The Feud

Emma Barnett lives a contented life on Shelbury Drive with her husband John, and daughter Beth. A criminal defence solicitor, Emma has a feisty streak, and generally enjoys her suburban life, despite ongoing issues with a stroppy teenage daughter.

Emma likes her neighbours; she gets on well with Alan and Sonia next door, and despite their foibles, is fond of older couple Derek and Barbara (whose son, Marcus, suddenly disappeared a few years ago). Oddball neighbour Nick over the road can be a bit of a pain, but otherwise Shelbury Drive is an idyllic place to live.

Emma and John have been planning to move, however at one of Shelbury Drive's summer street parties, Emma tells John that she wants to stay and do a kitchen extension instead. John is strangely unenthusiastic, but Emma cheerfully spreads the good news anyway.

From this point onwards, Emma's innocent extension begins to spin drastically out of control. Derek and Barbara raise objections to the project, citing their ‘precious tree' as the reason - and why does Barbara cry while watering it?

Nick also relishes sticking his nose in, worried that the noise is going to affect his sleep, and that the increased traffic will cause issues on the street. And so, he uses his obsession with CCTV to keep an eye on goings-on.

Sonia on the other hand is thrilled that her friends are staying, but her husband, Alan, less so…

Not one to be easily deterred, Emma ploughs ahead, and gets brusque builder Lee in. He's not particularly friendly, but he's cheap, and can start immediately. John, already feeling emasculated, since he's currently unemployed after leaving his job due to stress, does not like him.

Refusing to cave in to the pressure to stop the extension, Emma makes a questionable decision to get her planning permission rushed through, involving her estranged wheeler-dealer father Terry.

And while all of this is going on, Emma's career takes a complex turn when she comes up against a police officer who sees Emma as having wrecked her career.

With various secrets starting to bubble to the surface and suspicions raised, Nick posts a video from his CCTV camera on the street group chat, leading Emma to suspect that her life which up until now has seemed so straightforward is, in fact, bursting with other people's secrets…

The secrets and tensions on Shelbury Drive become thornier as friendships and marriages are strained, and the pressures of the extension begin to grow.

Lee cracks on with his building plans, despite the party wall and planning issues, his constant pushing making John feel disempowered in his own home.

After seeing neighbor Nick's CCTV footage of John and Sonia together, a concerned Emma starts to suspect an affair between her husband and her best friend, and begins to probe John… and when she finds that prodding John reveals nothing, Emma decides to investigate Nick's CCTV footage further.

Emma's problems are compounded as neighbours, Derek and Barbara, continue waging their war against her and her extension, citing protection of their beloved tree as the reason. To make matters worse, John hears that Emma has been in contact with her father and furiously challenges her about why she has reconnected with him - the man that continuously took money from them and with whom they had agreed to sever relations with.

Nick, meanwhile, is trying to convince his neighbours to sign his parking permits petition and ramps up his tracking of their comings and goings with his CCTV camera, going door to door and haranguing them with his demands.

Beth gets a flirty message on Instagram from a fellow local photographer. Flattered by the attention and feeling isolated at home, she agrees to meet the stranger for a drink.

Facing pressure from Lee, their aggressive builder, to get on with the construction, Emma pushes her father Terry for an answer on her planning application, and to Emma's surprise, he actually comes through. But at what cost to both her and her family?

Tensions rise between friends Emma, John, Sonia and Alan when they all go out for a night at the pub and the conversation turns sour; why is Alan so intent on winding up John?

And when the superstitious Emma finds out that someone is using her fears to terrorise her, she's forced to confront a terrifying truth… that someone really might be out to get her.

The row over Emma's extension becomes even more heated as her neighbours stand firm in their opposition to the build.

And when Emma asks Derek and Barbara to move their tree; under pressure from builder Lee, the response is alarmingly aggressive, making Emma start to seriously wonder what's under that tree. But Derek is not about to give up, and in frustration approaches Sonia to support him in opposing the building work.

Emma is unsurprised, but nonetheless hurt, when her father, Terry, reveals that he does indeed want something in return for helping Emma get her planning permission - a request that is both an ethical and financial quandary for solicitor Emma.

Andi gets closer to a flattered Beth who finds the attention from someone who is interested in her and her work intoxicating. Beth is seemingly falling for the charismatic Andi.

By now Alan is concerned about Sonia's movements; why is she going to work on a Saturday when she is a teacher? His concerns only grow when John isn't free for a pint either. Is there a reason that neither are around at home at the weekend?

Nick finds himself being driven insane by the noise from Emma's building work, so he builds up his campaign for parking permits. In order to pressure John to sign his petition, Nick shows him some suspicious footage he has of him. John reacts vehemently to the threat of blackmail and denies that there is anything suspicious in the footage.

Pondering her dad's request, and with John ignoring her calls, Emma pays Alan a visit and the two feel a connection when they discuss their respective partners' recent disappearances. Is there something growing between them? Their chat is cut short however, when a fight blows up between Derek and Emma's builder, Lee.

While the street continues to dissolve into mayhem, Sonia makes an unexpected discovery and John guards his secret.

And as another week comes to a close on Shelbury Drive, the anonymous notes to Emma become more threatening – and more sinister.