History Series / TwoPointFourChildren

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%% * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Ben's sister Tina.

* NoLongerWithUs: When David is rushed to hospital with tetanus, a doctor comes into the waiting room to tell the Porters that "we've lost him." They're devastated, but it turns out the hospital has ''literally'' lost David - due to a computer failure, they can't see which ward he's been taken to.

** "The Millenium Experience" combines this with NewYearHasCome by having workmen, who had been sent in to look at a possible gas leak, accidentally cause a power cut in the neighbourhood during the wait for the new millenium. The family thus uses the opportunity to tell embarrassing stories about themselves in the dark.

* RunningGag: Bill blaming the predicament of the episode on Margaret Thatcher, even if it's something that she couldn't have any involvement in, like a hurricane heading striaght for them.

* BlackComedyPetDeath: Ben accidentally killing the pet goldfish by putting it into a food mixer at the end of "Badger's Bend". Taken even further in TheStinger, where his actor, Gary Olsen, explains how they used a prop fish for the event....only to accidentally kill the real one by putting it into a microwave.

%% * BrattyTeenageDaughter: Jenny.

* ChainLetter: The plot of "Fortuosity", where Bill receives a copy of the International Chain of Good Fortune, which grants good luck to those who pass it on to six of her friends and bad luck if those who doesn't. Although Bill is skeptical and tears up the letter, the family starts getting bad luck afterward. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that, despite the fact that the episode was AllJustADream, the letter does exist in reality, and Bill speculates that ripping it up may have led to the house burning down at the end of Series 4.

* ChronicPetKiller: The Porters have a bit of a poor track record of keeping animals, whether that be their animals or their neighbor's animals. This usually happens through misfortune or coincidence, whether it be having to put their neighbor's dog down from stomach problems, their goldfish getting tossed into a food mixer, the neighbor's cat getting trapped under the floor (although it's later revealed to have survived, albeit severely traumatized), or even an entire flock of homing pigeons suffocating to death under their watch. They themselves are aware of this, and usually freak out when their neighbors ask them to watch over their pets.

* [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Predecessor]]: Considered by some to have paved the way for the similarly-themed ''Series/MyFamily''.

* Ben Porter, her husband, a plumber - (played by Gary Olsen)

* Bill (Wilhelmina) Porter, a caterer
* Ben Porter, her husband, a plumber
* Jenny, their daughter
* David, their son
* Rhona, a nymphomaniac DropInCharacter
* Christine, Ben's bad-tempered apprentice

* AllJustADream: "Fortuosity" revolves around Bill getting a ChainLetter and getting increasingly bad luck. At the very end, after her car is destroyed by a falling army truck, it is revealed that the whole episode is just a dream that Bill is having in bed.

* ChainLetter: The plot of "Fortuosity", where Bill receives a copy of the International Chain of Good Fortune, which grants good luck to those who pass it on to six of her friends and bad luck if those who doesn't. Although Bill is skeptical and tears up the letter, the family starts getting bad luck afterward.

* {{Homage}}: One episode consists largely of a homage to ''Series/ThePrisoner'' set in Portmeirion, Wales, complete with appropriate costumes and giant bouncing ball.

* ChronicPetKiller: The Porters have a bit of a poor track record of keeping animals, whether that be their animals or their neighbor's animals. This usually happens through misfortune or coincidence, whether it be having to put their neighbor's dog down from stomach problems, their goldfish getting tossed into a food mixer, the neighbor's cat getting trapped under the floor (although it's later revealed to have survived, albeit severely traumatized), or even an entire flock of homing pigeons suffocating to death under their watch. They themselves are aware of this, and usually freak out when it turns out that their neighbors ask them to watch over their pets.

* HelpImStuck: In "Bird on a Wire", Rona, whilst changing the bulb in the kitchen, gets herself stuck on the light fitting. Bill, in her attempts to rescue her, gets herself stuck in the catflap.

* HouseFire: An important part of the final two episodes of Series 4 relates to the Porter's house going up in flames.

* AllJustADream: Actually happened twice - "Fortuosity" in Series 4 and "Fame" in Series 8.

%% * {{Homage}}

* ThePrecariousLedge: Bill and Rhona become stuck on a ledge with Bill's aunt after going out there to rescue her (she threatened to jump if they called the fire brigade, since she was afraid of the authorities sending her to a retirement home.) The ledge then starts to crumble, leaving them stranded with no way to get back. Luckily, the whole building is so shoddily constructed that they are saved when Bill stumbles backwards and breaks through the paper-thin wall.

** In "Bedtime for Bonzo", Ben falls ill from the flu. HilarityEnsues when Bill gives him aspirin meant for the neighbour's dog next door.

* HolidayEpisode: "Whoopee, We're All Going to Die" focuses on the Porters having a holiday in Florida. However, terror strikes when a hurricane named Bill forms and [[spoiler:seemingly]]pursues the family across America.

* HolidayEpisode: "Whoopee, We're All Going to Die" focuses on the Porters having a holiday in Florida. However, terror strikes when a hurricane named Bill forms and pursues the family across America.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: A plot point in Series 3 revolves around Bill having strange dreams where a mysterious person tells her "Don't go. MIA." These prove to be prophetic when the Porters go on a holiday to Florida and end up coming into contact with a hurricane that has the same name as Bill.