Alone at Home

Natalie and Daniel head off for four days, leaving their three teens home alone, to do exactly as they please. What do Millie, Laurel and Ethan get up to?

In this second episode, mum Alison, from West Yorkshire, was an only child and always dreamt of having a big family – but the reality of parenting has been much harder than she imagined. She and husband, Andrew, have three children. Their youngest two, 12-year-old Lola and 10-year-old Travis, often row, leaving Alison “at her wit’s end.” Lola wants to prove that she is more capable than her parents give her credit for and won’t “kill my brother.” Eldest child, Charlie, aged 15, has Down syndrome. Alison feels people underestimate him and she hopes the four days will help him on his way to becoming more confident and independent. As Charlie, Lola and Travis are left to run their lives and the family home alone, the biggest revelation of the long weekend comes, surprisingly, from Alison.

In this third episode, mum Eleanor, a marketing consultant who lives in an affluent South London suburb, wants to see if leaving her four boys to have complete freedom over a long weekend will improve how they get on with each other. Eleanor feels she’s had to run the boys like “a pack of dogs” and along with solicitor husband, James, hopes the long weekend will see their sons not only come closer together but also grow in confidence as individuals. Alexander, aged 13, is the eldest brother by just a few minutes from his twin, Nicholas, and tends to take charge. While Alexander wants to “prove that we can survive without ultimate hell breaking out”, Nicholas hopes to step out of his twin’s shadow. Alongside the youngest sibling, 8-year-old Edward, there’s William, aged 12 - the “middle child.” Eleanor recognises that as the third eldest after twins, William has to “fight hard for his position” and he rows with his brothers the most. She hopes the weekend can give William the confidence to do his own thing. After four days away will Eleanor and James return to peace and harmony? Or will the brothers run riot?

In the final episode, single-mum Alison, a nutritional therapist from Nottinghamshire, wants to see if leaving her four daughters to have complete freedom over a long weekend will make them more self-sufficient. Alison worries that having raised the girls by herself for the past seven years, she has overcompensated in doing everything for them and “created the monster,” hampering the independence they need to become strong independent women. Anya, the eldest sister at 15, admits she’s not very responsible and is often in “dream world.” While she still wants to prove that she can take charge while her mum’s away, she has competition from second eldest, 13-year-old, Freya. Then there’s Isla, aged 8 and Evie, aged 10. Evie has spent only a few hours away from her mum before this weekend and Alison worries that, as she’s soon to start secondary school, Evie needs to grow up. For Alison, she’s about to spend the longest time away she’s had from her girls in seven years. Can she stop worrying and “holding too tightly on to them,” and can the sisters step up?