Laura is finding living with her dad Alan intolerable. The bachelor pad is completely unsuitable for a baby and Alan has started dating Penny, a girl Laura's age. Jamie, finding it hard to get a job, takes casual work as a painter and decorator, but is horrified to discover he is being pimped out by his boss as eye candy for middle-aged women.

Jamie and Laura start flat hunting, but Laura finds fault with every property. Their estate agent Isabel, who has taken a liking to Jamie, quickly realises that their relationship is rocky and sees an opportunity to split them up. Mike gets a job when a cute girl, Lorraine, recruits him to run her father's sports shop. Beth is convinced something fishy is going on and discovers that the business is a front for smuggling cartons of Chinese cigarettes. Mike is in it up to his neck, but he can't walk away as Lorraine's father will kill him. Luckily, Beth has a plan. Sandra runs into Hester, the campsite snob who is holidaying at the caravan park. Too proud to reveal she is actually a permanent resident, Sandra lies and says she's on holiday too, a pretence that is hard to keep up when Hester invites Sandra and Keith to a barbecue.

Jamie has been seeing Isabel for a few weeks and is enjoying having some carefree fun for once. Laura is hurt and shocked to discover he's in a new relationship and can't believe Jamie has been so easily manipulated. However, Jamie however doesn't see it that way and is happy to finally be in a relationship with a girl who is not blowing hot and cold all the time. Laura realises she may have finally lost him.While Danielle is in a dilemma about dating her tutor, Beth finds it hard to shake off a lesbian admirer, Poppy. Worried that she has led Poppy on and too PC to rebuff her directly, Beth consults Mike on the best way to alienate women - after all, he's an expert. Mike coaches Beth, Cyrano de Bergerac-style, on how to get dumped.

Jamie is still dating Isabel, but is starting to find their relationship stifling. Laura is adjusting to finally living on her own with Emily, but her domestic idyll is interrupted by the rude arrival of Janet who has come back to contest the divorce settlement. Janet is hoping to reach a conciliatory settlement, but is outgunned by Alan's glamorous and ruthless lawyer, Sally. Janet sees a glimmer of hope in Alan's apparent generosity, until she realises that he's clearly sleeping with Sally. Beth overreaches herself while competing for the affections of a hunky charity worker, and it's down to Mike to rescue her from humiliation.

Jamie has realised he can't string Isabel along anymore and tries to find a way to end their relationship, but she's not taking no for an answer.Laura is trying to move on with her life, applying for university courses and planning Emily's first birthday party. But Janet, depressed about the divorce, is really dragging down the party mood.Sandra's sister Evelyn offers to help Sandra out financially. Sandra sees it as a way to get out of the caravan site, but it soon becomes clear that Evelyn will be attaching conditions to her generosity, all of which involve sticking it to Keith.Keith's love affair with the caravan park is beginning to wane. His job as deputy caretaker takes a turn for the worse as the winter weather sets in and the park's elderly residents start dying off.Alan is still dating his divorce lawyer Sally, who has invited him to meet her teenage son Luke. Damaged by his mother's negligent parenting and endless dating, Luke decides to put Alan through the wringer.Alan bails out and escapes to Laura's flat. As everyone arrives for Emily's party, he and Janet agree they are not quite ready to let go of their marriage yet. It also becomes clear that Jamie and Laura aren't quite ready to let go either.