''Trying'' is a British

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by Andy Wolton. The first season premiered on 1 May 2020 on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

. The second season premiered on 21 May 2021, and the third season premiered on 22 July 2022. The fourth season, which continues the series after a six year time-jump, premiered on 22 May 2024. In May 2025, the series was renewed for a fifth season.

Premise

The series follows Nikki and Jason, a couple who really want to become parents but who struggle with conceiving a child. In order to have a baby they decide to adopt, only to face a whole list of new challenges and surprises that come with the adoption process. Additionally, Season 4 begins with a six year time-jump and focuses on Nikki and Jason as they deal with life as parents and all the trials and tribulations that come with it.

Cast

Main

Esther Smith Esther Smith is an English actress best known for her work in the television series ''Uncle'', ''Cuckoo'' and '' Trying''. She is also known for originating the role of Delphi Diggory in the play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child''. Early lif ...

as Nikki Newman - Jason's wife and mother to Princess and Tyler, who works at a manager at Vistacar *

Rafe Spall Rafe Joseph Spall ( ; born 10 March 1983) is an English actor. Spall has appeared in films including '' Kidulthood'' (2006), '' A Good Year'' (2006), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), '' One Day'' (2011), ''Anonymous'' (2011), ''Prometheus'' (2012), '' Lif ...

as Jason Ross - Nikki's husband and father to Princess and Tyler who used to teach English as a foreign language, now a taxi driver * Sian Brooke as Karen - Nikki's sister, Scott's wife and Stevie's mother. A teacher, turned novelist. *

Darren Boyd Darren John Boyd is a British actor who starred in the Sky One series '' Spy'', for which he won BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance. His work in television and film spans comedy and drama. Early life Boyd was born in Hastings, Su ...

as Scott - Karen's eccentric husband, father to Stevie. *

Ophelia Lovibond Ophelia Lucy Lovibond (born 19 February 1986) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Carina in the films '' Thor: The Dark World'' and '' Guardians of the Galaxy,'' Izzy Gould in the BBC's '' W1A'', Patty Failure in Disney's '' Tim ...

as Erica (season 1-2) - Nikki's best friend and Freddy's ex-wife * Oliver Chris as Freddy - Jason's best friend who owns a sporting goods company *

Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...

as Penny (season 1-2) - Nikki and Jason's adoption officer * Phil Davis as Vic Ross - Jason's father * Paula Wilcox as Sandra Ross (season 1-3) - Jason's mother *

Marian McLoughlin Marian McLoughlin is a British actress, known for her role as Marina Bonnaire in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. She also played the role of Brenda Jacks in the BBC series '' Home Time'' in 2009 and Julia in '' Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me' ...

as Jilly Newman - Nikki's mother * Roderick Smith as John Newman - Nikki's father * Robyn Cara as Jennifer/Jen (season 1-3) - Nikki's younger coworker and friend who is very quirky and learning to be an adult * Fola Evans-Akingbola as Harper (season 2) - Freddy's girlfriend after his divorce * Scarlett Rayner as Princess (season 4-) - Nikki and Jason's daughter and Tyler's sister, age 16 * Cooper Turner as Tyler (season 4-) - Nikki and Jason's son and Princess's brother, age 12

Recurring

Cush Jumbo Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is a British actress and writer. She is best known for her leading role as attorney Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series ''The Good Wife'' (2015–2016) and the Paramount Plus spin-off series ''The Good Figh ...

as Jane (season 1) - Jason's ex *

Clare Higgins Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English actress. She is a three-time winner of the Olivier Award for Best Actress; for '' Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1995), ''Vincent in Brixton'' (2003), and ''Hecuba'' (2005). She mad ...

as Bev Reid (season 3-4) - Princess and Tylers grandmother *

Navin Chowdhry Navin Chowdhry (born 22nd November 1971 ) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Teachers'' and '' A Touch of Cloth'', and his role as Nish Panesar in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2022–2025). Early life Chowdhry is o ...

as Deven (season 2) - a father who has a kid in Karen's school * Susannah Wise as Denise - a friend at the adoption support group * Bruce MacKinnon as Ben - a friend at the adoption support group * Justine Mitchell as Lizzie - a friend at the adoption support group * Diana Pozharskaya as Sofia (season 1) - a student of Jason's * Eden Togwell as Princess (season 2-3) - age 10 * Mickey McAnulty as Tyler (season 2-3) - age 6 * Ciara Baxendale as Amy (season 2-3) - Karen's co-worker * Karl Collins as Noah (season 3-4) - Nikki and Jason's social worker * Matilda Flower as Stevie (season 4) - Karen and Scott's daughter * James Doherty as Terry (season 2-3) - Nikki's boss

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2021)

Season 3 (2022)

Season 4 (2024)

Production

Development

On 12 July 2019, it was reported that

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

were working together for a new comedy series with the working title ''Alabama''. Production on the series was already underway with the series set to be released sometime in 2020. ''Trying'' is the second co-production between Apple and the BBC after a reboot '' Prehistoric Planet'' was announced two months prior. On 19 January 2020,

formally announced the series in a press release with the official title ''Trying''. On 1 May 2020,

confirmed in an interview with '' Metro'' that a second season had been commissioned by Apple. English singer-songwriter Maisie Peters wrote and performed the soundtrack for the season. With the announcement of a 14 May 2021 second season release date, Apple also renewed the show for a third season.

Casting

Alongside the initial report of the series in July 2019, it was announced that

would feature in the series. In the press release of January 2020, Apple announced that

and

would star in the series.

Reception

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the first season 86% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. For the second season, 100% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

The song "Neck of the Woods" by Maisie Peters and Joe Rubel was nominated for Best Original Song in a TV Show/Limited Series by the

Hollywood Music in Media Awards The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special p ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Apple TV+ British English-language television shows Television series about families 2020s British comedy television series 2020 British television series debuts Apple TV+ original programming BBC television comedy Television shows set in London Television series about couples Television series by BBC Studios Television series about adoption