When Mel skips school she won't tell anyone where she's been, which gets her in loads of trouble with her teacher Mr Coleman. She eventually admits that she was visiting her mother's grave, but by then it's too late - Mr Coleman has already decided to pay a visit to the house, and could easily find out that Brian and Sophie are aliens. This is made worse by the fact that Brian has developed an unexplained allergic reaction to something which makes him sneeze uncontrollably and morph odd body parts all over his face! While this is going on, all Josh is worried about is having a party at the house to impress the cool kids at school. But just when it looks like the party will have to be cancelled for sure, it becomes an unexpected way of saving Brian and Sophie from detection - with a little help from some fancy dress...
When Brian and Sophie read about a quiz in the school magazine they decide to enter in order to bring the family closer together. Mel and Josh initially refuse to be part of the team, but then when Josh's friends bet him that he is too cowardly to take part, he decides to go along with it. Mel still refuses to take part, so Josh has to use his secret weapon - Frankie, who has fallen in love with Mel. Josh promises to keep Frankie at bay if Mel will take part. Feeling left out, Lucy runs away from home to join Wendy's family and their quiz team. But when Lucy ends up facing her own family in the quiz final, she has to ask herself just where her real loyalties lie.
When Mel arrives home really late, she expects to be grounded by Brian and Sophie, but all they do is ask her if she enjoyed her night out. In an effort to get them to exercise some proper parental discipline, Mel does more and more outrageous things. When even these don't get the response she was looking for, Mel goes too far and gets in real trouble - with the law! Meanwhile, Josh falls for Tania, the ice queen in his class, but finds it hard to be nice to her and resorts instead to getting her attention in unconventional ways. But when Brian hears about Josh's problem he decides to be a good father and help - by morphing into Josh and asking Tania on a date. The only problem is, Brian asks out the wrong girl...
When the family find a stray dog that's been injured, they all decide to nurse it back to health. All, that is, except for Mel, who is violently against them keeping the dog at all. While Lucy christens the dog Dennis and carefully looks after it, Mel makes plans to get rid of it, making posters announcing that they've found a lost dog. At the same time, Josh finds himself in big trouble, having spent the money he raised on a charity sponsored walk. He decides to raise money by running errands, and offers to put Mel's posters up - then makes even more money when he's paid by Lucy to take them down again. Just when Mel and Lucy get over their disagreement and decide to keep Dennis, Josh returns to the house with a 'lost dog' poster from the dog's original owners - and Mel and Lucy have a tough decision to make.
Mel gets annoyed when Lucy keeps calling Sophie and Brian 'mum and dad'. She decides to show Josh and Lucy a box of their real parents' old possessions - but gets really upset when she discovers that one of her real mum's old lipsticks has gone missing. It turns out that Lucy swapped the lipstick for half a dictionary - but only because Mel had never told her how precious it was. Josh tries to fool Brian and Sophie about his bad school grades, claiming that the grades run from 'A' for 'awful' all the way up to 'F' for 'fantastic'. As a result they think Josh has done very well, but are really disappointed by Lucy's twelve 'A's. But when the truth comes out about Josh's poor results, Lucy offers to help Josh with his exam re-sits if Josh helps Lucy get the lipstick back. Meanwhile, Brian tries to build a high-powered vacuum cleaner based on Valuxian technology - and struggles with his strange allergy to ice-cream.
When Lucy and Wendy aren't invited to a party because they're geeks, Lucy decides to give herself a makeover. She ends up being accepted by the trendy girls in her class, but this puts her friendship with Wendy in danger. Sophie gets a bad bout of flu and wonders what an Earth disease might do to her. The family put her into quarantine. However, she soon learns that ill people get special treatment, and exploits her illness so she will be indulged - even after she's well again. Meanwhile, without Sophie to hang out with, Brian feels lonely. He decides to try to hang out with Josh, Frankie and Pete. Josh won't let him - but when Pete gets the flu as well, Brian morphs into Pete and goes to school in his place.
When Lucy wins tickets to see Blink 182 in a competition, Josh is desperate to take them off her hands. After all, he's a huge fan of the band, and Lucy's such a geek she's never even heard of Blink 182. Lucy agrees to give the tickets to Josh, but on one condition - Josh has to perform a truly unselfish deed in order to qualify for tickets. Of course it's a terrible struggle for the scam-meister, but Josh learns a whole lot about himself in the process. Sophie and Brian start to think about Valux and discover the extraordinary phenomenon of homesickness. Only, being aliens, their sickness comes out in really surprising ways. And when Mel decides she wants to make Trent feel jealous, she chooses to go on a very unusual date...
When Josh twists his ankle in a Games lesson, Brian invents a Valuxian cure for Josh's sports injury. However, as with most of Brian's inventions, something goes wrong and the gadget makes Josh a chess and maths genius. Josh then has a choice to make about whether the benefits of genius are outweighed by the drawbacks of geekdom... But while Josh has become a genius, Lucy feels miffed at losing her identity as the smart one in the family. Meanwhile, Mel's life of fun and clubbing seems so sorted that Sophie decides she wants to go along too. When Mel points out that she won't fit in, Sophie decides to find a new look - much to Mel's horror.
When Josh decides that the only thing which will make his life perfect is an all night game-a-thon, he knows he needs to get the family out of the way. He realises that the best way to get the house to himself is if the rest of the family goes on holiday. Everyone agrees that this is a great idea - until they all begin to argue about where they should go. Lucy thinks she wants to go pony trekking but when it comes to it she discovers an irrational fear of horses. But fortunately Brian is on hand to help her confront her phobia... Meanwhile, Mel is increasingly miffed at Josh invading her privacy. When Mel finds out that Josh and then the family have been reading her emotionally revealing song lyrics, she moves out into a tent in the garden and refuses to join the family holiday.
Lucy and Wendy are on the verge of falling out badly. Wendy points out that she's always inviting Lucy round to her house, but Lucy almost never invites her back in return. Is Lucy ashamed of her? Of course, what Lucy is really worried about is that Brian and Sophie might give themselves away as aliens. But in order to save her friendship, Lucy makes a plan. She gets Brian and Sophie to agree to try to be normal so Wendy can come for a sleepover. But it isn't exactly easy for Brian and Sophie to be normal... Meanwhile, when Josh tries to raise some extra cash by charging for odd jobs around the house, Brian and Sophie begin to question why some jobs are paid and others - like housework - aren't. The best things in life may be free, but in this house everything turns out to have a price. Mel turns her back on all this materialism and vows to donate her old toys to a children's home. But she soon finds out that giving away things from her past isn't that easy.
Lucy is selected to represent the school in a Science Competition, to build a working rocket. She feels confident she'll win, but when she starts work on the rocket it soon becomes clear that it isn't as easy as she thought it would be. Sophie offers to help - and Lucy is suddenly confronted by two equally horrible prospects: failure or cheating. Josh wants to go to Holland with the hockey team. But Josh too has a horrible choice to make - because sucking up to Lockett will mean he has to ignore his friendship with Frankie and Pete. Brian enters one of Mel's photos for a competition - a rather glamorous self-portrait. Mel is furious and goes to withdraw it, but when she discovers she might win she decides to leave it in the competition. Mel eventually comes second, which Brian and Sophie simply understand as losing. So in order to make up for her disappointment, Brian pastes copies of the photo of Mel all over the school with ""We're sorry sweatpea"" on them.
Mel comes down to breakfast in trousers and announces to the family that it's sexist to be made to wear uniform skirts. She goes to school and is immediately sent home. When Brian and Sophie go in to the school, the Headmaster thinks he has their support - until he notices that Brian is now wearing a skirt! Meanwhile, Lucy is looking after the school's pet hamster. This would be fine, but for the fact that Josh is looking for a money-making scheme and decides to film the hamster doing tricks for a TV show, Pets Go Potty. Only, this pet doesn't go potty - it goes missing. With disaster about to strike Josh gets Brian to morph into the hamster so no one will suspect. One good thing does come out of Josh's filming - Mel sees herself on tape and reveals the real reason for her skirt protest: she thought she had rotten legs. But now she sees them, she's actually rather pleased. She goes back to school in a very short mini skirt.
Lucy uses - and abuses - the politics of democracy to ban the television from the house and encourage the family to indulge in more social pursuits, like debating and playing chess. But Lucy's less interested in democracy than in getting her own way. All this politics gives Josh a brilliant idea for how to get out of double maths lessons - run for election to the school council, which takes place at the same time as his dreaded maths lessons. However, Josh soon learns the power of politics and the great feeling of being popular. He promises anything to anyone in order to win votes. But then he comes up with the most popular policy of all: to gain access for his classmates to the legendary prefects' common room. The problem is, the common room is the only place where Mel can avoid Josh at school. And so the two declare battle. Only what Josh doesn't know is, Mel has a secret weapon - a tape of Josh singing a terrible karaoke version of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' - and she's not
It's Lucy's Birthday and she wants a party, but nobody else in the family seems that interested. What she doesn't know is that they're already planning a surprise party for her. But that's not the only surprise in store... When Sophie appears six months pregnant, Brian puts it all down to a tin of baked beans she ate yesterday. But this is no simple case of wind. Brian and Sophie clearly have no understanding of how this pregnancy came about - so Josh is elected to give Brian 'The Talk'. And when you're twelve, explaining the facts of life to your father isn't exactly the easiest talk to have. But matters become even more complicated when Brian too becomes pregnant. Mel panics - This could spell discovery and disaster for the aliens. Will the baby have Brian's eyes and Sophie's smile, or Yoda's ears and Free Willy's blowhole? And how can they have Lucy's Birthday party now?
Mel asks hunky Scott Taylor to go to the school Christmas disco with her. But as she gets nearer to the date she gets cold feet and decides that Scott won't really like her. Thinking that he's helping, Brian morphs into Mel and goes on the date in her place - but gets on with Scott rather better than he bargained for... Lucy is cast as Mary in The Nativity Play at school, but gives up her role so that Wendy can please her pushy parents and have the part in her place. But instead of being grateful, Wendy begins to turn into a really demanding starlet. And all the while, Josh tries desperately to teach Brian and Sophie about Christmas - particularly the importance of buying his present.
Mel tries to put right the damage that Brian has caused when he went on a date with Scott Taylor morphed as Mel - but as she learns more about Scott she begins to discover that being true to herself may be more important than dating the school hunk. The school Nativity Play continues to be a point of conflict in Lucy and Wendy's friendship. But as the performance grows nearer they both realise that being a star isn't worth losing a friend for. And Josh begins to have nightmares in which he is haunted by his conscience. From being selfish and demanding he learns about the true spirit of Christmas when he makes the ultimate sacrifice for Lucy...
Mel thinks fashion models are all stupid hair-flicking bimbos - but she puts these negative feelings on hold when she gets a chance to work as assistant to a fashion photographer. She decides to skip school for the job interview and asks Sophie to cover for her by morphing into her. Only problem is, Sophie is a terrible morpher and makes a pretty ugly looking Mel. Added to which Sophie has a real problem acting normal, and ends up getting Mel referred to a child psychologist. And when Sophie tries to morph back she finds she can't, and decides to stick with her new red-headed look. Meanwhile Josh has a brilliant idea to free him and his friends from the tyranny of nightmare teacher Mr Whiteside once and for all. But his plan to rid them all of detention forever backfires on him terribly - and they all get detention!
Brian and Sophie are so bored that they get hooked on the trendy new trading card game that is all the rage at school. Unfortunately, they become so obsessed that they let the house - and themselves - go to wrack and ruin. They even end up stealing and selling Lucy's (or rather the school's) laptop computer to Andy the Freak. Because Sophie and Brian seem prepared to go to any lengths to feed their trading card addiction, Mel and Lucy have to teach them that crime doesn't pay. The only problem is, it looks like it's Mel and Lucy who will end up headed for trouble with the law. Lucy gets detention and Mel almost ends up having to go out with Andy The Freak on a date.
Lucy discovers that helping her friend Wendy at judo classes isn't quite as simple as she expects. In fact, Lucy discovers she has a fantastic natural ability and gets picked for the school Judo team. And as Lucy gets drawn into the world of martial arts, Brian discovers that the only way he can keep Lucy as his best buddy is to tag along too. Meanwhile, Sophie decides that she needs a best buddy as well. She studies Mel and Trent's friendship for clues and decides that people seem to like people who are just the same as themselves. So she goes all grungy and buddies up with Trent – much to Mel's disgust.
When Wendy boasts about being a bridesmaid at her auntie's wedding, Lucy decides to plan the biggest wedding ever. But whom can she find to persuade to get married? When she discovers that Brian and Sophie aren't actually married she sets about planning a grand ceremony. However, her big plans pale into insignificance in comparison to Sophie's, as Sophie turns into a control-freak monster. Meanwhile, Brian puzzles over whether Sophie is his ideal partner, and very soon the two of them not only break off the wedding plans but decide to split up altogether. It's only when they decide that they don't need to follow convention to think of themselves as a normal couple that the family is once again reunited – and celebrates its own form of a wedding, Aliens-style...
When Josh does badly in a test, he explains to Brian and Sophie why he failed: A teacher's job is to teach you things. If Josh doesn't know anything, it must be the teacher's fault for teaching him badly. So Brian decides to see if he can make a better job of Josh's education – by taking Josh out of school and teaching himself from home. At first Josh thinks this will be a real doss, but he soon finds out that Brian is a really strict teacher. But when a big test is looming Josh finds out that there's no alternative to hard work. Meanwhile, Mel stresses out over her final exam and Trent tries to teach her some relaxation techniques – but she finds the best way to relieve her stress ids to beat Trent up! And elsewhere in school, Lucy struggles to master the euphonium for the school brass band, but finds that this is one thing she isn't a genius at. But after sulking at her failure she makes the best of it and plays the triangle in the band.
It's Valentine's Day, and romance is in the air. Except that there's very little romantic spirit on show amongst the Barker kids - Lucy's only sending a card to Wendy, Josh has been bitten by Cupid once too often to try that again - and Mel doesn't believe in romance full stop. Trouble is, once Brian gets into the idea of romance he starts wafting about the place spouting such infectious romantic nonsense that Josh gets caught up in it. Josh even makes the foolish mistake of taking Brian's advice on matters of the heart and sends a Valentine's card to Tania Thomas – but of course that's a relationship that Fate refuses to smile upon... Meanwhile Sophie enjoys discovering all things romantic, and begins an affair – with the dishwasher! While Mel, who wants nothing to do with romance, is pursued by both Frankie and Andy The Freak.
It's Happy Heart Day at school, and all the kids are doing stuff to raise money for charity. Of course, charity begins at home as far as Josh is concerned, and he's got a money making scheme on the go that could earn him a fortune – or lose him one – selling alien-made flippers to the participants of the sponsored swim. Mel's contribution to the fundraising is to take part in the school sponsored-run. Only she's less interested in getting sponsors than she is in planning who she's going to run with. Trent thinks it's going to be him, only Mel decides to drop him for a boy she fancies. So Trent finds a fanciable partner of his own. Meanwhile, when Lucy wants Brian's help on her magic act, his ambitions don't stop at just being her assistant and things rapidly begin to get out of hand. He almost humiliates her in front of all her friends, but then saves the day with some clever morphing and makes her act a roaring success.
Strange events in the middle of the night mean that none the family can sleep. An alarm goes off signalling that there is a Valuxian rescue ship in the area, and that Brian and Sophie can go home. As the family debates the terrible thought that they may split up, they all cast their minds back to the very first day they all met in the Children's Home. We see the kids discover that they've been fostered by aliens and debate whether to tell the authorities. Eventually Brian and Sophie conclude that they have a new home and a new family, and that they aren't ready to go back to Valux quite yet.
It's Halloween, and scary thoughts are in the air. Josh plans a moneymaking ghost tour with the help of Pete and Frankie, and persuades Frankie to dress up as the ghost of a girl and haunt the school corridors. He even enlists Brian's help to appear as a scary rat and make creepy noises. Meanwhile, back at the house Lucy, Mel and Sophie are all forced to face their fears as things begin to get really frightening. Brian's involvement with Josh's ghost tour has made him fear that there really are ghosts out there, and when his zombie-eliminator gun goes wrong Brian manages to turn himself into the biggest monster in town, scaring all the guests at a Halloween party. And when all the lights in the house fuse Lucy has to confront her fear of the dark and save the family by venturing out alone into the scary dark attic.
Mrs Reece, the children's social worker, comes to the house to give Brian and Sophie their routine progress report. It's a nervous time for Mel, Josh and Lucy, as there's always a danger that their foster parents will give themselves away as aliens and they'll all get sent back into care. But instead of the awful disaster the whole family is expecting, Mrs Reece has a surprising suggestion for them all that could turn out much, much worse than anything they ever imagined. She has a new kid for them to foster – Howie. At first Mel, Josh and Lucy don't take too well to Howie – no one wants to share their parents with a stranger. But when they upset Howie so much that he runs away on a dark, stormy night, they all realise that he wasn't quite so bad, and wish more than anything that he's come back. Which is just as well, as he was hiding under Lucy's bed all along!
The first show kicks off with Sophie falling yet again for another of Josh's scams. But when she gives Brian a mobile phone to celebrate their 'phoneversary', her romantic gift backfires, making him lose his alien memory. Meanwhile, Lucy has a tough decision to make when a mysterious stranger threatens her friendship with Wendy. Josh is smitten with his new maths teacher and is elated to find that she feels the same. But the path of true love never did run smoothly...
This week Brian receives a Father's Day gift from Mel, leaving Sophie upset that she has never been rewarded for her efforts on Mother's Day. She decides to make an extra special effort to be the kind of mum that's hard to forget. Meanwhile, Josh fails miserably to scam a free computer game from Poppy, the new girl in school, and is tricked into giving back the money he owes Lucy. Mel is distressed to hear that Brian thinks she's a boy (and an ugly one at that) and wishes someone could see her feminine side. Perhaps a gender swap will help Brian and Sophie to understand their children more...
Brian is still attempting to become a better father by getting in touch with his feminine side, but his brand new breasts and carefully applied make-up don't seem to be having the desired affect. Sophie is also trying to understand her 'manly' daughter Mel, by taking muscle building hormone pills. But the well-meaning alien alliance just manages to embarrass their children more than ever. Josh refuses to admit defeat in scamming the 'Gnomes of Vengeance' computer game from his scheming nemesis Poppy, and girly Brian is the unlikely inspiration for his most daring plan yet...
This week Poppy has written a damning description of Josh in the school magazine, and he is hungry for revenge. He decides to publish his own paper - The Barker Bugle - to expose the truth about Poppy. Meanwhile Lucy feels persecuted when a teacher accuses her of cheating. Wendy abandons her and to add insult to injury, she becomes the first victim of Brian and Sophie's new punishment regime. Josh's new career in journalism soon founders when he runs out of stories to print. Mel's dark secret about a murdered budgie would make a great front-page splash, but the naked truth is a big price for Josh to pay...
Today Mel is fed up with Lucy's control freak behaviour and decides to move out of their bedroom and into the attic. Lucy is incensed, but when Sophie and Wendy abandon her too, she begins to wonder whether she might be in the wrong after all. Josh is desperate to scam Frankie's signed United football shirt from him, and Brian agrees to morph into Mel as part of a cunning plan. But Josh is about to get a taste of his own medicine for once.
This week Brian feels rejected when Sophie chooses to watch repeats of Geoff Jefferson, Criminal Prosecutor on cable TV, instead of taking part in his indoor Olympics festival. Josh also has grievances with Sophie's television hogging - the wrestling team have paid him in advance for tapes of special shows. In an attempt to prove to Sophie that he has other friends and doesn't need her, Brian brings home Malcolm, a large white rat, and retreats to a nest in the loft for a lifestyle makeover. Lucy is fed up with all the rows about TV, so it seems her prayers are answered when the TV cable is mysteriously cut. Malcolm is the prime suspect, and is sentenced to death by Judge Sophie for his crime. But is Brian's rodent chum really the culprit?
Brian has a new pet - Fluffy the goldfish - but when he's fed on a diet of fried egg, bacon and beans, the unfortunate Fluffy soon floats off to the fish tank in the sky, leaving Brian devastated. Meanwhile, Josh plots to make a fortune from his school friends by entering the diner's menu challenge - to eat 50 courses in one sitting. He plans for Brian (with his huge Valuxian appetite) to take his place in the contest, but the poor alien parent is too consumed with grief to eat a thing. Josh arranges a funeral for Fluffy, in hope that it will bring 'closure' to Brian's grief. The plan seems to work, but when the first course in the contest is fish soup, the painful memories are too much for Brian and Josh is forced to swallow his fate...
Josh is confident that his 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen' tactics will eventually win the heart of his school friend Tania. Sophie decides that humans tell lies all the time, making her highly suspicious of everything her family says. Mel persuades Trent to let her stand in for him as school magazine agony aunt, but can she really summon up the sensitivity to do it? In a desperate bid to prove to Josh that he can lie convincingly, Brian tells Pete that Tania fancies him. But when Pete and Tania arrange a date, Brian has some quick thinking to do before Josh's heart is broken.
When Lucy insists that there's no such thing as luck, Brian is determined to prove her wrong. He purchases a pair of Josh's 'lucky' underpants and is delighted to immediately win a free pen and a pound. Josh decides to cash in on the phenomenon, and sells all the 'lucky' rubbish from his bedroom. He soon regrets the scheme when it leaves him jinxed. Brian discovers that his new pants will not bring him fame and fortune, so to save face with his sceptical family, he secretly buys his own prizes from a catalogue. Everyone is fooled, but Brian is about to find that pride comes before a fall.
Josh is woken by a trumpet-playing Brian and is offered tiddlywinks for breakfast. His sisters may be technically human but they still can't behave like normal people. Why can't his family just be different in every way? A bump on the head makes Josh's wish come true, throwing him into a world of complete opposites. But he quickly learns that the grass isn't always greener on the other side...
Josh has laryngitis, but despite Sophie's best efforts to nurse him back to health, he quickly loses patience with her bedside manner. Brian is jealous that Trent has given Mel a music festival ticket and morphs into 'Spam' - a hip and trendy girl that will catch Trent's eye. His plan works, but Mel is devastated. Can Josh and Sophie persuade Brian to make amends before Mel's heart is broken and Sophie turns invisible from a lack of attention?
Mrs. Hardman invites Lucy to audition for a part in the school musical ‘Oliver Twist' to help her make new friends. On hearing of this musical, Brian takes over the role of directing the play after Mrs. Hardman had an unfortunate accident. Sophie falls in love with The Sound of Music, much to the disliking of Josh.
Brian is desperate to join Lucy at the Brownies, but she refuses for obvious reasons. Undeterred, Brian forms his own association - The Brianies - with it's own code of conduct. Mel gets a waitressing job at Greedy Barkers, but Sophie is concerned that her daughter doesn't have the necessary skills to make it in the work place. After taking advice about healthy competition from Lucy, Sophie also gets a job at the diner, with disastrous consequences. Josh steals the galactic guidebook in an attempt to morph a bigger bedroom, so Brian has to invent a DIY gadget to clean up the mess from his 'Brianie' chores. Unfortunately his plans backfire and Lucy is placed into the house computer recycling bin with the litter. If Brian can't find the guidebook quickly, she could be permanently deleted...
Josh's voice has broken. Brian and Sophie decide they too should set about ageing and Brian targets a local old folks' home!
Lucy is captain of the school chess team and Brian starts to feel proud of her achievements. But this leaves Sophie with only Josh to be proud of. And what's he ever achieved?
There's a break-in at the house. Fascinated by the idea of burglary, Brian gives it a go himself and soon he has a new role - as the mystery thief known to the police as ""The Cat""!
The newly-equipped attic bedroom will go to whichever of the three kids love Brian the most. Lucy won't play ball, but Mel and Josh compete over who can show their love the most extravagantly. Sophie, meanwhile, concentrates on learning to love herself.
Lucy is horrified to find a wart growing on her face. But not as horrified as Brian, who has discovered the real purpose of the bath and is obsessed with hygiene – until he starts shrinking!
Sophie decides to accompany Lucy to advanced mathematics classes at night school. But Brian is less than enthusiastic about her new-found fascination with her teacher - Mr. Whiteside.
Josh is the master of April Fool's tricks and Brian is determined not to be caught out. But Sophie decides to have a go too and, as usual, she goes much too far.
Brian goes out to get himself a bicycle, but comes home in a wheelchair. Enchanted by his new form of transport, he can't understand why the kids are so horrified.
Brian's enthusiasm for being disabled threatens to get out of hand with his campaign for disabled access to the diner.
Mel heads for stardom as presenter of the lunch-time programme on the school radio. Sophie and Brian learn what it is to be fans and focus all their attention on Mel!
Josh introduces Brian to the idea of weekend slobbing. Appalled by how far he takes it, Mel has a bet with Josh over whether she can teach him good manners – but now of course Brian goes too far in the opposite direction.
Brian is obsessed with the idea of death. Not only will he die one day, but so will the kids. So he sets about trying to protect them and, as ever, he gets it quite wrong.
Sophie helps herself to a baby in the supermarket. Shocked, the kids insist that it must be taken back, which leaves Sophie feeling broody. So Brian obliges her by morphing into a baby... With disastrous results!
Brian turns himself into a super hero. Josh won't act as his sidekick so Brian brings home eight-year-old CJ. Soon, the new boy is Brian's biggest fan - but alarm bells start to ring when CJ reveals he wants to stay on as part of the family.
Mel notices a hunky boy who seems to attract all the girls. He seems to know her too - but there's a shock in store for her when she discovers who he really is.
Mel goes into training to become an ace pool player, so as to be able to play with the boys. Brian gets in touch with his 'feminine side'.
It's Halloween, and Brian decides that he is a vampire. Who better for his first victim than Mr Whiteside?
Dissatisfied with the level of affection his foster son is prepared to show him, Brian creates a robot double of Josh... and causes total chaos.
Sophie starts to read fairy tales and discovers that if children are to live happily ever after, their stepmothers need to be really evil. She tries out the part and finds that it suits her.
Brian kills a spider - and he's so shocked that he sets up an animal sanctuary... in the house!
In the middle of the night, Brian performs an alien beauty make-over on Mel - but will it last?
Josh at last manages to get a date with the gorgeous Tania Thomas, but when he turns up accompanied by Sophie, disaster isn't too far off.
Brian looks for meaning in his life and invents his own religion. Sophie is busy worshipping celebrities but soon turns into a celebrity herself.
Brian discovers from a season of sci-fi movies on television that aliens are always shown as evil monsters. He sets about convincing the world that aliens are actually good guys.
The kids are outraged to discover that Sophie has but them up for sale on the internet - but what's worse is the price that she's put on each of them!
Brian makes his first ever visit to the dentist - with hilarious results. And Sophie tries out a bit of body improvement.
Brian organises a break-in into the school in order to procure Lucy's school report.
Brian offers to get Josh a date with one of the school's fittest athletes, but things do not work out as planned.
Brian acquires a new hobby - spoon collecting. And Sophie becomes a rapper.
Brian attempts to cheer Mel up with a string of comic disasters after taking his inspiration from classic TV comedy shows. But he does not count on the effect they have on her.
When the aliens discover that the children will eventually leave home, Brian makes his mind up to do everything possible to stop them.
The aliens try to understand Christmas, but become confused about whether Santa really exists and who Lucy is playing in the school nativity play.
After a visit from the ghost of his maths teacher's grandmother, Josh begins to mend his ways. But will he take Lucy's side over Santa, and risk not getting the mobile phone he wants for Christmas?
With Mell having gone to Canada, Brian and Sophie go to the children's home to find a replacement - Harry. Meanwhile, without knowing that she is his sister-to-be, Josh falls in love with Harry - a recipie for trouble!
Sophie helps Josh with a fake pet marketing scheme. Meanwhile, Brian has decided he can make a success of it in the fashion industry, but his style is totally wrong.
Harry has been asking Sophie to do everything for her and Sophie is fed up with it. Lucy tells Harry that this is not a hotel and then Sophie gets an idea to make money and run a hotel though she hasen't thought a lot of it through.
Josh and Brian vie to see which of them can tell the scariest Hallowe'en story, but Sophie can't understand why it's fun to be frightened.
Brian doesn't notice CJ choking, so at Harry's suggestion decides to become a nurse, whereas Sophie becomes a photographer, Josh fights off a would-be girlfriend, and Lucy considers having her nose pierced so as to become "cool."
After worrying that he will not be remebered when he dies, Brian goes on a guest to find the Holy Grail with CJ. Josh participates in work experience at the diner. Wendy and Lucy start a company producing potato powered clocks, and Sophie helps make them, however, she is told off by Lucy for giving them all away free. Sophie then founds Sophiecom International which sells useless coconut toys, yet these are a hit. Her buisness is about to go international until Lucy discovers her secret!
After Trent says that girls can't be boxers, Harry signs up to compete in a tournament. Then, when her first opponent looks like a shoo-in at twice her size, Josh sees an opportunity to make some money.
At first, Brian is taken with the democratic ideals of the ancient Roman Senate, but when things stop going his way he turns into the equivalent of a Roman Emperor and imposes his will on the household.
It's either feast or famine for Brian and Sophie in the love arena. First, they have an argument and stop speaking to each other. Then, after the children set up a romantic dinner for them, they start irritating everyone with their displays of mutual affection.
Harry tries to figure out how to tell jokes, Sophie tries to preserve family memories by taking candid photographs, and Brian comes to the conclusion that following Josh's orders is the only way he can say out of trouble.
Sophie decides that she must become a nanny in order to see more of the children. Meanwhile, Mr. Whiteside thinks he's seen a ghost after Brian morphs into the spitting image of a long-dead former school headmaster.
After Josh shows him the fine art of defence, Brian becomes a wrestling fanatic and tries to solve every disagreement with a fight. Meanhile, Sophie has trouble with the idea that she shouldn't be eavesdropping on Mr. Whiteside's private life.
The kids object when Brian's obsession with chocolate has it coming out of every water tap in the house. Brian retaliates by banning all chocolate from the house, but this only makes the rest of the family wants the forbidden item all the more.
After a disappointing game of hide and seek, Brian re-wires the house and all the rooms go to the wrong places. Also, Sophie becomes a mermaid because of a reaction to salt water.
Brian and Sophie get horrible new neighbours who threaten to go to the police if Brian doesn't stop eating their roses, so they declare war on them. Meanwhile, Lucy falls in love with the neighbours' son.
Brian gives Harry a racing pigeon to try to bring them closer together, but gets into difficulty when he morphs into a pigeon himself and tries to fly.
All of Trent's secrets may come to light after Brian and Sophie invite his parents over for tea. Also, Sophie has grown some very dangerous plants, and Brian becomes obsessed with football.
Sophie learns the fine art of gossip and starts spreading it.
After Sophie comes down with hay fever and asks what pollen is good for, she decides to become a bee keeper and make honey. Meanwhile, Josh is annoyed that Brian had to help in order for him to get promoted to Head Prefect.
The final episode of the current series. After bringing up the topic of when they are going to leave, Brian and Sophie decide they are going to make the kids stay at home with them forever. During the conversation, Mel phones up asking for Lucy to say that Brian and Sophie aren't who they think they are and they could all be in danger. Back at home the kids find their last living blood relatives- Uncle Brian and Auntie Sophie who at the childrens home were captured and put into an animation freeze by the aliens. Then as Mel returns she finds out that the kids have been frozen and Brian and Sophie decide to let the kids go to Canada with their aunt and uncle. After they leave, Brian and Sophie head back to their home planet and Brian presses the red button meaning they are trapped on Earth- ready for a new series to begin...
Brian and Sophie crash-land by the sea and find four more children to foster – however their memories of the past seven years are wiped by Guido, the new avatar for the Galactic Guidebook, and are now unsure of how the new members of the family will react to the news of their alien identity.
Brian and Sophie decide they need to make a new friend – and with the children starting school, a teacher seems the perfect choice.
Brian plants a bug in Jaq’s mobile phone to keep track of her every move and Sophie decides that Eddie would be the perfect little dolly for her to play with...
Jaq's arch-enemy Selena is drafted in to look after the kids, but when Brian and Sophie come home, she refuses to leave the house – calling for help
Sophie develops an interest in darts and is delighted when Eddie manages to score a bull's-eye. However, the youngster soon finds himself under so much pressure to perform in a competition that he struggles to throw straight. Meanwhile, Jaq finds herself in trouble with Brian after daring to complete his jigsaw puzzle.
Sophie's involvement with an international crime ring puts the family under threat, while Brian believes a visiting exchange student is a fellow extra-terrestrial.
Sophie turns the living room into a pleasure beach. However, Brian's attempts to have fun have miserable repercussions for Eddie, who ends up buried in the sand.
Sophie and Brian try to act like normal human beings – though unfortunately he opts to be the model wife while she wears the trousers. Brian is being operated on by Becky and the family. Becky needs to get some of Brian's insides in order to stop the mutated flu virus melting him.
Brian embarks on a miniature crime spree, ordering Eddie to steal all of the cakes he can get his hands on. Meanwhile, Sophie tries to become the perfect mother. Sophie bakes the best cake in the world for Dan. Brian wants it – and tries to persuade Eddie to help him steal the big creamy pile by murdering Sophie.
Brian discovers a treasure chest, and sets out on a mission to splash the cash. Meanwhile, Sophie confronts a teacher that has insulted aliens, and Eddie breaks his friend's new computer.
Brian tries to make Dan a hero by staging a series of fires in the school toilets, while Sophie manages to fill the house up with piles of rubbish.
Brian has the crazy idea that having a cold will be really fun, so he gets Becky to infect him. However, his first sneeze blows over the furniture and then he turns into a puddle of snot.
Sophie rescues Jaq from a surfing accident, and soaks up the praise that accompanies her heroics. However, to regain the warm feeling it gives her, she engineers more and more dangerous trials for the youngster to face in order to save the day once more.
Brian and Sophie find a huge Christmas tree. Without knowing how much energy it uses up, it threatens to blow up the spaceship. Eddie gets his confiscated Christmas present back and Jaq comes back home. Dan, Becky, Eddie and Jaq need to de-frost Brian and Sophie. After de-frosting them the meltdown only has 30 seconds left. Sophie's too frightened to press one of the four buttons and with three seconds left will the spaceship blow up or not? At the last second someone presses a button, but who is it and is it the wrong button??