Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker star in a multi-award winning comedy by acclaimed U.S. sitcom writer Fred Barron, whose credits include Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, and Caroline in the City.

Ben, played by Robert Lindsay, is a moderately successful family man whose occupation as a dentist is entirely appropriate for someone whose life seems akin to pulling teeth. As Ben himself says, "It's not that I don't like my children... it's just that I'm frightened of them." His quick-witted wife, Susan, played by Zoe Wanamaker, works as a London tour guide – and while she deems herself a master cook, her family have devised an emergency code system to warn when something suspicious, like Hawaiian Medley Surprise, is on the table.

Eldest son Nick, played by Kris Marshall, 19, is enjoying a year off after school, but spends most of it sprawling on the sofa and plotting get-rich-quick schemes rather than looking for a real job. Daughter Janey, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe is 16 going on 25, sharp as a tack, and full of teenage angst with a keen interest in designer clothes and boys – as long as they aren't her brothers. The baby of the family, Michael, played by Gabriel Thomson, is a bright and sensible 12-year-old whose world revolves around his computer.

And, as if Ben didn't have enough chaos at home, he's forever engaged in combat with his ditzy and free-spirited dental assistant, Brigitte.