The Wilsons Save the World
Series 1
1. Holiday
The Wilson family attempt to decide where to go on holiday as they navigate the greenest way to live their lives, with Max anguished at the difficulty of being ethical preventing her from seeing Thailand. The "ethics jar" also continues to fill up with green-transgressions the family have committed, when they discover a tent has blown into the garden and gives Mike an idea. With the girls growing older, with Cat now being sixteen and Lola twelve, Mike and Max discuss having another child but decide against it due to the environmental impact. Mike takes to bribing Cat to pretend she enjoys camping, in an attempt to placate Max while Max also tries to bribe her daughter into ruining the trip. It doesn't take long however for Lola to work out what is happening when she realises that she is the only one with the families best interests at heart.
2. Approval
The council has attempted to shutdown a nearby library though is thwarted by Max and her "siege", while Cat is struggling to achieve "likes" on her photo posted on the internet. Mike returns from work after a rough day where he has been called a snowflake for not being man enough compared to his colleagues. Mike also breaks the news that his mum and dad, Phillip and Jennifer, are visiting at the weekend which has Max worried about failing to impress. Lola also sets about gaining popularity online despite not being allowed on social media by her parents. Mike takes to making steps to bond with his father, while Max has to cope with the upheaval to the usual goings on in the household. The family each find that being popular is not all that it is cracked up to be.
3. Food
Mike and Max are preparing for a vacation in Cornwall to join Surfers Against Sewage, leaving Jennifer and Phillip to look after the girls. However, their attempts to cook a family going-away meal causes ructions when everyone's different dietary preferences come to the fore. Cat continues to attempt to obtain online attention with her "lifestyle choice", while Lola learns that most of the meal comes from animals. Max begins to wonder whether they have sheltered the girls too much and in return Mike suggests allowing his parents to feed the girls whatever they want for the weekend as an experiment. Cat's sleepover at a friends causes problems when she smuggles in Kit Kat's as she becomes fed up with clean-eating after Lola becomes hooked on bacon. However, Phillip's food choices lead to him having a heart attack when he attempts to chase Lola down the street.
4. The Block
Cat has a new relationship which appears to be conducted more through the phone than in-person, while Max discovers her horrifying sex-related faux pas when recording an educational video for the library on phubbing. The situation leads Mike and Max to question how they bring up the topic of sex with the girls, which starts by Mike removing the internet filter much to his reluctance. They also have to discuss the dangers of sexting with Cat which goes particularly badly, and wonder whether it is too late to save Lola from following a similar path. The family heads to see Caitlin Moran to obtain a form of counselling and discover that their oddities as a family makes them special. Cat also reveals her relationship has quickly fallen apart.
Series 2
1. Library
Max is working hard at the community library to keep it open twenty-four hours in an attempt to stave off the council's attempt to finally shut it. A man, Ben, arrives from the council offices to reveal that they are planning to sell the building with a deadline of forty-eight hours to remove the contents, with the electricity also being cut off. Mike takes to attempting to obtain help from Max's mother Pauline who has form for being a tough activist, though Cat fails to see the point in battling to keep the library open while Mike reveals it is the first time he has been inside a library building. Pauline meanwhile sets about using a trebuchet to fend off officers from the council, though ultimately it requires Mike to do some persuading in the end.
2. You Can't Do That Anymore
Cat discovers Mike is listening to The Smiths which poses problems due to Morrisey's racism leading him to discover more about his past, which also poses a problem for Max who has been hiding it from her husband. Philip and Jennifer also take to visiting for the night with the usual complaints about the vegetarian food as the conversation turns to Mike's melancholy about his music. Philip meanwhile has brought a number of old-fashioned, problematic items from the loft and suggests watching a number of 1970's television shows featuring now-controversial people, while Lola takes issue with Jennifer bringing furs. To make amends for his continued listening to The Smiths, Mike decides to give blood. With Cat also being depressed as she takes to listening to The Smiths as well, she cheers herself up by listening to Philip's complaints about political correctness.
3. Protest
Max is in a good mood as the family is heading out to join a march in central London though her attempts to hide Mike's special protest hat fails. While waiting for Cat to come downstairs, Lola, Mike, and Max have to endure a phone call from Jennifer and Philip who are less than pleased about the idea. Cat finally arrives and has dressed herself in costume as a tampon to protest against the payment of tax on sanitary items, while she also intends to march with her friends instead of the family. Arriving at the protest, Lola has questions about why the march has so many causes participating while Cat quickly falls into a bad mood as Max tries to encourage her to stay with the family rather than find her friends. Philip and Jennifer also continually call to discourage them from their cause shortly before Lola manages to go missing in the crowd.
4. Live Forever
Mike is attempting to sneak waste into the bin of neighbour "BMW Paul" who has become more environmentally aware. This results in a family meeting with both Mike and Max concerned that they are no longer green enough, with Mike setting about giving up plastic, though Cat and Lola are convinced that her parents will not be able to maintain their efforts. Max's mother Pauline arrives where the discussion turns to the future and her plans to be "off" at eighty though the discussion upsets Max. Despite their early confidence on avoiding plastic, Lola and Cat struggle, while Max attempts to shop plastic-free and injuring her wrist in a fall while trying to carry a weeks worth of shopping after avoiding a plastic bag.
Series 3
1. Wellness
The family find out that Mike's parents are coming to visit after months of not seeing each other, as Max attempts to video call with her own mother while the pandemic continues. As Mike attempts to make jackfruit bourginon in the hopes that his parents will at least tolerate a vegetarian dish, the list of banned controversial topics has been extended. Jennifer reveals that she has been talking to a wellness guru and is taking CBD oil, while Phillip has also been making some rather unusual changes to his lifestyle. Jennifer is revealed to have signed up with a wellness company named Awww Well and has made the questionable decision to stop taking her heart medication. With the prospect of Phillip having to come live with the family if Jennifer ends up in hospital, the four try to get her to change her mind.
2. Friendly Milk
Cat has started drinking 'milque' otherwise known as oak milk as Lola has to explain to Mike how much more beneficial it is to the environment over milk. Mike however is not convinced by the supposed coolness of oak milk, while Max arrives home feeling grumpy and ready to complain about the irritations of shopping locally as she struggles to cope with the required small talk with the locals. Mike is also struggling with the sexualised packaging of 'milque' and decides to head to the company's head office to complain believing it to be a precursor to a kind of cult. Once in the building, he finds the receptionist initially difficult to deal with though eventually succumbs to the marketing leading Cat to be put off the product when she discovers what the business is really like.
3. Arrest
Mike is making chili and answers the phone to Cat who has been arrested after taking part in a 'climate emergency disruption' with Extinction Rebellion. Heading down to the station, Mike and Max find that Cat hasn't yet been charged and is the only one of the three who isn't panicking while being able to visit, with Mike in particular babbling through the encounter. Cat however believes in her protest and announces she is staying in jail as she accuses her parents of not supporting their method of protest due to being too disruptive. Mike calls Lola in an attempt to have her persuade Cat to leave jail, but she turns out supportive of Cat's position. As it looks like Cat is going to be charged, it is revealed she was arrested for glueing herself to a bus for over an hour.
4. Marrow
Dinner is ready and Mike's green ratatouille is being looked down upon by the other three when they find it is only made of marrow and courgette. Upset at his gardening efforts being dismissed, he encourages them to join the community gardens though Max is distracted by her constant listening to true crime podcasts. A loud bang in the night has the family discover that Cat has been hiding away her father's horrible cooking, though it has fermented and subsequently exploded while Max's late night listening has her imagination running wild. The family finds some of Mike's vegetables have been stolen resulting in Cat attempting to persuade her mother to investigate as a way to divert her attention from yet another podcast while Lola takes to setting traps after watching Home Alone.