Just family business
Breeders Sky Comedy, Wednesday, 9pm
Bree erscon nues its bittersweet look at the struggles of modern parenthood. Season three starts days after Season two ended, as the Worsley family reels from teenaged Luke (Alex Eastwood) punching his dad, Paul (Martin Freeman).
Paul’s moved out and is staying at his mother-in-law Leah’s (Stella Gonet) house. He should be lonely but actually the simpler life has its appeal. Eventually, though, amends with Luke must be made.
Meanwhile Ally (Daisy Haggard) has her own problems - with work, with her early menopause and with her increasingly strained relationship with her newly adolescent daughter, Ava (Eve Prenelle). Gallows humour and large glasses of wine only go so far in quelling the angst…
With Luke refusing to live with his dad, Paul is staying at honeymooning Leah’s house. Single parent Ally begins to feel the strain, while a distressing event from the family’s past has a surprising present-day echo.
Then, Ally fears she might lose her job and her mind, as the company collapses, and her HRT meds become unavailable.
Luke’s panic attack ends Paul’s leisurely life at Leah’s, while an increasingly isolated Ava faces a huge change.
Daisy Haggard told us: “It goes on a bit of an extra roller coaster in this one, which is great to play. I thought it was really interesting starting with them apart and watching, and working out how, and if, and when, and in what way or capacity, they were going to come back together as a family. I was really glad they carried on with this story, because I felt like we hadn’t finished it yet.
“I have lots of big juicy stuff this season. And now, although there’s lots of crying and lots of drama – I think Ally’s given a rough ride, it is brilliant to play. You get to really dig into big, emotional, chunky scenes and that’s just exciting. I love doing that. I feel like it was good to see Ally put under more sort of strain. And she becomes, in a way this season, much more of a vocally angry, frustrated parent-slashpartner.
“Ally’s very different to me, she’s much more sorted and grown up than me, really. But I think I parent with humour, like I think Ally parents with humour.”