The series follows the lives of the Gallagher family, who live in Chatsworth Estate, a slum in Manchester. Frank, the unhinged head of the family, has a series of adventures with his remarkably balanced children. It is a disorderly family, where eldest daughter Fiona takes care of her younger brothers and sister after their mother has run away and their father has started drinking. After Fiona also runs off, her twelve-year-old sister Debbie has to take over the household from her. When Frank's new girlfriend Sheila leaves and his ex-wife Monica reappears, the Gallaghers' lives are turned upside down.