It's Alison Braithwaite's 40th birthday and youngest daughter, Charlotte, gives her a ticket for the first ever Euro-lottery. Alison wins the jackpot: £38 million! She decides to do something worthwhile with the money and asks her accountant Pauline and friend Marion to help set up a charity. But will she tell her family about her win?
Alisons charity is up and running and overwhelmed by begging letters. Pauline persuades Alison that it needs to expand. But can the protect Alison's identity as the lottery winner? Alison decides she has to tell her family.
David has agreed to spend the night with Elaine, but is now in a frenzy of anxiety. Sarah gives her drama teacher a poem revealing her feelings for him - then discovers he has a girlfriend. Virginia, already despressed by Megan's rejection, gets mugged at a cashpoint. She confides everything to Alison in casualty. But Alison also has a secret to tell...
Virginia now works for Alison's charity and is driving a Lotus. When David tells Alison he hates his job, she suggests he could get a job at the Trust. David decides to end his affair. He also suggests to Sarah that Phil's not right for her. But Phil knows David has no right to preach and tells her about the affair...
David is delighted with his new job at the Trust, until he finds Sarah has left home to make a bedsit with Phil. He goes to plead with her not to tell Alison about his affair. McGuire, a local journalist, gets into the Jane Crowther building to confront Alison, Pauline, Marion and Virginia. He knows one of them has won the lottery and he thinks it's Virginia.
Sarah decides whe wants to terminate her pregnancy. When Denise finds out about this she storms round to Alison's office and leave a message for her that David is having an affair. Alison returns to the office with the news that Sarah's going to have the baby. McGuire phones some London journalists: he's got the story about the lottery winner. The secrets are out - Alison's the lottery winner and David has had an affair. Can their marriage survive?
Alison Braithwaite's lottery win is no longer a secret and the family have left behind life in the suburbs for a mansion.
Alison has decided to call the divorce off. The girls organise a surprise second honeymoon for their parents in the Lake District and not New York as David had planned.
It's Charlotte's birthday, and David has forgotten. It seems the marriage is over. Graham turns up to see Alison. His marriage is on the rocks too. Will Alison go for dinner with him?
The Braithwaites seem to have split for good, as Sarah and baby William move in with David. Charlotte tries to help, by signing up for TV quid "Family Challenge"
Alison and Graham are in love, but David has hired a private detective to follow his wife - and his worst fears are soon realised. He confronts her and asks if they can get back together.
Graham has settled in at the mansion. Charlotte hates him and goes missing on the first day of her new school, to Alison's and David's distress.
Charlotte summons David and the girls to the moors - Graham has fallen down a mine shaft and needs help. After a rescue, David's resentment at Graham leads to a fight between them.
Alison is struggling to deal with David's news when Tamsin phones - Virginia has fallen into the river in York. Alison fears it could have been a suicide bid and she and David rush to Virginia's hospital bedside.
The Braithwaites and on a high as Alison is awarded a Knighthood at Buckingham Palace for her charity work. But Dame Alison is less than thrilled to discover she is pregnant. David is delighted but isn't aware the baby is his brother Graham's. Alison can't face an abortion - but can she tell David the truth?
After a lot of soul searching, David suggests to Alison that they pretend the baby she is expecting is his. No-one, not even Graham, need ever know the truth. Alison is touched by his selflessness, and together they announce news of the pregnancy.
Alison, now six months pregnant, has to defend her millions in the high court. All she has to do is stick to the line her lawyers have told her: she bought the ticket herself. But as Virginia pointed out, Alison has lied about the jackpot and the baby already - she does it all the time.
David has moved in with his mother, but Alison keeps the news from the girls. Both David and Alison are forced to get themselves jobs rather different from the ones they have been used to - David as a taxi driver, Alison as a checkout assistant. It looks like their marriage could be over.
It's not long before Alison and David find out that Graham is going to be around for good. Already rattled by Charlotte's odd behaviour, and fed up with David trying to blame her for everything, Alison is pushed to her limits when Graham insists on his right to be involved with the baby.
A shocked and still-drunk David calls Alison and tells her that he's robbed a bank. Alison, of course, doesn't believe a word and tells him to sober up. But a report of a bank robbery on the local news has Alison starting to fear the worst...
Virginia is living with Megan at university, and she and Alison are not talking to each other. Sarah is back at school doing her A-levels and living with Daniel; and Charlotte is cross with her mother for not patching things up with Virginia.
Sarah is hard at work on her new business. She's setting up a company called "Tying the Knot" which plans people's weddings for them. In fact, she has already offered to plan Virginia and Megan's blessing. She also picks up another client: Ciara Pickering, a policewoman.
Virginia is in turmoil. She is due to be marrying Megan any minute, but she is also still seeing Tamsin. She is trying to tell each of them about the other, but she just can't do it...
It's judgement day in the divorce hearing and all parties are very nervous. Alison has sent Marion to the court on her behalf, and David and Elaine are there in person. It's also the day that Virginia and Megan get back from honeymoon, and clearly things haven't gone well.
David cannot believe that Alison has murdered Megan, but he cannot deny that she is lying dead in the bath and Alison was the last person to see her alive. Alison, meanwhile, has done to the mansion looking for David...
As the day of Phil's marriage to Ciara dawns bright and sunny, Alison is greeted by the postman delivering her decree absolute and by Mike packing up his house to move away. Phil, meanwhile, is having doubts about the wedding; his kiss with Sarah has led him to question whether he really loves Ciara.