Jamie and his best friend Mike are looking forward to a carefree summer as their exams are over and they're on mission to crash the sixth form party and get laid. 18-year-old Laura is convinced by her friend to attend the same party. Laura ends up in Jamie’s nervous but willing arms. A few weeks later Laura realises that she’s pregnant. When she informs Jamie she is shocked to find out that the's only 16.
Laura is still finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that she is going to have a baby. She wont talk to Jamie, but encouraged by her best friend Danielle, she decides to book an appointment to find out what her options are before she makes any rash decisions. Jamie, upset that Laura's isn't taking him seriously, decides to ask her to marry him.
Laura is still no nearer to coming to a decision on whether to have the baby and leaves to go to university. After Jamie learns that she has gone without telling him, he is not happy and decides to follow her to Edinburgh. Beth ends up realising that if she wants any chance of getting together with Jamie she's going to have to make her move straight away.
Jamie's and Laura's parents meet for lunch to discuss the future of their families. Laura and Jamie are rightly apprehensive about a family summit, but even they couldn't have foreseen how badly it would go. Meanwhile, whilst making up the numbers on Beth's double date, Mike faces a sexual dilemma when he's offered a threesome with stunning Carrie-Ann and her handsome gay friend, Aaron.
Laura is settling in well at Jamie's place - a bit too well. Keith is sick of her being there, Jamie is tired of sleeping on the sofa and Mike and Beth have had enough of not being able to see their mate. Something's got to give, but the eventual confrontation kicks off a much bigger crisis.
Laura is in the final stages of pregnancy and is stuck at home and feeling really bored. Jamie ends up agreeing to take her on a shopping trip. Mike has decided to get a professional in to help him lose his virginity. Keith is taking Sandra on a trip to the Lakes, hoping the stunning scenery will help soften the blow when he breaks the news to her that he's given up his job. After Laura's waters break in the middle of the shopping centre, panic soon sets in.
Laura and Jamie are struggling to cope with the everyday challenges of raising their baby, so the last thing they need is a big family event. But the Christening is looming and they're nowhere near ready for it. Keith, under pressure from Sandra, is forced to take temping work at the toy shop to help pay for the Christening. But Keith finds it hard to cope when he discovers his new supervisor is his son. Alan is still recovering from his head injury, and Janet wants to go back to work, although she's not mentioning this to Alan. As the visiting relatives arrive, squabble and then criticise, Jamie and Laura are really feeling the pressure - and they haven't even managed to agree on a name yet.
Beth is confused when she finds herself attracted to a posh boy with views politically opposed to her own. In the absence of real girl friends, she is forced to turn to Jamie and Mike for guidance. Laura is attempting to widen her circle of friends, but she finds it hard to find a peer group - the pramface mums in the park are more interested in nicking her phone, and the competitive yummy mummies just want to patronise and score points off her. Meanwhile, a lonely Alan employs Keith, to be his driver.
Laura has a work placement so, with Janet out at work and Alan too clumsy to be safely left with a baby, she takes up Jamie's offer to babysit. When Jamie finds out he has an exam on the same day but doesn't want to let Laura think he's shirking his responsibility, he is forced to leave Emily with his last resort babysitters, Mike and Beth. Sandra, sick of Keith's increasing employment torpor, pushes him into getting a job.
Jamie is turning 18 and Mike has taken over organising the party. His main mission is to source some high-quality, mind-altering substances. Mike decides to go organic and get hold of some mushrooms. Beth comes on the hunt and steers him towards a harmless non-psychedelic type. Meanwhile, Keith has been forced to take a new-age influenced 'back to work' course. He goes on an accelerated journey of self-discovery. He's getting fitter, and closer to the eternal truths of the universe but he's no closer to getting a job.
When Laura learns that Jamie has a date, she goes out of her way to get one herself. She wants to show him that if he's over her, she can move on too. She arranges an internet date with Marcus, a proper, grown-up man with a flat and a job. But, on Danielle's advice, she chooses not to tell him about being a mother for the time being. Mike is on a body-transforming course combining high-strength Russian muscle steroids with a kettlebell workout. But the side effects are taking their toll on his waistline and his emotional state. Keith is approached by a model agent offering work for Emily. He and Sandra enter the world of baby modelling, but soon find out it's more competitive, catty and aggressive than they imagined.
Danielle encourages Laura to come to a university ball in Edinburgh. But when she arrives Danielle introduces her to her new friend, Francesca, who seems intent on undermining Laura so she can have Danielle to herself. Jamie is depressed - convinced he's blown it with Laura, failing at school and miserable in his job. Mike is so worried about his mate that, when Jamie goes missing, Mike thinks he may be about to kill himself. Keith, too, is at a low ebb in his self-esteem. He even suspects Sandra of cheating with her boss and decides to confront him man to man.
The future is still uncertain for Jamie and Laura, who are now officially a couple, but Jamie is concerned that Laura's not really into him as she won't 'go public' with the news and tell her parents or friends. Mike is throwing a party to celebrate the end of exams, but is keeping it under the radar to ensure only the cool crowd get to hear about it. Beth gets a huge shock when her previously flawless academic record is 'tainted' with a B, and rather than getting into the party spirit, begins to question her whole identity as 'the smart one'. Alan's also got some persuading to do: he tries to drag Janet back to counselling as he's feeling neglected by her spending so much time at work.
Jamie and Laura are finally a couple, but Laura is already having commitment issues. She is also caught in the crossfire of her parents' impending divorce. Janet is still in New York and Alan has put the family home up for sale. Jamie is having domestic problems too - Sandra and Keith have fallen behind with their mortgage payments and are being evicted. When they are forced to move into a static caravan park, Jamie decides to drop out of school and get a job to provide for his family. Mike and Beth are acting awkwardly with each other after their night together. Mike wants to 'hook up' again and is desperate to tell Jamie he's finally lost his virginity, but a mortified Beth wishes it had never happened and swears Mike to secrecy.
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. Keith, after successfully selling off some old furniture, buys a chest freezer of frozen lobsters to sell, but his new entrepreneurial venture turns out to be tougher than he thought.
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
