Een Keer om die Son is a South African, Afrikaans-language television drama series which follows the trials and tribulations of a seemingly happy family over the course of a year.
It takes the Earth a year to move around the sun and in those 12 months, a great deal can happen, both bitter and sweet.
Each of the 12 episodes depicts a month in the lives of the family, with flashbacks to show how they ended up where they are.
Ruan van Wyk is a neurosurgeon married to Lani van Wyk. They are the parents of three children: Markus, who is in matric, 15-year-old Leandri and Sophia who is eight and in Grade 1.
Amé Cloete is Ruan's sister and a successful financial manager, married to Joshua Cloete, the owner of an art gallery.
Ruan and Amé's parents are Sebastian, a professor in entomology; and Elma, who owns a bakery.
But then tragedy strikes, raising puzzling questions, and everything changes overnight.
In the series premiere: It's New Year's Eve and we meet the Van Wyk family. Everyone is there except Ruan, who again chooses work over his family.
The party ends with a shock announcement and weeks later tragedy strikes the family.
Een Keer om die Son is produced by Ivan Botha, Donnalee Roberts and Danie Bester for 17 Films.
The executive producers are Nomsa Philiso, Nicola van Niekerk, Wikus du Toit and Lucia Meyer-Marais; the director is Ivan Botha.
The head writers are Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts, with a writing team including Liani Jansen van Rensburg, Retief Scholtz and Tina Kruger.
Original music is by Almero Welgemoed.
The series was filmed in and around Cape Town.
Main Cast
Jacques Bessenger is Dr Ruan van Wyk, a neurosurgeon. He tries his best to balance his career and his family, but his career always wins.
Jana Kruger plays Lani van Wyk, Jacques' wife and mother of their three children. She is the glue that holds the family together.
Liam Bosman is Markus van Wyk. He is 17 years old and in matric. He is chosen as the captain of the first rugby team, but he has a different dream.
Alma van Heerden plays Leandri van Wyk, 15 years old and in Grade 9. After the family trauma, she becomes extremely rebellious and does things she would never have done before.
Klara van Zyl plays Sophia van Wyk. She is nine years old. She escapes into her own fantasy world to make sense of what is happening around her.
Donnalee Roberts is Amé Cloete, a 36-year-old CFO. She is married to Joshua but has made it clear from the beginning that she doesn't want children.
Ludwig Binge is Joshua Cloete (38), the owner of an art gallery and a curator. He very much wants to become a father but is well aware of Amé's unwillingness.
Albert Maritz plays Prof Sebastian van Wyk (67), a professor of entomology and the father of Ruan and Amé.
Joanie Combrink plays Elma van Wyk (67), Sebastian's wife and the mother of Ruan and Amé. She bakes for other people but feels trapped and has dreams of travelling.
Susanne Beyers and Pierre van Pletzen play Salie and Jan Wessels, good friends of Sebastian and Elma.
Alex van Dyk is Xavier, 17 years old and in grade 11. He is the cool kid at school, doesn't follow the rules, and he has the hots for Leandri.
Other cast members include Simone Neethling as Charlie, the leader of the dance group; Lee-Ann van Rooi as Dr Beth Hendricks, head of neurosurgery; Adriaan Havenga as Dr Jean Petersen, a neurosurgery trainee; Bennie Fourie as Coach Cilliers; Antoinette Louw as Teacher Marianne, Sophia's grade 2 teacher, and Amalia Uys as the artist Sage Jones.