Shameless
Series 4, Episode 1
Air date	January 9, 2007
Written by	Emma Frost
Directed by	Paul Norton Walker
Episode Guide
previous Episode 308	next Episode 402

Episode 401 is the first episode of the fourth series of Shameless, it marks a major change in the cast with many characters from the previous series being written out of the show.

PlotEdit

While Sheila is away on a cookery course, Frank sets fire to his dinner and ends up in hospital. Unable to contact Sheila, the nurses contact the other woman listed as his wife: Monica.

Monica makes a surprise appearance at Lip's 18th birthday party claiming she has come back home to be with her family and has left her lesbian lover Norma Starkey. However, none of her kids seem convinced, especially Debbie who contacts Norma in the hope she can convince Monica to return to Moston. Frank is also keen to see the back of his wife because although Sheila thinks herself married to Frank, the marriage isn't valid due to him still being married to Monica. Monica makes her feelings about Frank clear and promises him that she will win him and her family back.

Kev, Veronica and Marty have gone missing following a secret trip abroad. Everyone on the estate is shocked when Kev and Veronica appear on the evening news having been arrested for buying a Romanian baby. Marty returns to Chatsworth on the run and desperate for Sue and Carol's help in raising the baby that he has named Billy. Carol is reluctant to have a foreign, illegal baby in the house and Sue suggest selling him. Debbie calls the police on him in order to make it look as if Monica did it, in the hope everyone will demand Monica leave. Marty is arrested and Billy taken away but Sue manages to save Marty and Billy by breast feeding him and telling the police that the baby is in fact her and Marty's. She later reveals that she was able to breast feed because she is pregnant with Marty's child, and Sue, Marty and Billy leave Chatsworth together.

The Maguires have moved into Kev and Veronica's house after hearing the couple have been imprisoned. Paddy and his two son's Shane and Micky try to lure Lip into the family business but he is determind not to let their brand of crime pay for his daughter Katie's life.

Meanwhile, Yvonne and Jez are fuming because they have lost money they gave Veronica and Kev. Carol worries that the Gallaghers will throw her out of the house now that Veronica and Marty have left. Stan introduces his new partner, PC Tom O'Leary to the Chatsworth Estate. Carl is glad to have his mother back but Norma decides to fight for Monica and moves into the van in the Gallagher's garden.

Post Credit SceneEdit

The outside of the Gallagher's, Fiona and Steve's and Maguire's house is shown as Monica calls out a Walton's style "goodnight" to everyone by name followed by them turning off their light. This goes on until a light comes on in the Maguire house and Mimi's voice is heard as she curses and shouts for everyone to get to bed.

CastEdit

Regular CastEdit

• David Threlfall - Frank Gallagher
• Annabelle Apsion - Monica Gallagher
• Gerard Kearns - Ian Gallagher
• Jody Latham - Phillip Gallagher
• Elliott Tittensor - Carl Gallagher
• Rebecca Ryan - Debbie Gallagher
• Johnny Bennett - Liam Gallagher
• Rebecca Atkinson - Karen Jackson
• Sean Glider - Paddy Maguire
• Tina Malone - Mimi Maguire
• Nicky Evans - Shane Maguire
• Ciaran Griffiths - Micky Maguire
• Samantha Siddall - Mandy Maguire
• Kelli Hollis - Yvonne Karib
• Dean Lennox Kelly - Kevin Ball
• Maxine Peake - Veronica Fisher
• Jake Deam - Marty Fisher
• Marjorie Yates - Carol Fisher
• Gilian Kearny - Sue Garland
• Dystin Johnson - Norma Starkey
• Lindsay Dawson - Jez
• Warren Donnelly - PC Stan Waterman
• Michael Legge - PC Tom O'Leary
• Alice Barry - Lillian Tyler

Guest CastEdit

• Michael Atkinson - Fireman
• Helen Moon - Nurse
• James Laurens - Plumber

NotesEdit

• Narrator: Debbie Gallagher
• Kev and Veronica only appear in a cameo role. This is their last appearance, though Kev briefly returns in Series 8 and then once more in Series 11.
• This is the final appearance of Marty Fisher and Sue Garland. Marty returns in Series 8.
• This is the first appearance of PC Tom O'Leary and Micky Maguire.
• This episode features the return of Monica Gallagher and Norma Starkey.
• Sheila Jackson is mentioned but doesn't appear.
• Fiona Gallagher's 21st birthday is mentioned, as seen in Series 1.

Deleted ScenesEdit

• There is a collection of deleted scenes from this episode that also features extended versions of scenes which made it into the episode. At Lip's BBQ birthday party he opens a letter and discovers he has been accepted to the University of Sussex. Ian questions how he can go to university so far away now that he and Mandy are together. Later at The Jockey, Ian berates Frank for not making it to Lip's party and tells him that even Monica made it and said she is back for good. Frank is shocked and an eavesdropping Jez tells him he can show Monica his wedding photos because Kev told her he is still married to her. Ian asks Lip what he is going to do about university and warns him that he can't throw his future away, Lip counters that Ian isn't the best person to give advice due to him recently leaving school with only a bar job to go to.