‘Trying’ Season 5 review: British comedy at its finest

Trying, television’s best-kept secret, returns for a fifth season as heartfelt as it is hilarious.

Apple TV may be replacing HBO as television’s go-to destination for quality programming, but many of its best shows still fly under the radar. No series better represents this than Trying, the British comedy that returns for its fifth season. It often feels like only a handful of people are watching, despite being one of the streamer’s longest-running and most rewarding originals. The series has yet to find the audience it deserves in the UK for a BBC co-production, let alone internationally, making it one of television’s best-kept secrets.

Across five seasons, Trying has naturally evolved alongside its characters without losing the warmth and optimism that made it so charming from the beginning. The comedy has come a long way since Season 1, when Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) gave up trying for a baby and instead began the adoption process. By the end of Season 3, they had become the adoptive parents of Princess (Scarlett Rayner) and Tyler (Cooper Turner) after winning over the children’s grandmother, the courts, and the adoption agency.

Now raising teenagers, they face an entirely new challenge as Princess and Tyler’s biological mother, Kat (Charlotte Riley), re-enters their lives following her introduction in Season 4. Nikki can’t help but overthink what Kat’s return means for their family, while Jason doesn’t worry nearly enough. Their different approaches create a conflict that pulls them apart just as often as it brings them together. Smith and Spall’s chemistry – perhaps unsurprisingly, given they fell in love while making the series – is enough to have you wishing creator Andy Wolton would return Nikki and Jason to the same page.

Trying Season 5 celebrates the importance of family.

It would not be Trying if the family’s bond, alongside Nikki and Jason’s marriage, weren’t put to the test. Kat’s return naturally raises difficult questions about parenthood, identity, and what it truly means to be a family. The show approaches those themes with the nuance viewers have come to expect, acknowledging the emotional complexity of open adoption without vilifying anyone involved or the legal process itself. Every perspective is explored with empathy, allowing Princess, in particular, to come into her own.

Other conflicts emerge as Nikki starts a new job and strikes up a friendship with an attractive co-worker, while Jason heads back to college in his 40s to train as a social worker. Although the series is happy and wholesome to a degree that exceeds that of Mike Schur and Bill Lawrence, it works because it is grounded in logic that realistically explores the trials and tribulations of life. It always looks for the good in its characters, presenting a family that feels authentic. Difficult conversations, shared anxieties, and moments of vulnerability – especially from Princess – make for some of the season’s most emotionally devastating scenes as the family tries to find its feet during periods of uncertainty.

Through it all, though, Nikki, Jason, Princess, and Tyler have each other. Trying, therefore, ultimately honors the conversations parents have with their children, the pride they feel watching them grow, and the moments when, embarrassed as they may be, children still rely on their parents despite believing they are too old to do so. Even if you are not a parent – as I am not – it is easy to recognize your own family within theirs.

TV’s most underrated ensemble returns.

Smith and Spall continue to offer a realistic portrayal of marriage without ever losing sight of the love that binds Nikki and Jason together. Rayner, however, delivers the season’s standout performance. She plays Princess with the weight of the world on her shoulders, desperate to understand Kat, while navigating what this means for her relationship with Nikki. It’s a mature performance that reflects the confusion, guilt, and curiosity of a teenager who still feels like the young girl left behind by her mom, which is preventing her from settling into the life Nikki and Jason have built for her.

Even though Season 5 focuses more on Nikki and Jason than the larger ensemble of earlier years, it still finds time for Karen (Sian Brooke) and Scott (Darren Boyd). While Scott embarks on a journey across the Atlantic, Karen discovers a sense of independence by stepping outside her comfort zone and forming friendships outside her marriage. The storyline is as humorous as it is emotional, developing Karen beyond her rigidity while remaining true to the character. Meanwhile, Jason’s dad, Vic (Phil Davis), starts a handyman business that keeps him involved in the family’s day-to-day life and series as a whole.

As the emotional stakes grow higher, Trying never loses its sense of humor. The premiere delivers some of the season’s funniest moments, whether Nikki forces herself to enjoy rollercoasters so she can keep an eye on Princess and Kat during a family trip to a theme park or Jason helps Tyler navigate the terrifying prospect of replying to a simple “Hey” from a girl he likes. Spall especially shines in these scenes, delivering well-timed deadpan observations about modern dating while remaining completely invested in his son’s anxieties.

The bottom line.

Five seasons in, Trying remains one of television’s most compassionate comedies – and one of its most overlooked. While this season feels like the series’ natural conclusion, it’s a show that could continue for years as long as Wolton has more stories to tell. British television would be all the better for it.

Trying Season 5 is airing now on Apple TV+. Watch the trailer below. 

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