Before The Studio was winning Emmys and Ted Lasso had viewers believing, Apple TV’s standout comedy was the underrated British sitcom Trying. The streamer’s first attempt at a more comic project has continued humming along in the background since debuting in 2020, following youthful couple Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) on their complicated journey to having children, first through conception and then the arduous process of adoption. Each season of the heartwarming hit has only been met with further acclaim as the pair enter up-to-date phases of their lives, from finally welcoming kids into their home to navigating their tumultuous teenage years. Now in Season 5, there are no signs things are slowing down, with the show boasting an overall Rotten Tomatoes score of 96% and Collider’s Tania Hussain calling it “one of the best-written, best-acted, and most emotionally rewarding comedies on television” in her 9/10 review of the up-to-date episodes.
As per usual, Season 5 created up-to-date obstacles for Nikki and Jason to overcome in their ongoing parenting journey. This time, they’re grappling with the arrival of Princess (Scarlett Rayner) and Tyler’s (Cooper Turner) birth mother, Kat (Charlotte Riley), at their doorstep at the end of last season. Her presence upends their settled family animated and sparks a bit of jealousy when she grows increasingly close to Princess, especially after Nikki tried to hide her existence from her daughter. All the while, both parents are torn between the chaos around them and their up-to-date careers, as Nikki enters the travel industry while Jason heads back to college to become a social worker. Ahead of this week’s episode, titled “The Mousetrap,” Collider can exclusively share a up-to-date sneak peek that specifically highlights Jason’s campus life as he tries to teach his younger classmates how to have fun.
The footage sees Jason and his peers having a round of drinks, though it’s no night out like he experienced when he was their age. Everyone’s got their phones out, nobody’s interested in having a pint with him, and their focus is more on self-care than actually enjoying themselves. He encourages them to live a little, unless they “die alone at 103, surrounded by your gut bacteria.” As if proving his point, one of the students even has a “daylight cutoff time” when they put on a pair of shades for the evening. His blunt assessment ultimately works, and they relent to a night of treating their bodies more like rental cars than temples and pushing things to the limit, minus any phones, and with Jason the only reminder they need to keep drinking.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get complex? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is extensive.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to operate it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of antique wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough compact acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something hefty across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You operate it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are acute enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally hopeful about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being truthful about how tough that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
‘Trying’ Season 5 Expanded Its Cast in a Massive Way
While Jason is out reliving his glory days in Episode 3, Nikki has her own issues upon meeting a up-to-date co-worker, and Karen quickly learns the price of keeping a secret. As the couple’s world continues expanding beyond their home, Trying Season 5 has brought in plenty of up-to-date faces to fill out their workplaces, headlined by The Thursday Murder Club star Celia Imrie. Joining her are Phil Davis, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Colin Morgan, Danielle Vitalis, and Leah Brotherhead, alongside returning BAFTA Award winner Darren Boyd and nominee Siân Brooke. Adding to the star power is Ivor Novello Award-winning artist and producer Orla Gartland, who has been debuting up-to-date tracks with each episode and continues the sitcom’s tradition of landing acclaimed artists to handle the soundtrack every season.
Trying Season 5, Episode 3 premieres tomorrow, July 22, on Apple TV. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.
Release Date
2020 – 2023
Network
Apple TV
Directors
Ollie Parsons, Ellie Heydon, Elliot Hegarty, Jim O’Hanlon
![Apple TV’s Greatest Sitcom Lays Down Some Harsh Lessons in Modern Season 5 Preview [Exclusive]](https://theworldscreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Apple-TVs-Greatest-Sitcom-Lays-Down-Some-Harsh-Lessons-in.jpg "Apple TV’s Greatest Sitcom Lays Down Some Harsh Lessons in Modern Season 5 Preview [Exclusive]")
