Breeders cast: who stars in Season 2 with Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard – and how to watch the new series

Daisy Haggard earned a BAFTA nomination for her role in season one of the hilarious parenting comedy
Breeders returns to Sky One from 27 May (picture: Breeders/Twitter)Breeders returns to Sky One from 27 May (picture: Breeders/Twitter)
Breeders returns to Sky One from 27 May (picture: Breeders/Twitter)

Sky One’s hilarious comedy Breeders is back, with Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard returning as stressed out parents, Paul and Ally.

Season 1 was a hit for Sky, with critics describing it as “a provocative addition to the growing slate of shows about parents behaving badly”, and saying, “Breeders' take on the realities of child-rearing are as hilarious as they are cringe-inducing.”

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Sounds relatable? Then you’ll be glad to know Season 2 has a UK release date and will follow on from the original series.

So, who will return alongside Freeman and Haggard, when is it on TV and what is the show about? This is everything you need to know about Breeders season two.

What is ‘Breeders’ about?

Sky describes the comedy as “exposing the parental-paradox that it is possible, in the very same moment, to love your child to the horizon of the universe, while being angry enough to want to send them there.”

For Season 2, Paul and Ally are back and the story has fast forwarded a few years (ideal if you have not watched Season 1).

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From young children in the first season, they now face a whole new wave of parental challenges and mishaps. As the kids enter into adolescence, the millennials experience traditional and original issues, from breaking curfews to veganism.

The season was commissioned for a second series in March 2020, but the Covid pandemic paused production until it could resume in August, while adhering to London’s restrictions.

Who stars in the cast of ‘Breeders’?

Martin Freeman

Leading the cast as dad of the family, Paul, is Emmy and BAFTA award-winning British actor, Martin Freeman.

He is best known for leading in the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit trilogy, where he played Bilbo Baggins.

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More recently, he starred in the first season of crime-series Fargo as Lester Nygaard, and as and as Everett K. Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther and the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

He recently told Ed Gamble and James Acaster’s ‘Off Menu’ podcast that he thought method acting was “selfish and narcissistic”, adding that Jim Carey’s adoption of the acting-style was “deranged” and “pretentious nonsense”.

He also co-creates the Breeders series.

Daisy Haggard

Haggard co-stars as mum, Ally, in Breeders. She was nominated for a BAFTA for her hilarious depiction of a modern mum in Season 1.

Prior to Breeders, she also starred and produced in many other British sitcoms, from BBC Three’s critically-acclaimed comedy-drama Back to Life to Sky One’s Parents (2012).

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In 2013, she co-starred with Rose Byrne in the British romantic comedy I Give It a Year as Helen.

Haggard is from a film producing family, her father is director Piers Haggard and her grandfather was actor Stephen Haggard.

George Wakeman as Luke

Luke is the first born of Paul and Ally’s two children, played by George Wakeman.

He first appeared on the small screen on Channel 4’s insightful documentaries, The Secret Life of Brothers and Sisters and The Secret Life of 4,5 and 6 Year Olds.

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He is now aged 11 and in Breeders plays the typically loud and rowdy young son who loves to wind up his sister, Ava.

Jayda Eyles as Ava

Ava is the younger sister of Luke and one half of Paul and Ally’s parental frustrations, played by Jayda Eyles .

She made her on-screen debut in A Confession, but her role as Ava is her biggest to date.

Eyles is also expected to star in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, a romantic film based on Jennifer E. Smith’s book by the same name and set for release later this year.

Michael McKean as Michael, Ally’s Dad

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McKean is an American actor and screenwriter, who plays the estranged father of Ally in Breeders.

His character blames much of Ally’s upbringing on his problematic relationship with her mother and is keen that Ally and Paul do not make the same mistakes he did.

McKean is best known for his roles as Lenny Kosnowski in Laverne & Shirley, David St. Hubbins in This Is Spinal Tap and Chuck McGill on Breaking Bad spin-off. Better Call Saul.

He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2019 for his role in Better Saul Caul. He has also won a Grammy for his song-writing and was nominated previously for an Academy award.

When is ‘Breeders’ released on Sky One?

Breeders returns to Sky One and streaming service NOW on Thursday 27 May, with all 10 episodes being made available on demand.

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