It’s been a while since we sat at that farmhouse kitchen table with Celia and Alan, hasn't it? Honestly, the way Last Tango in Halifax Season 5 just sort of dropped onto our screens after a three-year hiatus felt like a sudden visit from a relative you haven't seen in ages. You're happy they're there, but you also realize a lot has changed while you were looking the other way.
Sally Wainwright is a master of the "Northern grit" aesthetic. She doesn't do glossy. She does damp tea towels, drafty kitchens, and the kind of family resentment that simmers for decades before boiling over because someone bought the wrong brand of muesli. In this four-episode run—which some people technically call "Series 5" and others view as a collection of specials—the stakes felt both incredibly small and devastatingly high.
What Actually Happened in Last Tango in Halifax Season 5
Seven years into their marriage, the honeymoon phase for Alan (Derek Jacobi) and Celia (Anne Reid) is officially dead and buried. If the earlier seasons were about the late-life bloom of romance, this installment was about the reality of two stubborn people realizing they actually have very little in common besides a 60-year-old memory.
Alan wants a job. He’s bored. He ends up working at a local supermarket, which Celia finds vaguely embarrassing. She’s become increasingly snobbish, hasn’t she? It’s uncomfortable to watch. She wants to spend her time at the philharmonic or looking at high-end kitchens, while Alan just wants to feel useful. This friction isn't just a "sitcom spat." It’s a fundamental clash of values that Wainwright uses to show that love doesn't actually conquer everything—sometimes it just barely survives the grocery bill.
Gillian’s Woodworm and the Money Pit
Over at the farm, Gillian (Nicola Walker) is drowning. Again. It’s her default state. This time, it’s woodworm and a potential disaster with the barn. The physical decay of the farm mirrors her mental state. She’s forever haunted by the ghost of her dead husband, Eddie, and the secret of how he actually died.
What’s interesting here is how the show handles her relationship with her brother-in-law, Robbie. Or rather, the lack of it. He’s off-screen, moved to Canada, and his absence leaves a void that Gillian fills with frantic labor and anxiety. She asks Alan for a loan, which triggers the massive row between Alan and Celia. Money is the great divider in this series. It’s rarely about the cash itself; it’s about what the cash represents—autonomy for Alan, security for Celia, and survival for Gillian.
The Caroline Conundrum
Then we have Caroline (Sarah Lancashire). She’s always been the anchor of the show, but in Last Tango in Halifax Season 5, she’s adrift. She’s moved to a new school, she’s dealing with a tyrannical headmistress, and she’s trying to navigate the complexities of her daughter Flora.
💡 You might also like: Why Love Island Season 7 Episode 23 Still Feels Like a Fever Dream
There’s a subplot involving a potential new romance with a colleague, Ruth, played by Lu Corfield. It’s tentative. It’s awkward. It feels very real for a woman in her fifties who has already been through the emotional wringer with Kate and then the brief, weird aftermath of Kate’s death. Caroline’s house is full—Celia and Alan are living there, the kids are around—but she seems lonelier than ever.
Why the shorter episode count mattered
Four episodes. That’s all we got. In previous years, we usually had six. This compression changed the pacing significantly. Everything felt more urgent. The arrival of Alan’s brother, Ted, from New Zealand added a layer of mystery and a bit of comedy, but it also felt like the show was trying to cram a dozen suitcases into a very small car.
Ted arrives with a secret—he’s got dementia, and he’s basically come home to die or at least to see the old country one last time. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s handled with that classic Yorkshire unsentimentality. No one is crying in the rain; they’re just making more tea and wondering where he’s wandered off to now.
Realism vs. TV Drama
One thing fans often get wrong about this season is the idea that "nothing happened." People complain that the plot moved too slowly. But if you look at the writing, the "plot" is actually the erosion of patience.
- The Supermarket Job: This wasn't just a plot device. It was a commentary on ageism and the need for dignity in retirement.
- The Kitchen Renovation: Celia’s obsession with the new kitchen wasn't just vanity. It was her trying to build a fortress against the fact that she’s getting older and her world is shrinking.
- The Woodworm: A literal representation of the secrets eating away at the family foundations.
Wainwright doesn't write "twists" in the traditional sense. She writes consequences. When Alan takes the job at the supermarket, the consequence is Celia’s elitism coming to the fore. When Gillian asks for money, the consequence is a rift in her father’s marriage. It’s a domino effect of human frailty.
Addressing the Controversy: Is Celia Likeable?
Let’s be real. A lot of viewers found Celia genuinely difficult to like in this season. She was sharp-tongued, judgmental, and occasionally cruel to Alan. But that’s the brilliance of the show. It refuses to make its elderly characters "cute."
📖 Related: When Was Kai Cenat Born? What You Didn't Know About His Early Life
Celia has always been a Tory-leaning, somewhat narrow-minded woman of her generation. Why would she change now? Her behavior in Last Tango in Halifax Season 5 is a result of her feeling like she’s losing control. Her husband is off making new friends at the checkout counter, her daughter is stressed, and she feels irrelevant. Her lashing out is a defense mechanism. It’s not "nice," but it is incredibly human.
The New Zealand Connection
The introduction of Harrison, Ted’s grandson, brought a younger energy to the farm. It gave Gillian someone to talk to who wasn't enmeshed in the local drama. It also highlighted the "butterfly effect" of Alan and Celia’s initial reunion. Because they found each other on Facebook, a whole chain of events was set off that eventually brought a teenager from the other side of the world to a rainy sheep farm in Yorkshire.
Production Details You Might Have Missed
Filming took place across the usual spots—Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, and Ripponden. The cinematography in this series took a slightly colder turn. The colors felt a bit more muted, reflecting the winter setting and the cooling of the central relationships.
According to behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast, Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid have such a shorthand now that they can play those long, tense silence scenes with almost no direction. That’s the benefit of a show that has run for nearly a decade. The actors know these people better than the audience does.
Navigating the Future of the Series
Is there a Season 6? That’s the question everyone asks. Sally Wainwright is notoriously busy with Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack. While there hasn't been a formal cancellation, the way Season 5 ended felt like a soft landing.
Alan and Celia are still together, but the cracks are visible. Gillian is still struggling, but she’s standing. Caroline is still searching. Life goes on. That’s the whole point of the show. There are no "happily ever afters," only "happily for nows."
👉 See also: Anjelica Huston in The Addams Family: What You Didn't Know About Morticia
How to watch and what to look for
If you’re re-watching, pay attention to the background noise. The sound design in the farmhouse is incredible—the ticking clocks, the wind, the distant bleating of sheep. It builds an atmosphere of isolation that explains why Gillian is the way she is.
Also, look at the costume choices. Caroline’s professional wardrobe is impeccably sharp, acting as a suit of armor against her chaotic personal life. Celia’s knitwear is soft and expensive, a sharp contrast to Alan’s functional, slightly worn-out coats. It’s visual storytelling at its best.
Actionable Steps for Fans and New Viewers
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of the show or just want to make the most of your viewing experience, here are a few things to do.
Compare the Pilot to the Season 5 Finale
Watch the very first episode and then the last episode of Season 5 back-to-back. You’ll notice how the romanticism of the early days has been replaced by a much deeper, grittier reality. It’s a fascinating study in character evolution.
Check out the "Wainwright Universe"
If you loved the tone of this season, you need to watch Happy Valley. Many of the same actors appear, and you can see how Wainwright explores similar themes of family trauma in a much darker, more violent context. It gives you a better appreciation for the "lightness" of Last Tango.
Follow the Filming Locations
Many of the locations in Halifax are real and accessible. If you're ever in West Yorkshire, visiting Sowerby Bridge gives you a real sense of the geography that dictates the characters' lives. The steep hills aren't just scenery; they’re the reason everyone is always out of breath or stuck in their own little pocket of the valley.
Analyze the Dialogue Patterns
Wainwright is famous for her use of overlapping dialogue and "non-sequiturs." Listen to how the characters talk past each other. They rarely answer the question they were asked. This is exactly how families communicate in real life, and noticing it makes the viewing experience much richer.
Look for the Unspoken Cues
In Season 5, so much is said in what isn't said. Watch the scenes where Alan is at work. He doesn't tell Celia how much he loves it because he knows it will start a fight. The secret-keeping has shifted from the big, dramatic secrets of Season 1 to the small, everyday secrets of a long-term marriage.