Oh the horror! Last night was the last episode of the Family, but what a lovely one it was!

The episode opened with Jane doing some cleaning at the weekend, but Simon wanted to go out. Jane was having none of it, despite the fact that Simon pointed out she was off all week and therefore could clean then. Still, she wasn’t being convinced and pointed out that she was getting root canal work done and shopping for wedding dresses on Monday. Both prospects brought sympathetic groans from Simon.

Their eldest daughter Jess was getting married to partner Pat – who’s a babe by the way – and so preparations were in full swing in the Hughes household. There was much plotting as to where the marquee should go and how much glue to apply to the invitation envelopes.

In one scene, where Jane and Jess were busy gluing important things, Pat had the audacity to tell Jess that their baby, Ruby, needing feeding, and in a mother-like-daughter moment, she harshly pointed out that she was in the middle of gluing and couldn’t feed a baby and glue all at once.

Pat has evidently learned that taking the line of least resistance is most likely to ensure a person keeps his head on his shoulders so he retreated to the living room to entertain the baby while Jess and Jane had a quiet moan about the general stupidity of the men in their lives.

Then, when Jane arrived home one evening, the supermarket had delivered the weekly shop and despite the fact that all three of the Hughes children were in the house, the majority of the shopping was unpacked and still sitting in the kitchen. Charlotte was on the computer and the phone simultaneously, Tom was watching telly and Emily was in bed. Jane soon roused the troops as she angrily demanded to know why the shopping hadn’t been put away.

“Dad told me to leave the meat out” Charlotte defensively told her mum, which didn’t actually explain why most of the shopping was still sitting in bags. The tension passed relatively quickly however and next, it was Jane and Simon’s wedding anniversary.

He’d bought her a beautiful necklace and she’d bought him ‘joke underpants’; he wasn’t impressed. She realised she’d made a gaffe when Simon’s voice became high-pitched; he pointed out that she knows he doesn’t like joke underpants, but he tried to make out he was pleased with the card that went with them.

However, talk soon turned to the wedding again. Simon really wanted it to be as inexpensive as possible but Jane just wanted it to be perfect for their daughter so when she was telling Simon how beautiful Jess looked in the dresses she tried on, she tried – and failed – to hide the fact that the dress was likely to cost ‘over budget’ kind of money.

And while Jessica and Pat were about to embark on married life, Simon and Jane have been together for nearly 25 years and Jane wants to renew their vows on the anniversary of that landmark number… primarily because she saw a dress she really liked while wedding dress shopping.

She did her best to persuade Simon that it was a good idea but he pointed out that it was unecessary; Jane knows he loves her but she replied that their own wedding wasn’t all it could have been.

“It wasn’t the best” she said, to which Simon replied, “What do you mean? You got to spend the rest of your life with me.”

But romance was well and truly in the air and Simon and Jane’s love for each other shone through, much to the embarrassment of youngest daughter Charlotte who looked like she was going to be sick when Jane and Simon were kissing. “Can you actually stop that? Dad’s the grossest one. Stop it. Why are you doing that?” she complained.

For the first time, the cameras followed the Hugheses outside of the family home as everyone pulled together to put the finishing touches to the marquee in the garden where the reception would be held. There was much weeding of the patio area and then Jane used the Dyson to hoover up the grass that Simon had left on the steps. Then, a carpet was laid and tables, chairs and tableware were all shipped in, as well as buckets of lovely flowers.

In the meantime, there was a small row over what suit Pat was to wear with the poor guy trying to get a word in edgeways and not suceeding. Tom did his best to act like a three year old thoughout this family gathering to pick suits and Jane eventually had to yell at him to stop throwing things around and stop gripping her head and covering her face. I worry about Tom…

Anyway, when the big day arrived, the girls went off for a marathon hair and make-up session and when Simon saw Jessica in her wedding dress for the first time, he was moved to tears.

“You look like a film star” he told her.

After the ups and downs of the last few months, the atmosphere was very emotional as the Hughes family celebrated Jessica and Pat’s big day. It all went without a hitch in the end and despite the fact that I thought the vicar hurried through the vows, I was crying like a girl throughout.

At the reception in the garden, Simon and Pat both made moving speeches while a proud Jane looked on from underneath a rather stunning hat.

Simon remarked that he hadn’t lost a daughter, he’d “gained an electrician.”

The episode ended with Simon and Jane canoodling in a corner and sipping pink champagne. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I’m devastated that the series is over, however, we can still get a fix of The Family via a new spin-off series entitled, Teen Stories. It’s in 15 parts and focusses on family life from the teen perspective.

Does the mess in 19 year old Emily’s room represent a lack of respect for her parents or is it her own private space to do with as she pleases?

17 year old Charlotte is feeling the pressure of being the academic in the family but it torn between leaving school to follow in her sister’s footsteps or staying to get her exams.

At 14, is it up to Tom what time he goes to bed or should his parents decide? Focusing on the teen Hugheses, this series explores a range of issues faced by young people today, from sibling rivalry and school stress, to parental boundaries and leaving home. It also includes additional insights and comment from a panel of British teens.

The Family: Teen Stories is on Channel 4, Monday to Friday at 11.30am from 3rd November 2008. It’ll also be on 4OD for those of us who can’t watch at that time of the day.

If you’re really desperate for more Hughes action, you can go to http://www.channel4.com/health/the-family/ and see previously unseen footage as well as ‘backstage’ clips.

Thanks for the memories Hugheses; you’ve made Wednesdays so much more fun!