When Carol discovers her best friend Lillian had an affair with her husband back in the seventies, she takes revenge by reporting her to the DSS for benefit fraud. Frank Gallagher, who has been posing as Lillian's dead husband and claiming his benefits, comes under suspicion.

When Fiona Gallagher's (Anne-Marie Duff) bag is stolen on a night out in Manchester, a handsome stranger called Steve McBride (James McAvoy) comes to her rescue. He accompanies her to her home in Chatsworth, a deprived inner city council estate, to meet her large family, and the pair begin to grow close, until she receives a visit from the police concerning her alcoholic father, Frank (David Threlfall). Meanwhile, Lip Gallagher (Jody Latham) makes a shocking discovery about his brother Ian (Gerard Kearns) that turns the brothers close relationship upside down, and he also uncovers a shocking secret about the local shopkeeper, Kash Karib (Chris Bisson). Elsewhere, Karen Jackson's (Rebecca Atkinson) father, Eddie (Steve Pemberton), leaves home after catching her in a compromising position.

Frank makes an accidental trip to France, and following a row with Fiona decides to move in with Sheila.

The Gallaghers have a big problem on their hands when a local child goes missing from a party. Debbie steals/kidnaps a baby from the estate. However, the local residents immediatly think that the kid has been kidnapped by a pervert not least because Frank thinks he saw one outside the house of the missing girl. The race is on to find the girl while the Gallaghers, Veronica & Kev come up with a madcap scheme to get the baby back. It looks set for disaster but somehow they manage to get it off. The baby is returned and Debbie is flooded with money and praise by the Police little knowing she actually kidnapped the kid in the first place. Meanwhile after all the excitement Karen Jackson seduces Frank and they pair embark on a dangerous and likely disasterious affair.

Frank brings down the power of the social services on his family in a failed attempt to extract money from Monica.

The balifs and Mr Wilson are still after Frank. And Frank seems to be more interested in spending time with his ex-wife, Monica, than dealing with his spiraling debts. However, much to Frank's annoyance Norma, Monica's lesbian partner, gives Frank a good idea, to fake his own death! Meanwhile Maggie realises that Frank isn't as interested in her as she hoped. When Anthony comes around to talk about Fiona she accidentally gets Chilli in her eyes and staggers out into the Garden! The first time she has been out in five years! Tony has finally found the perfect way to get rid of Steve and get with Fiona for he has stumbled across Steve's car stealing scam. The balifs aren't so convinced that Frank is dead until one of them attacks Frank in his coffin, in front of the family! When Frank doesn't stir the balif finally realises that Frank is really dead, and how sick his violent outburst/attack seemed. At Frank's wake Frank bursts out of the coffin and a party starts. Maggie turns up to ever

It's Christmas on the Chattersworth Estate and it looks set to be a white Christmas as snow starts to fall but as always Christmas wouldn't be christmas without a disaster or two. Veronica's mother, Carol, and her brother, Marty, turn up after Marty caught Carol in bed with his best mate and decided to burn the house down in revenge.

After walking out of her job at the nursery, Fiona confesses to Veronica that she is pregnant by Craig and hasn't told him. Frank falls foul of two shifty accident claims salesmen after being hit in the mouth by Kash's shop door. Kash and Yvonne cannot afford to pay out and are forced to close the shop.

Ian meets Jack and soon begins an affair with him. What will Kash say if he learns the truth, and more importantly, why is Jack behaving suspiciously?

Mandy goes into labour after a run in with a masked robber inside the corner shop. Lip desperately wants to visit his new daughter, but will Mandy's parents allow the visit? And if not, just what will it take for Lip to prove himself to them...?

The Gallagher clan can't believe it when Carl starts to bring money into the household - but his mini-enterprise involves growing cannabis for the Maguires and the police are quick to bust him. Lip is jealous when Mandy gets a new boyfriend and he later discovers that she was the brains behind Carl's business.

Debbie has a new best friend who is everything she wants to be and has the boys falling at her feet. Suddenly Debbie realises what other girls her own age have been getting up to and what she's been missing out on while left holding the fort at home. Sue disappears leaving Marty to deal with the debt collectors in the only way he knows how.

In preparation for her wedding to Frank, Sheila commissions the building of a conservatory in her back yard - but she suddenly remembers her first husband is buried under the patio. Veronica's last stab at IVF on the NHS fails, so she hatches a macabre plan to raise cash for private treatment.