The A Word

In their idyllic Lake District home, the extended Hughes family reunites for Joe's fifth birthday party. But tensions soon rise among Alison, Paul and patriarch Maurice when newly-arrived Eddie and Nicola suggest Joe has communication problems.

Following Joe's autism diagnosis Paul, Alison and Rebecca clash over how best to deal with his first weeks at school. Eddie is troubled by thoughts of Nicola's ex-lover Michael, and Maurice tries hard to avoid his singing teacher Louise.

Alison gets a blast from her past when speech and language therapist Maggie arrives to assess Joe. For the family, it is time to face some uncomfortable truths.

An impromptu attempt to win Joe some friends leads to a breakthrough moment for Alison, but how long can it last? Maurice and Louise come to blows over Joe, while Rebecca turns to Eddie for relationship advice.

Alison is hit hard when Joe's helper Maya looks set to be deported. As Paul and Eddie discover their wives both want different things, Maurice is left kicking himself for letting Louise go.

Alison brokers a peace with Paul in time for the gastropub opening, but plans for their big day are shattered when Joe goes missing.

Two years on, in the idyllic landscape of the Lake District, seven-year-old Joe is growing up and changing. He has started to notice he's different from other kids. And when he says the word 'autistic' out loud, seeing it as something bad, Alison and Paul know they must talk to their son. But how do they broach the subject with a child for whom language is already a struggle?

As a parent, how do you know if the decisions you make for your child are right? If your child can't always express his own feelings, how do you even go about making the decisions in the first place? These questions hang over Paul and Alison as Joe starts his first day at a specialist school in Manchester.

Paul makes a connection with Sophie when he takes her and Mark to a gig. Louise clashes with Maurice, and Eddie gears up for date night with his Manchester girlfriend Holly.

Rebecca sends Paul and Alison on a weekend away to help them reconnect. Maurice has an existential crisis during a fell race, and Eddie is determined to teach Joe to ride a bike.

Paul's deepest feelings about his son's autism emerge when Nicola makes a film of Joe's behaviours. Eddie reaches d-day with Holly, while Maurice makes a shocking proposal.

An end-of-year show at Joe's old school brings his family members together. As Joe takes the stage, it is clear what they mean to him. But can they remain the family he knows?

Behind the scenes with cast and crew of The A Word, the drama about a family coping with their five-year-old being diagnosed with autism.

A glimpse into the filming of a scene from The A Word, Series 2.

A look at the casting for the role of Mark.

The cast and crew discuss their experiences of working on the series.