Author Description

Films by Turner Prize winner Gillian Wearing are screened as part of an installation inside a Birmingham city centre flat and other venues. One of the films focuses on the life of Heather Wilkins from seminal 1970s BBC series The Family. The installation, Family History, features two films inspired by Gillian's interest in 1970s 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary The Family. First broadcast in 1974, this BBC series is seen as the first British reality TV programme, and in her films Wearing reflects on her own childhood and the original show's representation of Heather Wilkins, the outspoken teenager who appeared in the programme.