It is Boxing Day in the Brockman household and Santa has paid a visit, along with some burglars. Seven-year-old Karen is obsessing over a missing hamster, nine-year-old Ben is causing havoc with a mechanical hand, Jake and Mum are trying to find Grandad, and Dad is preparing for dinner guests - some welcome, some not.

A thunderstorm brings chaos to the Brockman family. Ben wants to go out and dodge the lightning, while Karen writes to the prime minister, asking him to fire her teacher.

Chaos reigns in the Brockman household as six-year-old Karen denounces Satan, Ben gets on the wrong side of a no-nonsense referee, and Grandad's fate hangs in the balance.

A Croatian baby-sitter has a night to remember when Mum and Dad manage to escape for a meal together. Meanwhile, Ben gets thrown out of his sister's pretend restaurant.

Mum and Dad must try to endure the hell of being trapped in a foreign airport with young children. And as the delays multiply, a game of I Spy takes an unexpected turn.

The Brockmans attempt to revive 1950s values by banning TV and computers for one whole Sunday, freeing up lots of time for explaining the facts of life.

Ben tries to get elected as his class rep. Karen attempts to fathom who puts the 'beeps' into the mouths of TV chefs, and Dad is troubled by mortality.

A wedding gives the children a chance to dress up, interrogate the bride, test the vicar's faith in God and dip unsuitable things in the chocolate fountain.