Ladhood

Liam has instigated yet another confrontation with a stranger in a bar, for the crime of having a conversation with his girlfriend, Jess. Before the altercation reaches fever-pitch, Liam delves into the memories of his adolescence and questions where this toxic behaviour stems from. Leeds, early noughties. On the last day of the school year one of Liam's best mates, Ralph, sees Rachel flirting with Whitey, the hardest lad in school. Ralph threatens (under his breath) to "smack him". Word of the threat gets back to Whitey's friends, Rupert and Tinhead, who organise a fight between Ralph and Whitey for the following Friday. Ralph can't win and he knows it. In a panic, he considers staying home all summer. But Rupert and Tinhead tell Liam that if Ralph doesn't show they'll hunt Liam down and batter him instead. Back in the present day, Liam crosses the bar, towards the man he's been arguing with.

Having previously embarrassing himself in a bar, Liam announces to his girlfriend, Jess, that he's taking a month off the booze. As he tries to make it through his first sober Friday night in years, he thinks back to where and when his relationship with drinking began. Leeds, early noughties. It's Friday night and Liam, Ralph, Addy and Craggy are determined to get pissed for the first time. The only problem is, they're underage. Trying every trick in the book to get served they find unlikely heroes, in local bullies, Rupert and Tinhead, who agree to buy their booze. But when Rupert invites them to the woods for a drinking session, things get messy.

After a bad day at work Liam is forced to finally confront his mental health problems. When Jess suggests he should go for therapy, Liam recalls the last time he received this advice. Leeds, early noughties. As a disillusioned teenager, Liam is regularly taking his aggression out on school bins. He finds little emotional support from PE teacher and traditional man's man, Mr Stones. But when an unconventional substitute teacher named Miss Monroe appears, Liam tries to channel his anger into more creative pursuits.

Liam is back at his parents' house in Leeds. Having told Jess he'll spend the day preparing to perform at a local spoken word night, instead he's procrastinating and playing old video games. But when he turns on his childhood computer and stumbles on an old homemade hip-hop track, it triggers a memory. Leeds, early noughties. Inspired by the new wave of "bedroom musicians" breaking into the charts, Liam tries to convince his best mates Addy, Craggy and Ralph to make a hip-hop track with him. But when they don't take "the art" seriously, Liam struggles to keep a lid on it.

Liam finds himself doing lines of cocaine at a warehouse party on a Tuesday night with a stranger called Penelope. Realising he has a (long-awaited) mental health assessment the next morning he plans to go home, but he can't quite drag himself away. Has he always been this reckless? Leeds, early noughties. Ralph has an empty house during the school half-term. To make the most of this newfound freedom, the lads try to buy weed from the town's most prolific drug-dealer, Maskill. He quickly informs them his business has changed - he only sells cocaine now. Ralph takes a gram on credit. While Addy and Craggy refuse to try it, Ralph and Liam are swept up in the excitement and invite Rupert and Tinhead over to Ralph's empty house. When Maskill and a group of strangers turn up to join proceedings, Ralph's small gathering becomes a big house party. The following morning Liam wakes up to find that Ralph has ran up a serious debt with Maskill, who has taken the family television as a deposit. Can they get the money together in time to repay Ralph's debt before his parents return home?

When Liam lies to Jess about the reasons he missed his mental health assessment, the tensions in their relationship reach boiling point. Liam is suddenly nostalgic for the simplicity of first love. Leeds, early noughties. When Liam finds out that Ralph is going out with Rachel, his own singledom suddenly becomes a pressing issue. But when he's accepted onto the newly introduced Young, Gifted and Talented Programme, he finds himself on a weekend away in the Yorkshire Moors with a bookish and charismatic girl called Katie. Liam and Katie's relationship blossoms into everything first love promises to be. But were things as straightforward as Liam first remembers?