The A Word

Two years on, in the idyllic landscape of the Lake District, seven-year-old Joe is growing up and changing. He has started to notice he is different from other kids, and when he says the word 'autistic' out loud, seeing it as something bad, Alison and Paul know they must talk to their son. But how do they broach the subject with a child for whom language is already a struggle? Also growing up is Joe's sister, Rebecca. Now 19, she has been travelling round Africa on a gap year and crashes back into the family home with a backpack, a tattoo and a boyfriend. Two years after splitting from Nicola, Eddie is the one that got away. He has a new life in Manchester, but he can't quite shake the old Eddie off, not least because Nicola keeps dragging him back to the Lakes. Having never told her parents that she and Eddie are divorced, Nicola is horrified when they turn up for a surprise visit. Maurice is feeling awkward too when he finds himself on old flame Louise's doorstep.

As Joe starts at a specialist school in Manchester, how will Paul and Alison cope with the challenge of living apart during the school week?

Louise confides in Maurice and shocks him with a confession, while Eddie goes on a boys' night out with Nicola's dad.

With Paul and Alison living increasingly separate lives between the Lakes and Manchester, Paul makes an unexpected connection with Mark's mum, Sophie.

Meanwhile Louise and Maurice come to blows as she starts her treatment.

Paul and Alison attempt to reconnect, and Maurice has a crisis during a fell race. Spending more and more time back at home with Nicola, Eddie tries to teach Joe to ride a bike.

Paul's feelings about Joe's autism emerge when Nicola makes a ‘film' of his son's behaviours - causing Paul and Alison to confront some difficult truths. Meanwhile, Maurice makes a shocking proposal.

An End Of Year Show at Joe's old school brings his whole family together. But can they remain the family he knows?