscar nominee for "Vera Drake") packs up the family from their suffocating middle-class existence in their "neat little house in Bournemouth" and moves them to a villa -- actually, a succession of villas -- on the Greek island of Corfu, where family members can give free rein to their natural informality.

Budding writer Larry (Matthew Goode, recently in "Match Point"), gun-crazy Leslie (Russell Tovey) and teenage would-be seductress Margot (Tamzin Merchant) are the older siblings to 12-year-old Gerald (Eugene Simon), who is in seventh heaven with all the wildlife on the island. And, indeed, before long the house is filled with scorpions, magpies, rose beetles and slugs, not to mention a dog or two.

Gerald's tutors include the supercilious Peter (Tom Goodman-Hill), who seduces a willing Margot until Mrs. Durrell gets wise, and sends him off.

Added to the clan is warmhearted taxi driver Spiro (Omid Djalili), who first takes the family under his wing and remains their protector, and Dr. Stephanides (Chris Langham), a naturalist who bonds with young Gerald over their mutual pastime.

Larry causes mayhem, at one point, by inviting his bohemian friends from England to stay with them; the colorful crew even includes novelist Henry Miller, who writes in the nude in his room (fleeting rear view).

So, as you can see, even though this is ostensibly a childhood chronicle, some of the elements preclude viewing by young viewers. At one point, Mrs. Durrell awkwardly tries to explain the facts of life to young Gerald in the way we've seen dramatized countless times, but of course in this case she doesn't have to tell him anything, because he's literally been examining the birds and bees so closely he's figured it out!

Larry's impertinence to his mother is off-putting till you realize that it has less to do with disrespect than with the freewheeling nature of their relationship.

This is not perhaps one of the strongest "Masterpiece Theatre" offerings. The 90 minutes is leisurely paced, and director Sheree Folkston's use of a hand-held camera gives it all an intentional rough-hewn quality.

But its amusing portrait of the early life of two young authors -- Larry went on to become Lawrence Durrell, author of "The Alexandria Quartet," and Gerald would pen 37 books in all -- gives added literary appeal.

Stay with it till the end, and you'll likely feel more than a tinge of sadness when impending war forces the family off their island paradise and back to England.

There's a smattering of profanity and crude language, some partial nudity, sexual innuendo, groping between Margot and the tutor, and heavy drinking and smoking by Larry.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops