Shambles is a family sitcom in 30 minute episodes intended for streaming or broadcast.

In the early days of their marriage, working class sweethearts Bob and Chara bought their crumbling old four storey pile from Bob's ancient cousin, Ronnie, a militant Cornish fantasist, who now lives in the attic.

Chara runs a penurious animal shelter from the back garden of the house, and consequently she always smells slightly of poo. Bob has made money from his dreary metal fabrication business and thinks that his moderate wealth means he's now posh. Between them they've raised Jordan, a know-it-all nihilist studying at the university of YouTube, and their adopted daughter Pei, an acutely analytical teen, torn between social conformity and outraged dissent.

Their marriage eventually ended, largely without recrimination, and they discovered a covenant in the purchase agreement preventing them from selling the house until Ronnie pops his clogs or moves out. He's stubbornly refusing to do either.

Bob, who went on to style himself as Robert after he met and married Cordelia, the dewy-eyed daughter of a penniless upper middle class family, has moved his wife and his pampered stepdaughter, Aurelia, a nascent anarchist, into the top two floors of the house. He's bought a ‘country residence’ for his new family, consisting of some grade 2 listed walls and a sagging mat of thatch where the roof should be, but restoration is on hold due to some long running issue with 'the trees', and Bob's big idea in the meantime is to live in, and renovate, the old family home.

The house is big enough to accommodate all seven members of three very different households, but perhaps only just, and life has become a perpetual family Christmas, with all of the consequent opportunities for conflict, rivalry and intrigue.

Further complications are provided by the presence of Alan and Mary, the weird, biddable twins who work for Chara, as well as Montgomery, the flaky upper-class architect in charge of renovations. Ever unwelcome is Hermione, the massive, farting labrador, who has long outlived her best years, and additional clutter comes in the form of unpredictable tradespeople, Ronnie's worrying friends, and the well meaning oddballs donating foundling critters to the shelter.

Often hectic, frequently baffling, occasionally peaceful and reflective, Shambles centres on family life and the messy relationships, complex logistics, conflicting attitudes and incompatible values, which, whilst depicted as somewhat extreme, and compacted into a slightly surreal microcosm, are perhaps representative of the lived experience for many disjointed families.