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After Patsy accidentally sets the kitchen on fire, tensions rise between her and Saffron, which leads to a number of surprise revelations.

On her 40th birthday, Edina must deal with her conflicted feelings about reaching the milestone age, and the grim family party Saffron has arranged for the occasion.

Saffy is preparing for her home birth and Patsy is getting ready for an awards ceremony, but Saffy's water breaks all over Patsy's expensive dress, which is further ruined when Mother tries to iron it, which allows Katy Grin to gleefully take Patsy's place at the ceremony. When John accidentally causes a power cut, Bo and Marshall seize their chance to steal the newborn baby as part of their Christian Adoption scheme to sell children to film stars who don't want to be seen pregnant. However, in the confusion they leave with the placenta, and Eddy proudly welcomes granddaughter Jane (although she'd prefer to name her Lola).

Saffy is visited by an ante-natal midwife who takes a dislike to Eddy, causing her to have nightmares in which the baby--who resembles the midwife--is trying to stab her. Patsy's contribution to the pregnancy is to give Saffy advice on abortions. The elegant "Plum" arrives for the women's book club but the main topic tends to be celebrity gossip magazines and little is accomplished. But when the baby's father John arrives and Eddy sees that he is a Black student Saffy met in Africa who now lives in London, she is overjoyed to be the grandmother of a mixed-race baby.

While Saffy is away in Africa doing voluntary work, Eddy has obtained a posh new bathroom but the rest of the house is a mess. Ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton, one of Eddy's new clients, visits; she was at school with Saffy and knows she hates untidiness, so she urges Eddy and Patsy to clean the house, which they do--in a way. When Saffy arrives home, Eddy thinks that she has put on weight, which she has: she's pregnant.

Patsy is angry when Eddy refuses to go away with her for Christmas, preferring to stay at home with the family and ordering a tree so large that Patsy gets her hair caught in it. Patsy collapses (from an unseen hand sticking a pin into an effigy of her) and is rushed to hospital, where at least she can spend Christmas on drugs. Eddy welcomes both her ex-husbands, Justin being quizzed on his sexuality by John, and Bo and Marshall promoting their slimming product, and a family Christmas is indeed the order of the day--until the hospital informs Eddy that "Miss Stone has died." As the identity of Patsy's ill-wisher is revealed, she recovers--only to choke on a piece of turkey back at Eddy's house.

When Edina's father passes away, Saffron is horrified by her mother's lack of grief, which soon manifests itself in a realisation of her own mortality.

Eddy is worrying about her weight again, seeing herself as the "donkey" of her social circle, a fact that her bitchy friends endorse, so she goes on a punishing diet-and-exercise regimen which Saffy and Patsy oppose for different reasons. She even dreams that God and the Devil offer their own comments. Although she feels that she has shed the pounds, she's still seen as the donkey. Saffy is encouraged to write a play by Taylor, an actor friend seeking to revive his career.

After Mother gets banned from the house following the mess when she brought her friends over for a "Cocoon" spa day in the bathroom, Saffy is without a babysitter while she spends the day with John and reluctantly acquiesces when Eddy tells her she wants to be a responsible grandparent and mind Jane (or even Lola) for her. She and Patsy take the baby for a photo shoot at the zoo and almost end up swapping her for a baby chimp. However, after a session in the baby-changing toilet Eddy happily brings home her charge--and discovers that it's the wrong child.

PR consultant Edina Monsoon wakes up with yet another hangover, but receives no sympathy from her studious daughter, Saffron. When best friend Patsy turns up, the fun continues, until a crisis at work forces Edina into action.

After waking to find she has gained weight, Edina becomes obsessed with dieting, which is only exacerbated when she finds out an old, ever thin, nemesis intends to pay her a visit.

Edina's loneliness after Saffron moves out of the family home to attend university is exacerbated when Patsy drops a bombshell.

When Saffy hires a handsome young man to do the Monsoons' garden, Patsy recognizes him as Jago Balfour, the younger brother of a friend of hers who died of a drug overdose, leaving Jago the family mansion and its grounds. Gold-digging Eddy immediately pounces on Jago, only to learn that he had to get rid of the estate to pay the death duties and sold them to rocker Roger Daltrey to turn into a fish farm.

In an attempt to escape from it all, Edina and Patsy take a trip to the south of France, which inevitably turns disastrous.

Bo and Marshall, who now run a Christian television station, inadvertently reveal that Eddy's long-lost son Serge is gay and living in New York City. Patsy's heading there for Fashion Week, so Eddy accompanies her to the Big Apple. After a visit to GUFF, a gay drop-in center, they locate Serge, but for their information they must pretend to be Lesbians celebrating a civil wedding. Eddy is disappointed to find that, like Saffy, Serge is a shy, bookish type, but she hits it off with his extrovert boyfriend Martin. The quartet "does" Fashion Week and visits a bar, which Patsy burns down after dancing on the counter. Returning to London after their arrest for that incident, Eddy makes up with Saffy but reveals that she has disowned Serge and adopted Martin.

Edina's New Year's Eve plans are ruined by the sudden arrival of Patsy's acid-tongued sister Jackie.

When an indiscretion with a married MP leads to unwanted press attention, Patsy books into hospital for a face lift, while Edina is admitted for a foot operation.

Following a promotion for Prince Charles' biscuits, Eddy becomes obsessed with the high life and pays 30,000 pounds for a weekend at a country house for herself and Patsy, though they soon get bored as there is nothing glamorous to do. They decide to go shooting and bag a pheasant, but it is still alive and Eddy hasn't the heart to kill it, so she releases it in Hyde Park. Meanwhile, Saffy's college friend Sarah becomes obsessed at Saffy's baby shower and must be restrained from stalking her.

Banned from attending Saffron's college open day, Edina tries to get her own back by threatening to adopt a Romanian baby, a scheme which totally backfires.

After losing an award at a PR event, Edina fights to regain her standing in the industry, particularly in order to best her rival, Claudia Bing.

While making one of her sporadic appearances at work, Patsy is roped into appearing on television in a makeover segment, and is forced to turn to Saffron for help.

Bubble accidentally sends most of Eddy's clients' details to rival Claudia Bing, who poaches them--including Twiggy, who is annoyed because Eddy's mother has been stalking her, confusing her with Madonna. Eddy sacks Bubble, but ends up back in business thanks to Katy Grin's unlikely intervention. Meanwhile, Saffy encourages Eddy to attend Menopausal Anonymous with Patsy, who has been diagnosed with osteoporosis; of course, Eddy is rude and disruptive. After the meeting, Saffy has a weird dream in which Patsy announces that she is pregnant from Mick Jagger's sperm, which she bought at an auction.

Edina and Patsy travel to Marrakech for work, and reluctantly agree to Saffron accompanying them as part of her university project.

The pressure of Edina's preparations to host two old friends leads to a falling-out with Patsy.

Eddy has installed a panic room in the house in case of burglars, but she panics herself when Patsy brings home a demanding Minnie Driver, whom she is hoping to dress in a collection of designer clothes and become her stylist. After Patsy wrestles Eddy for a necklace Minnie wants, they fall into the panic room and manage to get themselves locked in while Minnie makes off with the clothes. After playing Trivial Pursuit with Saffy through the video camera, they get out and are surprised to learn they have only been shut in for a short while and not for days.