The Large Family

Laura needs flour for her school cooking project tomorrow, but Lucy has managed to tip The Large Family's supply all over herself. The shop is closed, and the car's broken down so they can't get any from Granny. And Sebastian Smart next door only has enough for himself – at least that seems to be the case until Lucy manages to wreak the same havoc with the Smart’s egg supply.

Lester and Luke are bored - Laura is busy doing something but they don’t want to help her; they're convinced she'll just be doing girls stuff. But before long their boredom is replaced by curiosity as they hear thumps and giggles coming from her room and determine to find out just what's going. Surprisingly it turns out to have more to do with boys stuff than they could ever have guessed!

Mr and Mrs Large have a day out leaving Lester, Laura, Luke and Lucy at home with Granny and Grandpa. But when they get home they find a broken window, Grandpa with a bandage round his trunk and water flowing down the stairs, Just what could have happened? The children had promised to be as good as gold. And it turns out they have been!

It's school sports day. Much to his surprise Luke manages to win the long jump. He puts it all down to the lucky pebble he finds stuck in the sole of his shoe. So when the pebble goes missing and the obstacle race is about to start, Luke is distraught – until Lester and Laura show him that he already has all the skills he needs to win, he doesn't need luck.

They say elephants never forget but Mrs Large manages to forget that she asked the Smarts to lunch. When they turn up, on the very day of Lester's diving competition, some fast and inventive cooking is called for, along with a little help from Lester's friend Sebastian.

Mrs Large is in bed with a cold so the children try to be kind and helpful while Mr Large is in charge. All is going well, if a little chaotically, until Mrs Smart hears about it and is determined to help out whether. The Large Family like it or not!

Granny and Grandpa take Lester, Laura and Luke to the country for the day. Grandpa insists on pretending to be a great explorer, much to the embarrassment of Lester who hadn't wanted to come in the first place, and who is disgruntled by the lack of opportunity. But when Grandpa's boating expedition gets out of hand, Lester finds that it is his skateboard that saves them from disaster.

Luke is finding it hard to learn how to tie his shoelaces even though everyone tells him it's easy peasy. Mr Large meanwhile has bought a second-hand mower, but when it is delivered he finds it needs assembling. When at last, with the help of Lester, he gets it going, his erratic driving has a startling effect on the garden, but gives Luke the clue he needs to solve his shoelace problem

Mr and Mrs Large decide to take the children camping. There is not much spare room in the car with all six elephants on board, and Mr Large decides they certainly don't need to take the boxthat appears from the picture on the front, to be their paddling pool! It is only when they arrive at the campsite in the dark and wet that Lester tells them where exactly the tent was stored!

Lester always seems to be getting into trouble at school, so when he overhears his parents reading from a brochure that 'No matter how bad things are, everyone improves after a stay at the Academy' he jumps to the conclusion that his parents plan to send him away to school. As it turns out he has jumped to the wrong conclusion.

The school is having a Fancy Dress party. Unfortunately Mrs Large is not the world's greatest needlewoman, and her efforts for the children's costumes are only saved from disaster by Laura's clever intervention. As for her own 'monster' costume, well it's so bad the children don't want to be seen with her, but in the end, they get quite a surprise!

The Large Family decides to have a sandcastle building competition at their day at the seaside. Lester decorates his castle with a wonderful shell but when it goes missing he accuses Laura of taking it. After all, a shell can't walk off by itself, can it?

Luke has bought himself a detective set but no one seems to have any mysteries that need solving - until one of Mrs Large's ornaments, a little china elephant, goes missing from its place on the shelf; and first Lester and then Laura seem to be behaving very mysteriously.

It's the week of the School Show. Sebastian is practising his trombone piece and Laura is rehearsing her twirling ribbon dance, much to the amusement of Lester and Luke who are not convinced that dancing is an elephant's strongest point. Her confidence shattered, Laura succumbs to a mystery injury. But the unexpected intervention of Lucy saves the day, in more ways than one.

Sebastian Smart has got top marks in his trombone exam, and his ecstatic mother promises that he can have anything he wants as a reward. Unfortunately for Mrs Smart she hadn’t realised that he would ask to have Lester, Laura and Luke to stay for a sleepover.It is all too much for Mrs Smart and even Sebastian comes to realise just how different his life is from that of The Large Family.

Mr Large is trying unsuccessfully to find something in the garage when everything falls on top of him. That's the last straw for him! The Large Family house is just too messy – it needs a spring clean. At first he carries the whole family along with him. But when they come to realise what spring cleaning really means their enthusiasm wanes, and even Mr Large finds himself having second thoughts.

Mrs Smart has confiscated Lester's skateboard – just because he accidentally knocked her over in the mud! It's not fair. But when he discovers that her best bracelet has gone missing, and he accidentally finds it during a game of pirates, he sees a chance to get his skateboard back. Until he realises how she may have lost it in the first place!

Lester is determined to enter a TV competition for the best family snaps. Unfortunately, his attempts to show The Large Family as perfect come to nought as one by one his carefully planned photos go awry. Despairing, he wonders if he could cheat until he discovers it is too late – Mum’s already posted the photos to the TV station.

Granny and Grandpa have taken the children to the seaside. Everyone thinks it will be a fun-filled day except Luke. Realising that everyone else wants to do adventurous things like diving off the diving boards and going on the helter skelter, and not wanting to admit that he’s scared of heights, he determines to try to delay the inevitable. Until a game with Lucy forces him to overcome his fears.

It’s snowing. Lester, Laura and Luke are having snowball fights and Mr Large is helping them to build a snow elephant. Lucy is intrigued – she’s never seen snow before let alone a snow elephant, and soon 'Mr Chilly' is her new best friend. But what will happen when the sun comes out and Mr Chilly starts to melt? Led by Lester, the rest of The Large family come to the rescue.

Sebastian's cousin Sarah comes to stay for a few days and Lester rather likes her, though he would never admit it, and he doesn't think she likes him. But on a trip to the park, it is Lester’s skateboard skills that come to her rescue and he realises that he has been mistaken all along.

The Large Family discover that Mr Short, the shopkeeper, has never had a holiday, so they offer to look after the shop for him for a day. Surprisingly he decides he would like a break, just as long as Mrs Smart agrees to be in charge while he’s away. At first it all goes well, until Mrs Smart’s bossy attitude to her customers starts to drive them away.

Mrs Large has promised to take the family to see the new Super Elly movie, but first she must finish all her jobs. Lester, Laura, Luke and Lucy are too excited to help – in fact all they want to do is play a Super Elly game, with chaotic results. When Mr Large comes home, and starts organising things, they all realise just how much their Mum does. And who the real Super Elly is!

Lucy is trying to practise her recorder so that she can get into the School Band. But at every stage she is thwarted by Lucy – why does she always have to look after her? And why can't the boys pull their weight?

Mrs Smart is showing off her new designer tracksuit as she condescendingly explains to Mrs Large how it feels to be fit, which of course Mrs Large wouldn’t know anything about. Outraged, the Large Family children challenge Mrs Smart to a race with their Mum, without telling Mrs Large. Surreptitiously, they try to get her fit until she realises what is going on.