Six years on from a low-key debut nobody saw coming, Apple’s warmest comedy has returned for a fifth run.
The season five premiere of Trying is now streaming on Apple TV, and if the setup is anything to go by, the Kettering household is in for a rough few months.
The Show That Snuck Up on Everyone
Trying arrived in 2020 with almost no marketing behind it. Apple TV was barely a year old at that point, still finding its feet, and a British comedy about a couple navigating adoption was not the sort of thing anyone expected to become a flagship title.
It did anyway. Esther Smith and Rafe Spall carry the whole thing on chemistry alone, and the show built a following through word of mouth rather than a billboard campaign.
Season four wrapped in July 2024. Fans then spent the best part of a year in the dark before Apple finally confirmed a renewal in May 2025. That is a long time to wait for a show that ended on the note it did.
What Happens in Season Five
The premise this time is straightforward and quietly devastating. Kat, the biological mother of Princess and Tyler, turns up at the door. Nikki and Jason have spent four seasons building something stable, and season five is about what happens when that stability is tested by someone with a legitimate claim to it.
Charlotte Riley plays Kat. On paper that is a casting decision. In practice it is the entire engine of the season.
The Supporting Cast
Apple has assembled a genuinely stacked bench for this one. Darren Boyd, Siân Brooke, Celia Imrie, Phil Davis, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Colin Morgan all appear across the season.
Imrie and Davis in particular are the sort of names you cast when you want a comedy to land its dramatic beats properly, and Trying has always been better at that than it gets credit for.
When to Watch
The premiere is live now. New episodes drop every Wednesday through to 26 August.
Weekly release, no binge. Apple sticking to its guns as usual, and honestly, for a show like this it works. Trying is not a series you want to inhale in a weekend. It earns its slow burn.
