In this premiere episode, we are introduced to Maggie Beare, and elderly woman suffering from dementia (or so she says), and her faithful yet long suffering son, Arthur. Arthur begins to finally consider putting Maggie in a rest home after his wife leaves him.
After sending Maggie out for some milk 3 hours ago, Arthur discovers Maggie has been faking a broken wrist to get meals on wheels for free. This prompts the meals on wheels volunteer to think Arthur is incapable of looking after Maggie and sends a social worker to discuss the situation.
Arthur discovers Maggie has been arriving home on the back of a garbage truck, and making a nuisance of herself at a local hospital. this forces Arthur to tell Maggie not to go out during the day anymore, but to no avail.
Arthur tries his best to get out of the house, and away from Maggie, for a holiday with a new girlfriend. but a series of misunderstandings leads his ex-wife to believe he wants to take her on the holiday.
After spending several Saturday nights at home, with Maggie, Arthur questions why he doesn't have a girlfriend. So he makes a date with Deidre, prompting Maggie to discover she hates to be left alone at night.
It's Maggie's birthday and the entire family gets together to celebrate. Maggie sees the family gathering the perfect chance to bring home a new boyfriend, and tells Arthur she'd like to marry again.
Maggie thinks she's dying and finally wonders what to do about her will. After discovering Robert wants to sell the family home, she anxiously wishes to change her will...but finding the will is the problem for her and Arthur, who is looking for his own house to live in.
After receiving a letter from the government, Maggie thinks they think she's dead, but in fact, they are investigating why she hasn't cashed in her pension cheques. Arthur wonders as well, and discovers she has been hiding the cheques...and other sums of money, around the house.
The day of Arthur's divorce is approaching, and Maggie can't understand why he has to divorce. This prompts Robert to consider his marriage to Liz after they have a big argument.
Arthur's uncle dies, and not even a funeral can keep peace within the family. After Maggie buys a bag of oranges and drops them accidentally into the open grave, Arthur's other uncle visits him and Maggie...with an unexpected situation.
Arthur is offered a new job, but must make a move to Canberra. But trying to convince Maggie to move away with him proves harder than first anticipated.
Maggie's sister Lorna visits, and the meeting is far from pleasant. Arthur is hoping Lorna's company will give him a chance to go out with his new girlfriend.
Arthur is having some friends over for a card game, and Maggie is shocked that she won't be joining them for the game. When the cards go missing, Maggie is the prime suspect and a whole house search is in order, and Maggie becomes the centre of Arthur's friends attention..in many bad ways.
Arthur's girlfriend spends the night, which shocks Maggie. Enough for her to walk out and threaten to move in with Robert and Liz. Robert tries to steadily convince Arthur to take his girlfriend somewhere else to be alone, and also to convince Maggie not to move out.
It's a hot summer christmas for Arthur, who is having a party for all his friends and family. But as far as Maggie is concerned, she just wants Arthur to take her to church and forget about the party. A series of incidents leads to an argument between the family..and finally to the church.
Maggie becomes anxious about the whereabouts of her late husband, so she finds solace in religion, in the hope of meeting up with her husband in heaven, but to Arthur, Maggie is just, once again, being crazy...or is she?
A day at the park with the whole family turns out to be a disaster as Maggie goes missing...only to wonder off on a bus, for an old folks home!
Arthur accidentally drops a typewriter on his foot, forcing him to stay home, and have Maggie as his carer...could things get any more worse for Arthur? Trying to buy a sandwich for Arthur lands Maggie in a baby clinic, and then at a hospital, where she meets a friend.
Maggie reads her last will to the family, and Arthur is shocked at what she has to say-but not so for Robert and Liz.
A feud arises between Maggie and her next door neighbour, who is a Greek immigrant. After an exchange of threats and property damage, Arthur and the neighbours son decide to fix up the ladies relationship.
Maggie and her new friend Claude make plans to go on a cruise, which surprises Arthur, and shocks Robert..but not is all as it seems for Claude.
Maggie assumes that it's ANZAC day, and tries her hardest to go and see the parade...but Arthur tries his hardest to convince her it isn't the day yet.
Arthur feels Maggie needs a friend after he discovers she's talking to herself...so he hires a woman to help Maggie with the housework, as well as look after her.
Maggie wishes to visit the place of her honeymoon, but Arthur wants to do otherwise..so Maggie wants to drive there herself. The car then becomes the centre of attention as Robert buys it off Maggie, leaving Arthur carless..there's only one way to get the car back from Maggie...
Arthur, Maggie and Liz plan a surprise party for Robert's birthday but when Robert turns up late, Liz starts to think if he is having another affair with one of her friends.
Robert needs to dump a dog that Liz doesn't want, so he gives it to Arthur and Maggie...who have more than a hard time looking after it.
The fridge needs to be fixed, Maggie is working on her memoirs and at the same time, Robert begins to question his mothers love for him, compared to Arthur. Bitterness arises between the family.
Arthur has finally had enough of Maggie, so walks out on her to go on a holiday..leaving Robert in charge...what will come of this arrangement?
Trying to get Maggie to sign over Power of Attorney to the house is a hard journey for Arthur when she accidently loses the deed in her bedroom.
Feeling that Maggie could use some companionship after a fight with Robert, Arthur brings home a budgie for her to look after...this is harder than it seems for Maggie, who decides to feed the bird some chicken.
Maggie's having trouble falling asleep...causing Arthur sleepless nights too, for her fear of death has arisen once again. She begins making several arrangements for her death..which prompts her to think about her husbands funeral, and how little she did for him.
All Arthur wants is a nice, quiet Saturday at home, but Maggie believes a neighbour across the street stole her clock many years ago, so she returns to claim it, but is caught taking it. Arthur and Robert need to find a way to find out if the clock is genuinely hers or not. But there is something else up Robert's sleeve...
Maggie can't understand why Arthur is being so cranky lately, so she decides to visit the doctor to get some answers. The answer, give Arthur a holiday. But Arthur has something else in mind...
Secretly doing some babysitting during the day, Maggie gives away what shes doing when Arthur sees she's knitting a baby booty, but when he discovers the baby, he thinks she's kidnapped it from the shop. A visit from Robert and Liz prompts them to check on the baby and a letter that Maggie received in the mail for Robert leads Arthur, and eventually Liz, to think the baby is Robert's. Will Arthur find out what Maggie is up to?
All Arthur wants is to bring home a girlfriend for Sunday lunch, but convincing Maggie is the trouble. So he disguises his girlfriend as a distant cousin who is visiting the family, and this impresses Maggie, who just loves the family. Arthur gets the whole family together and lets Robert and Liz in on the secret, but they have a hard time keeping it from Maggie when an argument breaks out between Maggie and Liz.
It seems that Robert is about to turn over a new leaf when he takes Maggie out for a drive, but secretly is meeting up with another woman. After Maggie walks out of the car and Robert loses her, he and Liz go to search for her, but the mystery woman is discovered by Liz as they are searching for Maggie. Is this the end of Robert and Liz?
We see the return of Maggie's younger sister, Lorna, who has just lost her husband, and wants to take Maggie to England, but will they even make it to the plane without fighting?
Maggie and Lorna are about to return home from England, and Robert has moved in with Arthur since Liz kicked him out. Once Robert finally leaves, and the sisters return home, Arthur is not surprised to find the sisters are not speaking, but it is over something that Lorna said about Arthur. This prompts a family meeting with everyone, and they turn against poor Arthur, who discovers what his family really thinks of him.
After a bitter fight over "the favourite son contest", which Maggie is entering Robert in, Arthur moves into Robert's caravan. However, this isn't the joyous experience he was hoping for.
Maggie, without knowing it, promises to make 216 lamingtons for various groups at a cake stall, and at the same time must present herself on a jury. Will she succeed in all this, which must be done in one day? Or will Arthur be forced to help?
Arthur pleads with Maggie to start helping around the house cleaning when he goes to work, but even more so, he wants her to become independant due to the fact that he might be sick. After Robert tells Maggie Arthur is dying, Maggie starts to believe Arthur will die unless she helps him around the house.
It seems that Arthur and Deidre may be getting back together, and hopes Maggie will accept it. Arthur tries to ship Maggie off to Robert and Liz's for one night so he and Deidre can sort things out, but this is interrupted when Maggie's wedding ring goes missing...
