This eye-opening documentary follows five different families with one thing in common – all of them have more than ten children. Over the course of the documentary, we find out why each family chose to keep having children, and how they coped with the often bizarre living arrangements. We also get to grips with why some families who already have 12 children, are determined to have more, despite contrary medical advice and problems with conception. We are also made acutely aware of the trauma and financial difficulties experienced when one of the families is suddenly left without a father.

Pete and Tracy from Bournemouth have been married for 23 years and have 13 children. Although they wouldn’t change their situation for the world, Pete admits that it is “a total financial nightmare” involving relentless forward planning. It is also hard to grab a peaceful moment, says Charles, the couple’s only son. “It does get really loud,” he says cheerfully. To keep the household running smoothly, Tracy spends at least 40 hours a week doing housework. “We’re like the manager and manageress of a hotel,” she grins.

Forty-eight-year-old Aubrey and his 25-year-old partner Kelly live in Orpington, Kent, with their six children and Aubrey’s seven other children from his previous marriage. “I never wanted a large family,” says Kelly, who claims that she fell pregnant despite the use of contraceptives. Because neither Kelly nor Aubrey work, their 15-member family lives on benefits. The council initially placed them in a three-bedroom house but, after five years, paid their next-door neighbours to move away so the two houses could be knocked into one seven-bedroom home. But with Kelly dishing up more than 100 dinners every week, it is still quite a feat managing this household, and the couple are not taking any chances: they sleep in separate beds, and Kelly is hoping to be sterilised soon.

By contrast, the Wilsons from Lincoln are keen to add to their 13 children. “I can’t imagine not having little ones running around,” says mum Shirley, whose family gets through around 20 pints of milk a day and 500 bags of crisps a week. “Getting up and knowing that you’re needed… that’s my life.” Shirley recalls how it took four years of trying before she fell pregnant with her first child. A combination of an operation and hormone treatment did the trick back then. Now 44, will she be able to conceive the 14th child she so desperately desires?

Greg and Aggie from South-East London, who have ten children, believe that the calm atmosphere in their household is due in no small part to the family’s strong Catholic faith. “Religion is the most important part of our lives,” says Greg. In line with the Church’s teachings, the couple do not agree with widely used forms of contraception. Instead, they have successfully planned their family using a method that involves avoiding intercourse during the most fertile time in Aggie’s menstrual cycle.

Forty-five-year-old mother of ten Dawna from Derby no longer has a partner to help her with the rigours of family life. Since her husband Gary died of cancer a year ago, she has had to continue running her home while dealing with a great deal of emotional trauma. “It’s hard when you’ve got ten constant reminders,” she says tearfully of her much-loved children. Serious financial hardship only adds to the pressure: without Gary’s salary there is a very real danger of the family home being repossessed. But despite her difficult circumstances, there is one thing that brings a smile to Dawna’s face: the prospect that she might have more children – “at least another ten!” – with a future partner. “I love children, and the more I have the more I love it.” But with so much recent heartache and her biological clock ticking, can Dawna find new happiness in time?

Monday 19 March 9pm on five