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Exposing the parental-paradox that it is possible, in the very same moment, to love your child to the horizon of the universe, while being apoplectically angry enough to want to send them there.
“The Instagram parents are lying.”
2020
The children won’t sleep – Paul and Ally thought these nights were over. Paul spends the night fighting his own anger and his children’s inability to go the f**k to sleep.
Luke's parents and the surprising arrival of Ally's estranged father cause Paul and Ally to scrutinize their hopes and dreams for Luke and Ava and discover how far they will go for the sake of their kids.
Ally attempts to acclimatize to Michael's continued presence while Paul begins to question if his accident-prone son's frequent injuries might actually be his fault.
Michael thrives in his new role as dad and granddad, but Paul and Ally can't adapt to his presence as easily as the children can. Luke's hunt for proof that Santa doesn't exist puts Paul's claim that he never lies to the test.
Paul and Ally are thrilled that Sprout the family gerbil has finally died, but explaining loss to Luke and Ava is more difficult than they thought as grief manifests itself in mysterious ways and throws the family off course.
In the wake of Michael’s death, the family stay with Darren at his country house, but Paul’s attempt to give Ally space by taking on kid duties and Darren’s fixation on work doesn’t help Ally find a chance to say goodbye.
It’s half term and Luke is responsible for taking Lenny the class bear on an adventure. Lenny has been to Italy, Peru and beyond, but Paul can’t even manage to get the family and the godforsaken bear out of the house to the local park.
Paul attempts to focus on his upcoming wedding but is constantly thwarted by his family; Ally is distracted by work, Luke is misbehaving at school and Leah (Stella Gonet) doesn’t understand why they are even bothering to get married.
Family life is thrown off kilter as Ally spends her weekdays in Berlin and weekends in London. Paul, Luke and Ava try to muddle through without her, but the children aren’t sleeping again and it takes its toll on Paul.
Luke’s condition worsens and he is admitted to a specialist pediatric unit. As Paul, Ally and their parents desperately wait for news, stress and fear cause cracks to form within the family.
2023
It’s five years since we last saw the Worsleys, with Paul and Ally on the verge of splitting, and Jim and Jackie in turmoil. Things are no less dramatic now as Luke and girlfriend Maya drop a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone’s lives forever.
The reality of Luke’s announcement hits, and Paul and Ally worry about the decision he and Maya have made and whether they should support them. As a New Year starts, the Worsley family gather together with Maya’s family, united in their love and worry.
Ally is appalled that she’s about to turn 50 and bans the family from ever mentioning that number. Paul tries to help Luke, who is overwhelmed by learning to drive and becoming a dad, while Ava meets a charismatic girl called Holly.
A calendar mix-up turns Paul and Ally’s fun night out into a stressful night in. A happy Ava finds her mood changing as the evening progresses. Luke turns up with an unwelcome friend and Carl finally sees the inside of the Worsley’s house.
Paul and Ally find themselves parenting Jim and Jackie as well as a conflicted Luke. Ava and Holly get closer and Ava decides to take a risk, while Paul meets an old friend and realizes that he might, after all, be happy.
A chat with Darren and a chance encounter convince Ally she needs more friends, so she decides to reunite her antenatal class. Ally tells Luke and Ava this was a friendship group with no arseholes. But 17 years is a long time.
Paul and Ally are disappointed that their planned family holiday has become one for just the two of them, but they make new friends. Luke is preparing for his new life with Maya and makes a massive decision. What follows leaves them both terrified.
Paul and Ally rush to fly back from their holiday when they hear that Maya is giving birth five weeks early. Ava and Sunil try to help Luke step up and become a father, but everyone is in shock when complications set in.
As Paul and Ally try to help Luke, struggling with being both a dad and a student, they find they have very different ideas about the best way forward. Jackie’s condition is becoming more noticeable, and Jim is determined to help out.
Jackie’s health is continuing to worsen. Paul helps out a distressed Luke but finds himself in more conflict with Ally. At Baby Jay’s naming party, Ava declares her love, and Paul makes an offer that will take him and Ally back in time.
Martin Freeman
Paul Worsley
Daisy Haggard
Ally Grant
Oscar Kennedy
Luke Worsley
Zoë Athena
Ava Worsley
2022
With Luke refusing to live with his dad, Paul is staying at honeymooning Leah’s house. Ally begins to feel the strain, while a distressing event from the family’s past has a surprising present-day echo.
Ally fears she might lose her job and her mind as the company collapses and her HRT medications become unavailable. Luke’s panic attack ends Paul’s leisurely life at Leah’s. An increasingly isolated Ava faces a huge change.
A back injury leaves Paul high on Leah's supply, as he raids her collection of heavy-duty painkillers. As Luke and his dad get closer, Ally and Ava drift further apart, and Ally looks for someone to blame.
Ally and Paul each learns the truth about a thing that has been terrifying them - for Ally, her job and for Paul, his MRI result. Ava and Luke both feel frozen out by the people they care most about.
An ambitious Ally sets out to save the company and throw a memorable birthday party for Ava, just as Paul, passed over for promotion yet again, wonders if he ever had any ambition to start with.
A devastated Paul is forced by his new boss to make funding cuts. After Ally's attempt to impress Ava ends in humiliation, she tells Paul some home truths, just as Jackie realizes a terrible truth about a dying friend.
After an apparent reconciliation with Ally, Paul's rage returns with a vengeance when he realizes that Ava has done something that could ruin her life. Luke and Jacob reunite, but things are becoming more complicated.
Paul takes his parents on a day-trip to the countryside, to recreate a cherished memory. But the revelation of a number of secrets leaves all three of them reeling.
Jim and Jackie are both struggling under their new circumstances. Luke has to choose between Jacob and Ruby. At Alex's 65th birthday party, Ally meets someone who makes her see Paul in a new light.
A furious argument between Paul and Ally is interrupted by Ava's news about Jim. Luke is happier than ever, a newly confident Ava stands up to her dad, but Paul and Ally need to decide - is this it?
2021
The kids are growing up fast – Ava is now 10 and Luke is about to turn 13. With their burgeoning independence comes the question of whether Paul and Ally’s parenting style still works. Clue: no.
Luke’s anxiety is becoming a problem at home and school. Would a medical diagnosis make his life easier or harder? Ally faces further tension after her mother Leah is robbed.
Paul fears his culturally fragmented family has lost a vital connection. Gentrification impacts Jim and Jackie as the last of their old neighbours move out and more young professionals move in.
A sudden death impacts the older generation of the Worsley family. Ava struggles to keep a profound secret from Paul. Ally finds it difficult to hide her true feelings from Luke.
As Ally contemplates her pregnancy, a new piece of information blows her world apart. A worried Ava tries to help her mum while Luke regrets lying.
Ally is under huge pressure, but no one seems to want to listen to her; Jim and Jackie are excited about a possible move to the coast and, much to Paul's surprise, so is he.
Ally and Paul's marriage is in crisis. Paul's obsessed by what happened but won't discuss it. An increasingly troubled Luke refuses to go to school and Leah and Alex make an announcement.
As he and Ally continue to feel distant, Paul rekindles an old friendship, but at a cost to Ava. Luke surprises everyone by getting a best friend. Jim and Jackie are forced to move.
As Jim and Jackie's golden wedding anniversary party is plunged into darkness by a power outage, the growing tensions between Paul and Luke reach an explosive and terrifying climax.
On the day of Leah and Alex's wedding, Paul and Ally find they have only a few hours to deal with a family crisis, leading Paul to make the hardest decision of his life.
