Stella

- Season 1

(2012)

Aged sixteen Stella fell pregnant with son Luke but his father Rob emigrated to Canada with his family. Stella married school-mate Karl by whom she has Emma and Ben but now, at forty-two, she is alone, Karl having gone off with the younger, vain Nadine and Luke in prison. She makes ends meet with her ironing business. After a row with Karl and Nadine over Emma's schooling Stella is ready for a night in the pub with best friend Paula, an undertaker and lollipop man Alan, who fancies her. However she gets a shock when she discovers that Emma, for whom she had high ...

Unhappy about Emma's situation Stella goes to see Sunil's parents, newsagent Jag and his snobbish wife Tanisha. Though they too are unhappy Stella falls out with Tanisha, who considers Sunil above Emma and a general row ensues which also alienates Stella from her daughter. To make things worse she has car trouble and has to deliver her ironing by push-bike but things start to look up when she is helped out of a sticky situation by Sean, a handsome - and younger - decorator who has moved to Wales from Yorkshire. And Paula manages to find her stolen hearse, complete ...

Two months have passed and Emma and Sunil are planning their wedding. However everything in Pontyberry is overshadowed by the death of local Rugby legend Dick the Kick. This proves to be a boon for Paula and her father, whose business is ailing when they are charged to organize a celebrity funeral with orations from the likes of Neil Kinnock and a whole bunch of famous pall-bearers. And once more, when things look like going wrong Sean proves his worth.

Luke is now home but, unlike Nadine, who has started a dog grooming business and wants to practice on Stella's dog, he is having no luck in finding work and is tempted when Keckers, the local drug dealer, suggests they do business together. Matters come to a head at a family outing where Sean confronts Luke about his involvement with Keckers and the two lads end up fighting. on the plus side Stella agrees to go on a date with Sean.

In preparation for her date with Sean, Stella decides to try and lose weight and joins Ben's rugby training fitness group led by Alan. She is visited during her work-out by Dai, her older brother and partner of Paula. Dai is an ex-serviceman wounded out of the army and technically unable to work though he has a habit of playing on his disability. Then he goes missing.

After her sexy date with Sean Stella is on top of the world but she's about the only one. Emma has heard that Sunil is two-timing her with an older woman and ends their relationship after Luke spots him with another girl, Dai is up in court for working whilst he is meant to be an invalid and Luke has had a letter from his father, now back in the area and anxious to meet up with him.

Sean takes Stella to Big Rae's gym to teach her how to box and she is amazed that her boyfriend is a personal friend of Welsh champion Joe Calzaghe. In the evening everybody gathers for Luke's twenty-fifth birthday bash, where Luke is pursued by Sunil's teen-aged sister Jasminder and Stella shares a romantic dance. All is going well until Luke's father Rob appears.

Sunil's stag party takes the form of a camping weekend and, as she sees her son and her man off on the coach, Stella is not happy to see that Rob is going with the others. Stella herself joins her daughter and her female friends for a pampering session at a spa but she is brought down to earth when Paula tells her that Dai has overheard Rob asking Luke to go back to Canada with him.

Still upset by Rob's proposal Stella accompanies Dai for his day in court, where he dresses to impress in his full regimental uniform. However the more pressing event is Emma, about to sit her school exam going into labour and being rushed to hospital where she gives birth to a son and is joined by Sunil. As Rob apologizes to Stella for his past behaviour they share a moment recalling their first love, a moment which does not sit well with Sean.

Following the birth of their baby Emma and Sunil's wedding is put on hold but, since Sunil's mother is against them living together in their new flat until they are married, they sneak off to the registry office. Stella accepts that Luke wants to try for a new life with Rob in Canada and there is a send-off party for him - and for Paula's gay assistant Bobby, who is leaving to move to Bristol with his boyfriend. At the party Rob confesses that he never forgot Stella and was reluctant to leave her. He still has feelings for her and asks her to go with him and Luke. ...