This Life

Épisode 1 - Coming Together

18 mars 1996 - 5/5

Anna applies for a tenancy at a barristers' chambers and finds her old flame, Miles, on the interview panel. She is tempted to repeat their one-night stand to improve her chances of getting taken on, but Milly warns against it. Having declined his offer of sex, Anna fails to get the job and blames Miles. She decides to get her revenge by moving into the new house he is sharing with Milly and Egg. Milly gets her first outing as a qualified solicitor and finds herself humiliated by an eccentric client. While Warren achieves his life's ambitions by landing a job at the same firm, Egg is left wondering how on earth he ever got chosen.

Épisode 2 - Happy Families

25 mars 1996

After landing the job of his dreams, Warren needs a place to live. Anna starts squatting at chambers. Her first case is a housing benefit fraud involving an unlikely couple called Truelove (Keith-Lee Castle) and Delilah (Charlotte Bicknell). Delilah proves to be a head case and a complete liability. Dishonest and manipulative, she flirts with Miles and ends up having sex with him in the toilet. Egg is finding his new job claustrophobic and is irritated by Warren's apparent drive and confidence. He becomes alarmed when he sees the advert for the spare room in the house, but when Warren explains just how grateful he is for his job, a guilty Egg decides he should be invited to move in. Just as Warren is beginning to relax, his brash teenage cousin, Kira, shows up hoping he will get her a job. Terrified that she will find out he is gay and tell his parents, he tries to fob her off. But Kira is made of resilient stuff and gets a job as a temp at his firm anyway. Egg shows further signs

Épisode 3 - Living Dangerously

1 avril 1996

Egg is invited to work on a medical negligence case. The client, McCleary, has cancer which he believes was caused by experimental drugs he was given as a child. Fascinated by the case, Egg finally begins to take an interest in his work. Milly warns him against becoming too personally involved, but when McCleary commits suicide, Egg is devastated and behaves unprofessionally in front of his boss. Suddenly his work as a lawyer seems utterly meaningless. Delilah has started to create havoc in the house, invading other people's space and ‘borrowing' their things. Warren realizes that she is bulimic and tries to help her, but Delilah takes advantage of his sympathy to rip him off. Miles begins to worry and confesses his concerns to Anna. When she tells him what she really thinks of Delilah, he accuses her of being jealous. After a night out drinking, the friends return to the house to find they have been burgled. The obvious suspect is Delilah.

Épisode 4 - Sex, Lies and Muesli Yoghurt

8 avril 1996

Anna resorts to devious means to get rid of Miles's liability of a girlfriend, Delilah. Warren is trying hard to be sympathetic but loses his cool when his muesli yoghurt keeps disappearing from the fridge. Egg,unable to talk about his crisis at work, feigns a groin strain to avoid having sex with an increasingly frustrated Milly. Meanwhile, at chambers, she is dealing with a burglar claiming to the innocent victim of assault. Miles begins to realize that accepting the fraud case was a big mistake. When his boss suggests he go to his father for inside information, he realizes why he got the case in the first place and feels that he has sold out on all his principles. The tide of opinion finally forces Delilah out of the house. Anna finds a needle in the bedroom. When Warren advises him to get an AIDS test, Miles loses his temper and shows homophobic tendencies..

Épisode 5 - Fantasy Football

15 avril 1996

Paranoid that he may be HIV positive, Miles is paying for his latest sexual conquest. He apologizes to everyone in the house for his behaviour over Delilah, then like a man on his way to the gallows, he goes with Warren to find Delilah and persuade her to have an AIDS test. Meanwhile, Egg has another emotional outburst at work and threatens to murder the photocopier. Boss O'Donnell suggests he should get some counselling. Initially dismissing the idea, Egg ends up going in desperation to see Warren's therapist. Anna is not getting enough work at the chambers. She goes to a party intending to seduce any solicitors who might supply her with cases, but the interest she gets is not quite what she had in mind.

Épisode 6 - Family Outing

22 avril 1996

Warren is having problems keeping his active sex life secret from his over-friendly, indiscreet cousin Kira. His housemates swear not to tell her he is gay but, when she falls out with her step-father and insists on spending more time with him, it becomes too much to bear. Milly is finding Egg's newfound leisure increasingly hard to put up with, especially as he does not seem interested in her any more. She turns to a self-help book for support, but it is Anna who engineers a special dinner to get them in the mood. Miles discovers that his father, Montgomery,knows more than he is admitting about the fraud case, but Miles is put in his place when he tries to persuade him to stand as a witness. Meanwhile, Kira has taken to following Warren on his moonlight walks in the park and when she ‘saves'him,claiming he was being attacked by a man, he decides it is time to come clean. However, back at the house, Warren's soldier brother Dale arrives and Warren knows that it will be a lot more diffi

Épisode 7 - Brief Encounter

29 avril 1996

Jo is hurt when Anna shrugs off a drunken one-night stand.

Épisode 8 - Cheap Thrills

6 mai 1996

Milly starts working late with O'Donnell. Egg's father Jerry arrives at the house needing a place to stay. Anna gets drunk and goes wild at the chambers party.

Épisode 9 - Just Sex

13 mai 1996

Warren meets a biker courier named Ferdy. The two have a great night but Ferdy doesn't want to know Warren the next day. Dale, Warren's brother, can't handle the fact that Warren's gay.

Épisode 10 - Father Figure

20 mai 1996

Anna sleeps with Jerry. Milly and O'Donnell's relationship begins to become more than professional.

Épisode 11 - Let's Get It On

3 juin 1996

The House throws a big party to celebrate Jerry getting a publisher for his book. Miles and Anna sleep together.

Épisode 1 - Last Tango In Southwark

17 mars 1997

Egg gambles with the kitty, in a vain attempt to make some money. First appearance of Rachel, the new lawyer who arrives at Moore, Spencer and Wright. Anna see Miles chatting up another woman and throws a glass of beer over him.

Épisode 2 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

24 mars 1997

Anna and Miles have to work together on the same case where there are two defendants. Anna sees a way to save her client, but only by condemning Miles.

Épisode 3 - The Bi Who Came In From The Cold

31 mars 1997

Miles tells his colleagues at work Anna is not suited for tenancy. Miles places an ad in the Lonely Hearts column. Ferdy seems to always be around at the house.

Épisode 4 - How To Get In Bed By Advertising

7 avril 1997

Miles gets dozens of responses to his Lonely Hearts ad. Egg begins his new job in a cafe. Warren gets arrested while cruising the park for men.

Épisode 5 - Small Town Boys

14 avril 1997

O'Donnell sacks Warren and warns Milly about defending her friend.

Épisode 6 - Unusual Suspect

21 avril 1997

Warren has to take part in a police line up and face court. Jo and Kira's romance develops. Warren decides to leave England.

Épisode 7 - He's Leaving Home

28 avril 1997

Warren decides he's going to Australia. The House has to decide who to give Warren's old room to.

Épisode 8 - Room With a Queue

8 mai 1997

Both Ferdy and Rachel are both after Warren's room at the house. Without consulting the rest of the House, Miles promises the room to Rachel. When the others hear about it, they all vote for Ferdy as their new house-mate and he moves in.

Épisode 9 - Men Behaving Sadly

15 mai 1997

Ferdy loses his cool at his ex-fiancee's house and smashes her new boyfriend's car.

Épisode 10 - When the Dope Comes In

22 mai 1997

Milly passes up a trip with O'Donnell to Paris and Rachel takes her place.

Épisode 11 - She's Gotta Get It

29 mai 1997

It's Anna's big day, the vote on her tenancy.

Épisode 12 - The Plumber Always Rings Twice

5 juin 1997

Ferdy has an encounter with the plumber, could it be romance?

Épisode 13 - Wish You Were Queer

12 juin 1997

Anna has dinner (and more) with her lesbian friend.

Épisode 14 - Who's That Girl?

19 juin 1997

We meet Miles' new love.

Épisode 15 - From Here To Maternity

26 juin 1997

Just as Egg seems to be getting his life together Mrs Cochmne announces that she intends to sell the cafe. Undaunted, he hatches a plan to buy the lease himself Milly predictably, throws cold water on his idea leading to an angry row. Problem is, how will Egg raise the money? Moneybags Miles is saving for his wedding. Can they persuade Miles'father Montgomery (Michael Elwyn) to lay down the loot? Milly meanwhile, is bored with her job, her life and Egg, and decides to live a little. What she wants is O'Donnell and it's time she got him. This time when they work late, it's on bedsprings. Jo is still worried that Kira may be pregnant. His attitude is certainly making Kim think twice about their relationship. Anna finally convinces Graham she's cool-headed enough to handle her first big case, but after a celebratory dinner she goes home to devastating news: her mother has died.

Épisode 16 - One Bedding and a Funeral

3 juillet 1997

Egg's father and mother have gone on a belated second honeymoon, packing Egg's 15-year-old brother Nat (Damian Zuk), off to London for the week. He's testosterone personified and hits on anything female. Enter office trollop, Kelly (Sacha Craise), who corners the boy in Anna's room with the immortal line, "It's all right, I'm a virgin too." While Egg is tied up looking after Nat and trying to get the lease on the cafe, Milly and sleazy O'Donnell are attacking each other's briefs with gusto. Becoming more and more daring, the pair nearly get caught in a compromising situation late one night in the office. "We shouldn't have let this happen here,"" O'Donnell tells Milly, "We have to establish some ground rules." Miles, meanwhile, is seriously worried about Anna. She is drinking heavy, working too hard and determined to boycott her mother's funeral. Kira finally gets her period and Jo is like a man reprieved from death row. His happiness is short-lived, however Kira dumps him.

Épisode 17 - The Secret Of My Excess

10 juillet 1997

Anna is cracking up, burning the candle at both ends and being vile to anyone who suggests she's got a problem. At an important meeting, Graham is severely embarrassed by her behaviour and, following her into the toilet, finds her snorting up a line of cocaine. After all her hard work, it now looks like she will be dismissed. Anna decides to drink herself into oblivion. After Jo gently declines sex, she tries to pick up a stranger has a half-fight with his girlfriend and returns to the house, stoned, drunk and at the end of her tether. Miles is in bed with Francesca, but comes down to investigate the commotion. Anna is in tears. All the grief pours out about her mother, the job, etc. Finally we see the concerned, caring side of Miles. But as he tries to help Anna, one thing leads to another until they end up having tender sex on the couch. Ferdy walks in on them and beats a hasty retreat, only Anna sees him. Later Miles creeps back up to bed with Francesca.

Épisode 18 - Diet Hard

17 juillet 1997

Lenny invites Ferdy round to meet his sister, while Anna is trying hard to straighten out her life. Meanwhile, Kira and Kelly are planning a foreign holiday, but fall out when Kim becomes a little over-zealous with a bikini diet.

Épisode 19 - Milly Liar

24 juillet 1997

Milly and O'Donnell are almost found out after having sex in his office.

Épisode 20 - Secrets and Wives

31 juillet 1997

Miles tells Anna that he loves her and if she feels the same, he'll call off the wedding.

Épisode 21 - Apocalypse Wow!

7 août 1997 - 5/5

Épisode 22 - This Life + 10

26 février 2007 - 5/5

It’s been ten years since we left them amid the chaos of Miles and Francesca’s wedding; Egg, distraught at learning Milly had slept with her boss, sulked off into the darkness of the night; Milly herself had decked Rachel; Ferdy had succumbed to the advances of a kilt-clad, ginger plumber; Warren had returned from his travels and Miles rather dramatically, told Anna that he’d call off his wedding if she declared her love for him. Has ten years proved that time can heal and people do indeed move on? Egg has become a best-selling writer and is now the proud father of a son, with Milly; Miles has struck it rich in the hotel business; Warren has become a life coach and Anna a successful lawyer. However, new-found success doesn’t necessarily numb the pain that stems from them meeting again…