best episodes of Breeders poster

Exposing the parental-paradox that it is possible, in the very same moment, to love your child to the horizon of the universe, while being apoplectically angry enough to want to send them there.

4 Seasons
40 Episodes
Ended
Comedy Family
Cast & Characters
episode image No Way Back
8.4/10 (214 votes)

#1 No Way Back

S3:E8

Paul takes his parents on a day-trip to the countryside, to recreate a cherished memory. But the revelation of a number of secrets leaves all three of them reeling.

episode image No Control
8.1/10 (105 votes)

#2 No Control

S4:E8

Paul and Ally rush to fly back from their holiday when they hear that Maya is giving birth five weeks early. Ava and Sunil try to help Luke step up and become a father, but everyone is in shock when complications set in.

episode image No More (2)
8.0/10 (157 votes)

#3 No More (2)

S3:E10

A furious argument between Paul and Ally is interrupted by Ava's news about Jim. Luke is happier than ever, a newly confident Ava stands up to her dad, but Paul and Ally need to decide - is this it?

episode image No Dinner
8.0/10 (121 votes)

#4 No Dinner

S4:E4

A calendar mix-up turns Paul and Ally’s fun night out into a stressful night in. A happy Ava finds her mood changing as the evening progresses. Luke turns up with an unwelcome friend and Carl finally sees the inside of the Worsley’s house.

episode image No Arseholes
8.0/10 (122 votes)

#5 No Arseholes

S4:E6

A chat with Darren and a chance encounter convince Ally she needs more friends, so she decides to reunite her antenatal class. Ally tells Luke and Ava this was a friendship group with no arseholes. But 17 years is a long time.

episode image No Matter What (1)
8.0/10 (103 votes)

#6 No Matter What (1)

S4:E9

As Paul and Ally try to help Luke, struggling with being both a dad and a student, they find they have very different ideas about the best way forward. Jackie’s condition is becoming more noticeable, and Jim is determined to help out.

episode image No Matter What (2)
8.0/10 (125 votes)

#7 No Matter What (2)

S4:E10

Jackie’s health is continuing to worsen. Paul helps out a distressed Luke but finds himself in more conflict with Ally. At Baby Jay’s naming party, Ava declares her love, and Paul makes an offer that will take him and Ally back in time.

episode image No Power (1)
7.9/10 (193 votes)

#8 No Power (1)

S2:E9

As Jim and Jackie's golden wedding anniversary party is plunged into darkness by a power outage, the growing tensions between Paul and Luke reach an explosive and terrifying climax.

episode image No More (1)
7.9/10 (147 votes)

#9 No More (1)

S3:E9

Jim and Jackie are both struggling under their new circumstances. Luke has to choose between Jacob and Ruby. At Alex's 65th birthday party, Ally meets someone who makes her see Paul in a new light.

episode image No Cure (2)
7.8/10 (280 votes)

#10 No Cure (2)

S1:E10

Luke’s condition worsens and he is admitted to a specialist pediatric unit. As Paul, Ally and their parents desperately wait for news, stress and fear cause cracks to form within the family.

episode image No Kids
7.8/10 (108 votes)

#11 No Kids

S4:E7

Paul and Ally are disappointed that their planned family holiday has become one for just the two of them, but they make new friends. Luke is preparing for his new life with Maya and makes a massive decision. What follows leaves them both terrified.

episode image No Dad
7.7/10 (296 votes)

#12 No Dad

S1:E5

Paul and Ally are thrilled that Sprout the family gerbil has finally died, but explaining loss to Luke and Ava is more difficult than they thought as grief manifests itself in mysterious ways and throws the family off course.

episode image No Cure (1)
7.7/10 (259 votes)

#13 No Cure (1)

S1:E9

Family life is thrown off kilter as Ally spends her weekdays in Berlin and weekends in London. Paul, Luke and Ava try to muddle through without her, but the children aren’t sleeping again and it takes its toll on Paul.

episode image No Faith
7.7/10 (205 votes)

#14 No Faith

S2:E4

A sudden death impacts the older generation of the Worsley family. Ava struggles to keep a profound secret from Paul. Ally finds it difficult to hide her true feelings from Luke.

episode image No Power (2)
7.7/10 (196 votes)

#15 No Power (2)

S2:E10

On the day of Leah and Alex's wedding, Paul and Ally find they have only a few hours to deal with a family crisis, leading Paul to make the hardest decision of his life.

episode image Noël
7.7/10 (127 votes)

#16 Noël

S4:E1

It’s five years since we last saw the Worsleys, with Paul and Ally on the verge of splitting, and Jim and Jackie in turmoil. Things are no less dramatic now as Luke and girlfriend Maya drop a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone’s lives forever.

episode image No Alternative
7.7/10 (115 votes)

#17 No Alternative

S4:E2

The reality of Luke’s announcement hits, and Paul and Ally worry about the decision he and Maya have made and whether they should support them. As a New Year starts, the Worsley family gather together with Maya’s family, united in their love and worry.

episode image No Age
7.7/10 (115 votes)

#18 No Age

S4:E3

Ally is appalled that she’s about to turn 50 and bans the family from ever mentioning that number. Paul tries to help Luke, who is overwhelmed by learning to drive and becoming a dad, while Ava meets a charismatic girl called Holly.

episode image No Surrender
7.6/10 (234 votes)

#19 No Surrender

S2:E1

The kids are growing up fast – Ava is now 10 and Luke is about to turn 13. With their burgeoning independence comes the question of whether Paul and Ally’s parenting style still works. Clue: no.

episode image No Connection
7.6/10 (206 votes)

#20 No Connection

S2:E3

Paul fears his culturally fragmented family has lost a vital connection. Gentrification impacts Jim and Jackie as the last of their old neighbours move out and more young professionals move in.

episode image No Friends
7.6/10 (179 votes)

#21 No Friends

S2:E8

As he and Ally continue to feel distant, Paul rekindles an old friendship, but at a cost to Ava. Luke surprises everyone by getting a best friend. Jim and Jackie are forced to move.

episode image No Comfort
7.6/10 (153 votes)

#22 No Comfort

S3:E3

A back injury leaves Paul high on Leah's supply, as he raids her collection of heavy-duty painkillers. As Luke and his dad get closer, Ally and Ava drift further apart, and Ally looks for someone to blame.

episode image No Show
7.6/10 (153 votes)

#23 No Show

S3:E6

A devastated Paul is forced by his new boss to make funding cuts. After Ally's attempt to impress Ava ends in humiliation, she tells Paul some home truths, just as Jackie realizes a terrible truth about a dying friend.

episode image No Fear
7.5/10 (219 votes)

#24 No Fear

S2:E2

Luke’s anxiety is becoming a problem at home and school. Would a medical diagnosis make his life easier or harder? Ally faces further tension after her mother Leah is robbed.

episode image No Baby
7.5/10 (188 votes)

#25 No Baby

S2:E5

As Ally contemplates her pregnancy, a new piece of information blows her world apart. A worried Ava tries to help her mum while Luke regrets lying.

episode image No Direction Home
7.5/10 (174 votes)

#26 No Direction Home

S3:E1

With Luke refusing to live with his dad, Paul is staying at honeymooning Leah’s house. Ally begins to feel the strain, while a distressing event from the family’s past has a surprising present-day echo.

episode image No Worries
7.5/10 (159 votes)

#27 No Worries

S3:E2

Ally fears she might lose her job and her mind as the company collapses and her HRT medications become unavailable. Luke’s panic attack ends Paul’s leisurely life at Leah’s. An increasingly isolated Ava faces a huge change.

episode image No Body
7.5/10 (154 votes)

#28 No Body

S3:E4

Ally and Paul each learns the truth about a thing that has been terrifying them - for Ally, her job and for Paul, his MRI result. Ava and Luke both feel frozen out by the people they care most about.

episode image No Can Do
7.5/10 (144 votes)

#29 No Can Do

S3:E5

An ambitious Ally sets out to save the company and throw a memorable birthday party for Ava, just as Paul, passed over for promotion yet again, wonders if he ever had any ambition to start with.

episode image No Pressure
7.5/10 (145 votes)

#30 No Pressure

S3:E7

After an apparent reconciliation with Ally, Paul's rage returns with a vengeance when he realizes that Ava has done something that could ruin her life. Luke and Jacob reunite, but things are becoming more complicated.

episode image No Regrets
7.5/10 (106 votes)

#31 No Regrets

S4:E5

Paul and Ally find themselves parenting Jim and Jackie as well as a conflicted Luke. Ava and Holly get closer and Ava decides to take a risk, while Paul meets an old friend and realizes that he might, after all, be happy.

episode image No Choice
7.4/10 (182 votes)

#32 No Choice

S2:E6

Ally is under huge pressure, but no one seems to want to listen to her; Jim and Jackie are excited about a possible move to the coast and, much to Paul's surprise, so is he.

episode image No Excuses
7.4/10 (185 votes)

#33 No Excuses

S2:E7

Ally and Paul's marriage is in crisis. Paul's obsessed by what happened but won't discuss it. An increasingly troubled Luke refuses to go to school and Leah and Alex make an announcement.

episode image No Accident
7.3/10 (308 votes)

#34 No Accident

S1:E3

Ally attempts to acclimatize to Michael's continued presence while Paul begins to question if his accident-prone son's frequent injuries might actually be his fault.

episode image No Talking
7.3/10 (271 votes)

#35 No Talking

S1:E6

In the wake of Michael’s death, the family stay with Darren at his country house, but Paul’s attempt to give Ally space by taking on kid duties and Darren’s fixation on work doesn’t help Ally find a chance to say goodbye.

episode image No Exit
7.3/10 (257 votes)

#36 No Exit

S1:E7

It’s half term and Luke is responsible for taking Lenny the class bear on an adventure. Lenny has been to Italy, Peru and beyond, but Paul can’t even manage to get the family and the godforsaken bear out of the house to the local park.

episode image No Sleep
7.2/10 (460 votes)

#37 No Sleep

S1:E1

The children won’t sleep – Paul and Ally thought these nights were over. Paul spends the night fighting his own anger and his children’s inability to go the f**k to sleep.

episode image No Honeymoon
7.2/10 (251 votes)

#38 No Honeymoon

S1:E8

Paul attempts to focus on his upcoming wedding but is constantly thwarted by his family; Ally is distracted by work, Luke is misbehaving at school and Leah (Stella Gonet) doesn’t understand why they are even bothering to get married.

episode image No Places
7.1/10 (349 votes)

#39 No Places

S1:E2

Luke's parents and the surprising arrival of Ally's estranged father cause Paul and Ally to scrutinize their hopes and dreams for Luke and Ava and discover how far they will go for the sake of their kids.

episode image No Lies
7.1/10 (286 votes)

#40 No Lies

S1:E4

Michael thrives in his new role as dad and granddad, but Paul and Ally can't adapt to his presence as easily as the children can. Luke's hunt for proof that Santa doesn't exist puts Paul's claim that he never lies to the test.

Cast & Chracters

character image Paul Worsley

Paul Worsley

Actor: Martin Freeman
character image Ally Grant

Ally Grant

Actor: Daisy Haggard
character image Luke Worsley

Luke Worsley

Actor: Oscar Kennedy

Ava Worsley

Actor: Zoë Athena

The highest rated episode of Breeders is "No Way Back" (S3E8) with a rating of 8.40.

This episode received 214 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "No Places" (S1E2) with a rating of 7.10.

This episode received 349 votes.

The highest rated episode is "No Cure (2)" (S1E10) with a rating of 7.80.

This episode received 280 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "No Places" (S1E2) with a rating of 7.10.

This episode received 349 votes.

The highest rated episode is "No Power (1)" (S2E9) with a rating of 7.90.

This episode received 193 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "No Choice" (S2E6) with a rating of 7.40.

This episode received 182 votes.

The highest rated episode is "No Way Back" (S3E8) with a rating of 8.40.

This episode received 214 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "No Direction Home" (S3E1) with a rating of 7.50.

This episode received 174 votes.

The highest rated episode is "No Control" (S4E8) with a rating of 8.10.

This episode received 105 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "No Regrets" (S4E5) with a rating of 7.50.

This episode received 106 votes.

Name Department Job
Martin Freeman Production Executive Producer

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