[1] A remake of Keep It in the Family was produced in the United States under the title Too Close for Comfort, starring Ted Knight.

Jacqui and Susan want to have the vacant downstairs flat for themselves, so they can escape from the parental home and from Dudley's obsessive gaze.

Dudley is a talented illustrator and he earns his living from drawing his cartoon strip "Barney – the Bionic Bulldog" which he does while holding a pencil in the paw of his ventriloquist lion glove puppet.

Dudley would rather do anything than draw the cartoon strip and he keeps procrastinating to such an extent that he keeps missing the deadline for his illustrations, much to the frustration of the long-suffering Duncan.

Dudley is also a compulsive practical joker, with his long-suffering agent, Duncan Thomas, usually being on the receiving end of such jokes.