
Scripted series · Apple TV
Trying
Together they're a family.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Trying actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Trying reads strongest on Humour, Character Depth and Bingeability.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
The story
What it's about
All Nikki and Jason want is a baby—the one thing they can't have. So they decide to adopt. With their dysfunctional friends, screwball families, and chaotic lives, will the adoption panel agree that they're ready to be parents?
The run
Seasons
5 seasons · 40 episodes.

Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
20208 episodes
7.5IMDbSeries 1 starts with Nikki and Jason becoming devastated when they're told they'll never conceive a child.
Best episode · S01E07 Good Old Family Map

Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
20218 episodes
7.9IMDbHaving been approved by the adoption panel, Nikki and Jason now find that matching with a child is not as easy as they thought...
Best episode · S02E04 Helicopters

Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
20228 episodes
8.3IMDbNikki and Jason wake up as new parents to two children they are still getting to know. Now they just have to keep hold of them, which proves to be trickier than they initially thought. Thrown straight into the parental deep end, Nikki and Jason’s relationships with each other and with their nearest and dearest are tested as they desperately try to navigate the ups and downs of parenting — while hanging onto their kids, and their sanity.

Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
20248 episodes
We fast-forward six years to discover that Nikki and Jason are experienced adopters who have built a lovely little nuclear family, enriched by an extraordinary support network. However, as their teenage daughter, Princess, starts to yearn for a connection with her birth mother, Nikki and Jason find themselves confronted with the ultimate test of their parenting skills.

Season 5 · Complete
Season 5
20268 episodes
6.0IMDbNikki and Jason find themselves dealing with the consequences of Princess and Tyler's biological mother Kat turning up at their doorstep, and the whirlwind of chaos she brings into their settled family life.
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S01E01
Nikki and Jason
When they learn that another round of IVF would be too expensive and unlikely to succeed, Nikki and Jason start exploring
- Directed by Jim O'Hanlon
- Written by Andy Wolton

S01E02
The Ex-Girlfriend
Jason gets in touch with an ex before social services interviews her. Nikki goes out with her sister, Karen, and her unpleasant boyfriend
- Directed by Jim O'Hanlon
- Written by Andy Wolton

S01E03
Tickets for a Queue
Nikki and Jason go to a picnic with other potential adopters—and get intimidated by the quality of their competition.
- Directed by Jim O'Hanlon
- Written by Andy Wolton
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

Andy Wolton
Showrunner
- Photo unavailable
Josh Cole
Executive producer

Rafe Spall
Executive producer

Esther Smith
Executive producer

Jim O'Hanlon
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Sam Pinnell
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Chris Sussman
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Fay Rusling
Writer
- Photo unavailable
James Wood
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Oriane Messina
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Josh ColeExecutive Producer
- Tim MannionProducer
- Andy WoltonExecutive Producer
- Rafe SpallExecutive Producer
- Esther SmithExecutive Producer
- Jim O'HanlonExecutive Producer
Writing
- Fay RuslingWriter
- James WoodWriter
- Andy WoltonWriter
- Oriane MessinaWriter
Direction
- Elliot HegartyDirector
- Jim O'HanlonDirector
- Ellie HeydonDirector
- Ollie ParsonsDirector
Cinematography
- Arthur MulhernDirector of Photography
- Greg DuffieldDirector of Photography
- Jonas MortensenDirector of Photography
Music
- Guy GarveyOriginal Music Composer
- Paul SaundersonOriginal Music Composer
- Peter JobsonOriginal Music Composer
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Apple TVStreaming
- Apple TV Amazon ChannelStreaming
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