Most decisions in life are taken amicably – we do huff and puff to decide what to buy or where to go out for dinner, but in the end we always come to an agreement. There’s just one exception though – ever since the little black box settled down in our living room, we’ve been fighting for sole authority over the remote control.

Nathan showing off his DVD collection.

Ludwig claims complete disinterest in these shows, and yet he always seems to know what is happening

Ludwig Mallia and Marion Mallia Rapinett have been sharing a television since they got married in 2003 – but for the last six years, their son Nathan has also been staking his claim over the remote control.

Nathan is the monarch of the television and has almost complete control over the set in the living room. Marion, on the other hand, decides what to watch on the television in the main bedroom. This leaves Ludwig at a disadvantage.

“Ludwig gets the raw end of the television deal,” Marion says. “However, we both have to suffer through countless repeats of the programmes shown on Boomerang and Disney Junior. We could probably recite the entire script of some shows off by heart,” Marion says.

“In the bedroom, I enjoy watching local television shows, especially dramas. Ludwig claims complete disinterest in these shows, and yet he always seems to know what is happening.”

“I enjoy watching documentaries on Discovery Channel but between Marion and Nathan, I rarely get the chance to get the television to myself at a reasonable hour,” Ludwig complains.

“As a family, we mostly watch cartoons,” he adds. “And when Nathan lets go of the remote control, we get to watch the evening news. Otherwise, we get so little time together that we rarely watch anything else.”

The struggle for ultimate television control is not causing any strife in this family as Marion tells me they have found a good working compromise,

“When Nathan watches his cartoons I’m usually doing household chores and Ludwig will either catch up with some work or relax with his games console. After the evening news, Ludwig will sit with me and play his computer games while I watch my shows.”

As they spend their time juggling work and family commitments, Marion and Ludwig rarely watch television on their own as they prefer to spend their free time together.

Peter and Rachel.

We have developed our own ways of coping with programmes we don’t like

Peter Borg, Rachel Williams and Rachel’s daughter Michela have shared a television for almost six years.

Who rules over the remote control in their household?

“In a typical chauvinistic manner Peter does,” Rachel says.

Peter, however, disagrees.

“The situation is very balanced,” he says. “Michela has to suffer while Rachel and I watch football. On the other hand, Rachel and Michela have to put up with my Italian culture programmes. But then, it’s my turn to grumble while they watch repeats of American comedies, which I don’t like.”

What do they watch together as a family?

“Even though we have our own favourite programmes, we still watch television together,” they say.

“We have developed our own ways of coping with programmes we don’t like,” Rachel says. “Michela will get busy on her laptop, I will either read or browse the net while Peter will have a snooze in front of the telly, probably dreaming of Monica Bellucci.”