Shameless: Very Important Punk

- Season 5

(2008)

Frank ends up in hospital after mistaking an electrical generator for a toilet and is told his life style is catching up with him. Lip returns from university but Alex,his girlfriend there,has followed him home,ending his relationship with Mandy. Karen takes over the Jockey and Lillian opens a brothel.

A visit from an old acquaintance helps Mimi realize some home truths. Carl is furious when Ian starts dating his teacher.

Monica believes she might be pregnant and is the only family member to be disappointed when the test proves to be negative. The Jockey is robbed on the eve of Mimi's birthday and the Maguires set out to replace the stolen furniture though Karen is more concerned for the pub's future after a visit by a man from the brewery. Community policeman Stan dates a woman from the Ukraine.

Frank Gallagher wins the lottery, or so the residents of Chatsworth believe when Yvonne announces it on the local news! And Frank's not about to tell that he's never bought a lottery ticket in his life when free drinks are coming his way.

With the council dishing out initiative grants, Debbie wants invests in hens and potatoes to supply the estate with free egg and chips. Shane meets a desirable woman but gets a shock when they go back to Lillian's and whilst Yvonne encounters trouble from a girl gang, Stan accidentally runs a woman over. After his admitting that he should be wearing glasses, Carrie agrees to take the rap to save his job - until the woman threatens to sue.

When Monica finds out that she is pregnant, Liam,envisaging being roped in to change nappies,leaves home. Baby Katie eats an E tablet which she mistakes for a sweet and Frank is blamed for leaving it around. The family throw him out and he joins Liam on the streets. Paddy pays Kelly,Kev's sister and Shane's new girlfriend,to leave the estate for reasons of his own.

Following a gas leak at the Gallaghers sexy fireman Sean is in attendance and both Ian and Mandy are out to get into his pants. Eventually it's Ian whose suspicions that Sean is gay are proved right and a relationship seems on the cards until it turns out that the boys are half-brothers and Ian becomes aware of his biological father. Frank ends up in a wheelchair after another binge and Carl starts dating the mother of a girl he went out with at school.

Whilst Paddy attempts to blackmail Carrie into being his nark,Debbie,to raise money for a family holiday,takes in two American students, the strait-laced Brandy and her silent brother Barney. Brandy is very religious - but a trip to the Jockey soon has her letting her hair down. Frank thinks he has found love and a new life with antique dealer Rosie,only to find that she will not leave her sick husband. He attempts suicide - in the process saving Lillian from being attacked by a robber she has identified.

Monica's mother Joan turns up with Alzheimers and a bag full of pills. Years earlier she had neglected Monica and let her boyfriend abuse the girl. Now,though only half lucid,she begs forgiveness before over-dosing. The Maguire boys plan a party with Mimi and Paddy away and trust to a scam instigated by Carl to finance it,only to find he has outsmarted them. Stan declares his love for Yvonne in the shop.

Karen is wary when Jamie's cell-mate Mark turns up and tricks Jamie into abetting a robbery. Fortunately the Maguires pull together to force Mark to tell the truth. With poor GCSE grades Carl feels he is a somebody at last when Paddy encourages him to box,where he does well . Unfortunately his last fight involves taking a dive. Yvonne is shocked when her schoolgirl daughter Meena declares that she is going to Islamabad for an arranged marriage though Meena's auntie Shaza makes her see sense. Shaza also invites Norma out for a drink and at last Norma seems to be over ...

When Paddy is caught on camera for an armed robbery, Mimi begs him to call his brother Noel: he's the one who can help. But Paddy has a dark history with his sibling and would rather go to jail than ever set eyes on him again.

When Stan gets caught in the crossfire between Yvonne and her kids, a full-blown row puts their relationship on the rocks. Things go from bad to worse when Yvonne finds herself held at gunpoint in the shop.

Stan moves in with Yvonne and witnesses her feud with Mimi after catching Chesney,her youngest,with drugs. Chesney decides he prefers the Maguires as his parents,until he ingests an E,whilst Shane becomes Yvonne's pet, working in the shop. Mandy goes on a date with the handsome Dex,only for him to croak after drug-fuelled sex. She and Karen dispose of the body but next day he turns up in the Jockey with no recollection of the night's events.

The Maguires are subject to a stake-out,which causes Mimi to lose her rag and lash out at Mickey. As a result she attends an anger management course which makes her too mellow,so that Paddy's profits from his regulars see a sharp decrease. Mandy sets out to help Tom find his birth mother,bringing in an impostor to help,only for him to have tracked down his family himself. In the process Mandy discovers Tom's relationship with Debbie but agrees to keep silent.

Whilst Carl gets brewer's droop Ian finds himself oddly attracted to Mandy and Norma wakes up after a drunken night wondering why she is wearing a stranger's jogging pants - though the answer is a let down. Tom and Debbie find a young girl who has been raped and left unconscious and Tom is charged. Debbie is anxious to come forward but Tom forbids it as their secret will be exposed. However Frank admits to Debbie he has known all along and the real rapist is caught. Paddy subjects Shane to a violent beating in the Jockey over Kelly - before asking her to dinner. After...

When Manchester experiences an earth tremor, Monica's water breaks and she goes into labour. However, on the other side of Chatsworth, the same tremor knocks Frank off his barstool and puts him in a coma.