It is late August and Britain is in holiday mode. We meet the Barry-Powers blended family in Cardiff, where mum Louise is juggling the demands of five children and cooking multiple meals to keep the peace; the Evans family in Birmingham, where single mother Sue and her grown-up daughter Ginny are a double act to 10-year-old Gabriel; the Harrars in Staffordshire, who are passionate about their Punjabi recipes with a twist; and London flatsharers and serial daters Matt, Dave and Xanthi, who launch into a low-carb, muscle-building regime after overindulging on a holiday abroad. In Gloucester, the Garbutt family are enjoying a staycation, while Devonshire pensioners Marylyn and Wilfred are packing enough sandwiches to last their holiday to Wales. In Suffolk, the aristocratic Mitchell-Cotts family is coming up with imaginative ways to rustle up meals for a family of eight on a very tight budget, and in Buckinghamshire, the Gales are facing up to their 19-year-old son flying the nest.