Top-rated
Tue, Sep 17, 2013
Following a disastrous barbecue where he showered Helen and Brendan from next door with hot baked beans, Tom Whyte asks them to dinner by way of an apology. Unfortunately before they arrive Tom's friend Roddy appears, with Tom's parents Pat and Mary - who gets locked in the bathroom. Tom's wife Elaine gets back after a hard day and starts on the wine whilst son Dylan is sick on the trampoline. On the plus side, Mary, anticipating that Tom's cooking will be inedible, brings a roast chicken and all the trimmings. However, an accident with a gigantic cake spatters Helen and Brendan with food-stuffs yet again and the evening is another catastrophe.
Tue, Sep 24, 2013
Tom buys a state of the art smart TV but it falls off the wall onto his head so he piles the family into the car to get a replacement. However engine trouble forces him to pull into a lay-by where he discovers that his father Pat has accidentally brought neighbour Tim's son Joe along instead of the Whytes' boy Drew. Roddy calls the AA but a traffic jam caused by Pat means they are unable to attend. Finally the police arrive and find that, due to an accident with hot coffee, most of the car's occupants have taken their trousers off - leading to a trip to the police station and everybody getting finger-printed.
Tue, Oct 1, 2013
A reluctant Tom agrees to enter the magazine contest to find the House Husband of the Year, a Spanish holiday and a car being the prizes. Mary is his trainer and she is desperate for a win as, in 1978, she lost out on the title of Housewife of the Year against her rival Gerty Howlett. This was because she left the final race to wipe little Tom's nose. The Whytes are shocked to see that Tim Curtain, from next door, is also competing, with Gerty as his mentor. Tom and Tim make it to the finals but incapacitate each other due to dirty tricks, so it is down to Mary to take her son's place and deprive Gerty of the victory she always believed she deserved.
Tue, Oct 8, 2013
When Elaine's ex-boyfriend Karl comes to stay with the Whytes whilst house-hunting, Tom is not impressed. Not only does Karl eat a lot but he enchants the family with his magic tricks and tales of his world travels and proves to be an enviable drinking companion for Roddy. Furthermore he is tanned and muscular with a splendid chin, complete with designer five o'clock shadow with which the family compare Tom's double chin unfavourably. Spying on his guest Tom suspects him of shooting up with drugs but in fact he is applying Botox to his chin, which he sees as his only good point, compared with Tom's blissful domestic life. The two men thus part on good terms.
Tue, Oct 15, 2013
Dismayed at the family's reliance on gadgets Tom gets Roddy to hide the television, computers and phones at his pub and tries to reintroduce everybody to simple games and conversation. Elaine goes on sex strike until the TV is returned and the boys struggle to find fun in using sticks as toys though ultimately the sticks come in handy to get them out of awkward situations at school and Mary and Pat certainly warm to life without gadgets. In fact when Roddy returns the goods - somewhat the worse for wear - the Whytes are happy to indulge in good old-fashioned games like Twister.
Tue, Oct 22, 2013
When Elaine announces that she is pregnant Tom agrees that he will not cop out of the situation as he did with her other pregnancies and on the contrary goes overboard with a sympathetic pregnancy and a shopping spree at Mothercare. Dylan tells Drew that when the baby is born he will have to move out and go to an orphanage so Pat and Mary conspire to teach the older boy a lesson. Meanwhile Roddy gets into on-line dating and meets Janet but their dating consists solely of meeting on-line.