# Breeders (TV series)

Breeders is a dark comedy television series created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell. The series follows two parents who struggle with parenthood and is partially based on Freeman's own experiences. Freeman plays one of the two leads in the series and is also an executive producer on the show along with Addison and Blackwell.
The series premiered on March 2, 2020, on the American cable network FX, and on the British network Sky One on March 12, 2020. On May 18, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on March 22, 2021. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on May 9, 2022. In July 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which premiered on July 31, 2023.

## Cast
### Main

* Martin Freeman as Paul Worsley, a father of two and Ally's partner. He works in an office job and has been there for the last twenty years or so, making him the longest-serving member of the charity. Despite his caring and protective nature, he also has anger management issues relating to his two children, which sees him smoking cigarettes and lashing out at his family. His rage later becomes so bad he is forced to temporarily leave his home after his teenage son, Luke, begins to develop anxiety over Paul's temper.
* Daisy Haggard as Ally Grant, a mother of two and Paul's partner. She worked for, and later became partner at a sound studio firm.

### Supporting

* George Wakeman (season 1; guest season 2–3), Alex Eastwood (season 2–3) and Oscar Kennedy (season 4) as Luke, Paul and Ally's son
* Jayda Eyles (season 1; guest season 2–3), Eve Prenelle (season 2–3) and Zoë Athena (season 4) as Ava, Paul and Ally's daughter
* Joanna Bacon as Jackie, Paul's mother
* Alun Armstrong as Jim, Paul's father
* Stella Gonet as Leah, Ally's mother
* Patrick Baladi as Darren, Paul and Ally's friend
* Michael McKean as Michael (season 1), Ally's estranged father

### Recurring

* Tim Steed as Carl, Paul and Ally's next-door neighbour
* Hugh Quarshie as Alex (season 2-3), Leah's new husband
* Jordan A. Nash as Jacob (season 2-3), Luke's friend
* Aliyah Sesay (season 2-3) and Ruby Fubara (season 4) as Grace, Ava's friend
* Sally Phillips as Gabby (season 3), Leah's neighbour
* Andi Osho as Susie (season 3-4)
* Deepica Stephen as Maya (season 4), Luke's girlfriend
* Jessie Williams as Holly (season 4)

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02) | April 27, 2020 (2020-04-27) |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | March 22, 2021 (2021-03-22) | May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17) |
| 3 | 10 | 10 | May 9, 2022 (2022-05-09) | July 11, 2022 (2022-07-11) |
| 4 | 10 | 10 | July 31, 2023 (2023-07-31) | September 25, 2023 (2023-09-25) |

### Season 1 (2020)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "No Sleep" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02) | 0.328 |
| Paul Worsley and Ally Grant are the parents of two children, Luke and Ava. In an attempt to get the two to sleep, Paul and Ally take turns looking after the children with flashbacks showing the early stages of Paul and Ally's relationship as well as the early days of looking after their newborn son, Luke. |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "No Places" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02) | 0.212 |
| Paul and Ally attend parents's evening to see how Luke and Ava are progressing in school. |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "No Accident" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09) | 0.179 |
| As Ally tries to adjust to the reappearance of her father, Michael, Paul begins questioning himself in the light of recent events. |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "No Lies" | Ben Palmer | Barunka O'Shaughnessy | March 16, 2020 (2020-03-16) | 0.243 |
| Paul and Ally struggle to adjust with Michael being around while Luke tests Paul's patience when he tries to prove a school friend of his is right about Santa not existing. |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "No Dad" | Ben Palmer | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | March 23, 2020 (2020-03-23) | 0.188 |
| When the pet gerbil Sprout dies, Paul and Ally are thrilled but when Ally's father, Michael dies in an accident, the two not only struggle to deal with the loss but to also explain the very concept of death to Luke and Ava. |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "No Talking" | Chris Addison | Jamie Brittain | March 30, 2020 (2020-03-30) | 0.298 |
| As Paul, Ally, Luke and Ava head to Darren's country house, Ally struggles with her feelings over her father's death. |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "No Exit" | Chris Addison | Jamie Brittain | April 6, 2020 (2020-04-06) | 0.249 |
| A day out ends unexpectedly when the class bear, Lenny who Luke is looking after goes missing and complicating matters is the fact that it's started to rain while Paul struggles to hide a secret from Ally, one that could change their relationship. |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "No Honeymoon" | Chris Addison | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | April 13, 2020 (2020-04-13) | 0.144 |
| Paul struggles to focus on his upcoming marriage to Ally but Ally's work and Luke's bad behavior threaten to jeopardize things. |||||||
| 9 | 9 | "No Cure Part 1" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | April 20, 2020 (2020-04-20) | 0.278 |
| With Ally in Berlin, Paul struggles to deal with her absence while looking after both Luke and Ava. |||||||
| 10 | 10 | "No Cure Part 2" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | April 27, 2020 (2020-04-27) | 0.252 |
| When Luke is rushed to hospital, Paul and the family rally together, waiting for news, only to discover the marriage isn't as perfect as they thought it was as stress and fear over Luke possibly dying reveals cracks in the family. |||||||

### Season 2 (2021)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 11 | 1 | "No Surrender" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 22, 2021 (2021-03-22) | 0.364 |
| With Luke having successfully recovered and on the verge of turning thirteen and Ava now ten years old, Paul and Ally continue to struggle with raising their two children. |||||||
| 12 | 2 | "No Fear" | Ben Palmer | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | March 22, 2021 (2021-03-22) | 0.256 |
| Luke's anxiety worsens, becoming a problem for both his school and home life, resulting in Paul and Ally making the difficult decision to get a medical diagnosis in hopes of an answer while Ally faces tension when her mother, Leah is robbed. |||||||
| 13 | 3 | "No Connection" | Ben Palmer | Jamie Brittain | March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29) | 0.195 |
| Paul begins to fear that his culturally-fragmented family are no longer interested in watching Dancing with the Stars, a hobby they did in the past, forcing him to take measures to do so while his parents, Jim and Jackie struggle with the changes unfolding in their neighbourhood. |||||||
| 14 | 4 | "No Faith" | Ben Palmer | Rebecca Callard | April 5, 2021 (2021-04-05) | 0.206 |
| As Jim and Jackie try to come to terms with a sudden death, Ava's fighting to keep a secret from her father, Paul while Ally finds it becoming increasingly difficult to keep her true feelings about Luke hidden. |||||||
| 15 | 5 | "No Baby" | Ben Palmer | Jamie Brittain & Barunka O'Shaughnessy | April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12) | 0.160 |
| As Ally struggles to deal with the fact she's pregnant again, new information from a Doctor changes things as Ava who's worried tries to help her mother and Luke is beginning to regret lying about his anxiety. |||||||
| 16 | 6 | "No Choice" | Ollie Parsons | Fay Rusling | April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19) | 0.156 |
| As Ally struggles with being under huge pressure, Jim and Jackie, Paul's parents are excited about moving to the coast. |||||||
| 17 | 7 | "No Excuses" | Ollie Parsons | Rebecca Callard | April 26, 2021 (2021-04-26) | 0.226 |
| Paul and Ally's marriage is in crisis with Paul being obsessed over what happened yet refusing to discuss it while Luke who's becoming increasingly trouble refuses to go to school despite Paul insisting otherwise and Leah and her boyfriend, Alex make an announcement that surprises everyone. |||||||
| 18 | 8 | "No Friends" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 3, 2021 (2021-05-03) | 0.247 |
| Still feeling distant from Ally, Paul rekindles an old friendship but at a cost while Luke surprises everyone by getting a best friend as Jim and Jackie move. |||||||
| 19 | 9 | "No Power Part I" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 10, 2021 (2021-05-10) | 0.181 |
| The family celebrates Jim and Jackie's golden wedding anniversary but the party ends due to a power outage while the growing tensions between Paul and Luke seemingly reach the point of no return. |||||||
| 20 | 10 | "No Power Part II" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17) | 0.139 |
| As Leah and Alex get married, Paul and Luke confront each other over Paul's temper, resulting in Paul making a decision that could change everything forever. |||||||

### Season 3 (2022)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 21 | 1 | "No Direction Home" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 9, 2022 (2022-05-09) | 0.120 |
| With Paul having moved out after realising that his anger management issues were causing Luke anxiety, he, Ally, Luke and Ava all struggle to adjust to what's happened as flashbacks show the good and bad times the family went through. |||||||
| 22 | 2 | "No Worries" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 9, 2022 (2022-05-09) | 0.070 |
| As the family adjust to their separation routines, life couldn't be more different for Paul and Ally, Paul getting comfortable with his new calm and serene location while Ally struggles with the lifestyle of raising two children as a single parent and a crisis at her job. |||||||
| 23 | 3 | "No Comfort" | Chris Addison | Rose Heiney | May 16, 2022 (2022-05-16) | 0.155 |
| As Leah and Alex return from their honeymoon, Paul is sidelined by a back injury and begins getting high on Leah's supply of painkillers, even spending more time with Luke while Ally and Ava's relationship continues to go further downhill with Ally also looking for someone to blame for the whole mess. |||||||
| 24 | 4 | "No Body" | Chris Addison | Rebecca Callard | May 23, 2022 (2022-05-23) | 0.168 |
| Paul and Ally struggle with the process of aging, resulting in tempers being reignited. |||||||
| 25 | 5 | "No Can Do" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 30, 2022 (2022-05-30) | 0.189 |
| As the family prepare to celebrate Ava's birthday, Ally prepares to save the company and hopefully her career while Paul rediscovers the ambition for his job. |||||||
| 26 | 6 | "No Show" | Ollie Parsons | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | June 6, 2022 (2022-06-06) | 0.189 |
| As Paul struggles to make funding cuts at work, Ally attempts to impress Ava, only for the effort to fail, leading Ally to confront Paul and deliver some harsh home truths. |||||||
| 27 | 7 | "No Pressure" | Ollie Parsons | Taylor Glenn | June 11, 2022 (2022-06-11) | 0.107 |
| As Luke and Jacob reunite, rekindling their friendship, Paul and Ally also reconcile. However, Paul's rage returns with a vengeance and this time his target is Ava. |||||||
| 28 | 8 | "No Way Back" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | June 18, 2022 (2022-06-18) | 0.158 |
| Paul brings his parents out for the day, but an unexpected revelation from his mother has everyone struggling to come to terms and threatens Jim and Jackie's marriage. |||||||
| 29 | 9 | "No More Part One" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | June 27, 2022 (2022-06-27) | 0.172 |
| Paul and Ally struggle to deal with Jackie who's moved in after separating from Jim while Luke has to make a choice and Ally meets someone new. |||||||
| 30 | 10 | "No More Part Two" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | July 11, 2022 (2022-07-11) | 0.087 |
| An argument between Paul and Ally is interrupted when Paul's father, Jim is hospitalised with Ava secretly informing a Doctor of her worries that her grandfather is suicidal while Paul and Ally have to decide once and for all - will they continue to live together or is this the end of their marriage? |||||||

### Season 4 (2023)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 31 | 1 | "Noël" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | July 31, 2023 (2023-07-31) | 0.174 |
| Five years later, Paul and Ally are on the verge of splitting; Jim and Jackie are in turmoil; Luke and his girlfriend, Maya, drop a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone's lives forever. |||||||
| 32 | 2 | "No Alternative" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | July 31, 2023 (2023-07-31) | 0.071 |
| The reality of Luke's announcement hits; Paul and Ally worry about the decision he and Maya made and whether they should support them; as a new year starts, the Worsley family gather together with Maya's family, united in their love and worry. |||||||
| 33 | 3 | "No Age" | Chris Addison | Gabby Best & Rose Heiney | August 7, 2023 (2023-08-07) | 0.138 |
| 34 | 4 | "No Dinner" | Chris Addison | Daniel Cullen | August 14, 2023 (2023-08-14) | 0.099 |
| 35 | 5 | "No Regrets" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | August 21, 2023 (2023-08-21) | 0.105 |
| 36 | 6 | "No Arseholes" | Ollie Parsons | Rebecca Callard | August 28, 2023 (2023-08-28) | 0.122 |
| 37 | 7 | "No Kids" | Ollie Parsons | Taylor Glenn | September 4, 2023 (2023-09-04) | 0.151 |
| 38 | 8 | "No Control" | Ollie Parsons | Sonya Kelly | September 11, 2023 (2023-09-11) | 0.104 |
| 39 | 9 | "No Matter What: Part One" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | September 18, 2023 (2023-09-18) | 0.105 |
| 40 | 10 | "No Matter What: Part Two" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | September 25, 2023 (2023-09-25) | 0.087 |

## Production
### Development

On March 7, 2018, it was announced that Avalon Television was developing a comedy series created by Martin Freeman. The series was originally a co-production between the BBC and FX, similar to the drama series Taboo. A pilot was already filmed at the time of the announcement. On October 14, 2018, it was announced that FX and Sky (the latter replacing the BBC) had commissioned the series with ten half-hour episodes, with a series debut in 2020. On January 20, 2020, FX announced that the series would premiere on March 2, 2020.
On May 18, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on March 22, 2021. On May 27, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. On July 19, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season. On June 28, 2023, it was announced that the fourth season would be the final season and premiere on July 31, 2023.

### Casting

Alongside the series announcement, it was announced that Freeman would star in the series. Furthermore, Daisy Haggard and Michael Gambon were also cast in the series. However, on April 21, 2019, it was reported that Gambon left the series as he was having trouble memorising his lines due to memory loss issues.

### Filming

Filming for the second season had been delayed by sixteen weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the delay, filming for the second season began on September 1, 2020, in London, and concluded production on December 18, 2020. Season 3 began filming in November 2021 and concluded filming in March 2022.

## Release

The series premiered on March 2, 2020, on FX in the United States and Canada. The series premiere coincided with the launch of FX on Hulu and therefore the series became the first FX series with episodes available on Hulu by the next day. In Bulgaria and Poland, the series airs on HBO Europe. The series was formerly broadcast in Australia on Foxtel, via its broadcast network FOX One and on demand services until May 2022. It comes as Disney is looking forward to reclaiming its FX and 20th Television titles in order to stream them exclusively on the company's service: Disney+. Breeders moved to Disney+ on June 1, 2022. Soon after Breeders Departed Foxtel and its Service, Season 3 moved to streaming on June 15, 2022, exclusively on Disney+ as a Star Original with new episodes airing on a weekly basis.

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a score of 83% with an average score of 6.8/10, based on 35 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A provocative addition to the growing slate of shows about parents behaving badly, Breeders' take on the realities of child-rearing are as hilarious as they are cringe-inducing." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the first season a score of 65 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Rotten Tomatoes gave the second season a score of 100% with an average score of 8/10, based on 7 reviews. The third season has a score of 100% with an average score of 8/10, based on 5 reviews.

### Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2020 | Venice TV Awards | Best Comedy | Rob Aslett, Richard Allen-Turner, Simon Blackwell, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Martin Freeman, Chris Addison, Michael Wiggs, Toby Welch, Sophie MacClancy, Ben Palmer, Avalon Television | Won |
| 2021 | BAFTA Awards | British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance | Daisy Haggard | Nominated |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Cable Series, Comedy | Breeders | Nominated |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy | Martin Freeman | Nominated |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy | Daisy Haggard | Nominated |
| 2022 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series: Guest Starring Teen Artist | Jordan A. Nash | Won |