Breeders

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.

Ally attempts to acclimatize to Michaels continued presence while Paul begins to question if his accident-prone sons frequent injuries might actually be his fault.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 and Pauls marriage is in crisis. Pauls obsessed by what happened but wont discuss it. An increasingly troubled Luke refuses to go to school and Leah and Alex make an announcement.

As Jim and Jackies 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.

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.

A back injury leaves Paul high on Leahs 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.

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.

After an apparent reconciliation with Ally, Pauls 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.

Jim and Jackie are both struggling under their new circumstances. Luke has to choose between Jacob and Ruby. At Alexs 65th birthday party, Ally meets someone who makes her see Paul in a new light.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.