This first episode focuses on the identities of ex-politician Chris Huhne; X-Factor contestant and Celebrity Big Brother winner Rylan Clark; Kayleigh, a 27-year-old white single mother of five who has recently converted to Islam; and Jazz, who was born a girl but has embarked on a course of male hormones to begin his life as a man. In the final scene, the sitters are shown their finished portrait, seeing themselves through Grayson's eyes for the first time.
Grayson is interested in how powerful and attractive the idea of family remains in a world where break-ups are commonplace, and where we've become used to family units that follow a pattern radically different to the mum, dad and 2.4 kids of the past. Grayson meets a group who might at first seem to stretch the definition of family to its limit, but whose life together is as familial as many more conventional households: the Jesus Army. He then meets Jack and John, white male gay parents who have adopted mixed-race Shea and are conscious both of their own identities and of the need to nurture Shea's. Finally, Christopher was diagnosed with Alzheimer's several years ago and is now looked after by his wife Veronica. Grayson is keen to explore what happens to our identity when memory is stripped away and to relationships when the memories that hold families together disappear.
In the final episode of the series, Grayson looks at 21st-century tribes. We live in an age in which everyone proclaims their individuality, but as he meets his subjects, Grayson discovers that the urge to band together with like-minded souls is as strong as ever. In Belfast, Grayson meets five Loyalists, who take part in a march to commemorate the founding of the Ulster Volunteer Force. Grayson's portrait both borrows from and subverts the militaristic imagery of Belfast's murals and the marchers' banners. Next Grayson meets contestants in the Miss Plus Size International competition, exploring how a struggle for acceptance has shaped their identity, and drawing on classical sculpture and ancient fertility symbols in his portrait. Finally, Grayson meets a group of deaf people who see their deafness not as a disability but as an enriching and rewarding identity. In the final scene, Grayson invites the sitters to the National Portrait Gallery, where he reveals the portraits to them for the first time.