Being Eileen

Chaos descends on the Lewis family as it appears that Eileen has gone missing and isn’t answering her mobile phone, prompting daughter Paula to have a meltdown and drag the rest of the family into a search to find her.

Eileen takes in a homeless man, Dave, inviting him back to hers for a cup of tea. Her hospitality quickly extends to an overnight stay and a complete overhaul of his wardrobe. Paula is horrified, thinking that this man is taking her mum for a ride, and family strife seems to be on the cards again...Luckily for Eileen, both Paula and Ray are busy looking after Mr Bunnington, the school rabbit. But disaster strikes when the rabbit is kidnapped and held to ransom! Who can the Lewises turn to in this crisis, to rescue the rabbit and save the day?

Eileen decides to join a group of local widows for emotional support, but their obsession with who’s dead, who's dying and who might possibly die in the near future only depresses her. Furthermore, any attempt to cheer the group up is met with fierce resistance from their leader, Maureen. Meanwhile, Paula decides to set up a class teaching the latest Brazilian dance craze, Ay Carumba. This could be the golden ticket for her and Ray to pay off their debts and retire early to somewhere sunny. Much to Paula's horror, however, Mandy decides to set up her own rival class, and a Brazilian stand off ensues.

Eileen finds an old 'Teach Yourself Spanish' tape at home and decides to give it a go. But her studies are soon interrupted by Paula, Ray and the kids, who arrive in search of the old family Monopoly board, which is stashed somewhere in Eileen's chaotic attic. Soon the entire contents of the attic are out on the upstairs landing. It’s hardly the perfect environment for Eileen to concentrate on her Spanish, and it’s not long before she’s forced to use other, stronger language to restore order.

Pete discovers Eileen's shower is broken and decides to step into his father's shoes and fix it. A trip to the local DIY store is planned to get Eileen a new shower. Mandy misunderstands, and thinks Pete's taking her there to finally pick up her new dream bathroom suite. So they all go together. Paula, Ray, Jack and Liam are at a loose end and decide to meet them all there for a fun day out - it was either that or Alton Towers. Once inside, Mandy finds herself sidetracked as Pete and Paula lose themselves among the showers, and Ray sets off to drool at all the power tools. Eileen also finds herself somewhat forgotten, and for a while it looks as if neither she nor Mandy are actually going to get what they came for. Still, at least everyone else is having a good time.

Paula and Ray have spent weeks preparing for Liam's pirate-themed birthday, but all is ruined when Paula drills through a water pipe while hanging up a porthole. They decamp to Eileen's house and promise to downsize their party ambitions, but Ray still brings his homemade multi-story pirate ship, which takes over the entire garden. Paula becomes increasingly hysterical, and freaks out completely when she realises that her watch has stopped and she's nowhere near ready for the guests to arrive. Eileen has to sedate her with a tot of whiskey, which has mixed results. Meanwhile, Mandy is hardly in the party mood as she's suffering from a particularly virulent bug, while Ray is all dressed up to welcome his parents, who've never actually made it to one of the kids' parties before - and Eileen has a surprise visitor from their last Christmas holiday in Lapland...