Everyone Joining ‘Trying’ Season 5 as Nikki and Jason’s World Gets Turned Upside Down

Apple TV’s beloved family comedy ‘Trying’ is finally coming back, and this time the returning cast is bringing some serious new faces into the mix. The fifth season premieres globally on Apple TV starting Wednesday, July 8, with new episodes rolling out weekly through Wednesday, August 26. After a long wait, fans of Jason and Nikki’s messy, heartfelt parenting journey finally have a date to circle.

The eight-episode season picks up as Nikki and Jason deal with the fallout of Princess and Tyler’s biological mother Kat showing up at their door, throwing their once settled family life into chaos. It is a premise that promises plenty of emotional stakes for the show’s core couple, and the expanded cast list suggests this season is going bigger than ever before.

‘Trying’ Season 5 Cast Additions Bring Fresh Faces Into the Fold

The headline news for this season is just how stacked the new cast list has become. Joining the ensemble are BAFTA Award winner Darren Boyd, known for ‘Down Cemetery Road,’ BAFTA Award nominee Siân Brooke from ‘Blue Lights,’ Actor Award nominee Celia Imrie from ‘The Thursday Murder Club,’ BAFTA Award nominee Phil Davis from ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,’ BAFTA Award winner Gbemisola Ikumelo from ‘Black Ops,’ and Actor Award nominee Colin Morgan from ‘Belfast.’

These are not just background players either. Imrie is set to play Harriet, a stubborn upper class hoarder who Jason encounters while training for a new job, while Ikumelo takes on the role of Chrissy, a burnt out social worker who becomes a mentor figure to Jason.

Morgan, meanwhile, plays Kerry, described as Nikki’s handsome co-worker who brings a confident, laid-back charm into her orbit, which sounds like it could stir up some tension of its own.

Two more names rounding out the new additions are Danielle Vitalis, known for ‘I May Destroy You,’ and Leah Brotherhead, familiar to fans of ‘Bridgerton’. With this many new characters entering Jason and Nikki’s world at once, it is clear the show is using Kat’s return as a launchpad to widen its universe rather than just revisit old drama.

Returning Trying Cast Members Keep the Emotional Core Intact

For longtime viewers, the good news is that the heart of the show remains firmly in place. Esther Smith and Rafe Spall return as Nikki and Jason, both also serving as executive producers on the series. They are joined once again by Charlotte Riley reprising her role as Kat, along with Scarlett Rayner as Princess, Cooper Turner as Tyler, Darren Boyd as Scott, and Siân Brooke as Karen.

That continuity matters because ‘Trying’ has built its reputation on the chemistry between its central pair.

Spall has actually been busy elsewhere too, since he can currently be seen in another Apple production, Dennis Lehane’s ‘Smoke,’ alongside Taron Egerton, which speaks to just how in demand he has become since the show first launched.

The decision to keep the whole founding family unit intact, from Princess and Tyler down to Scott and Karen, suggests the show is not interested in reinventing itself. Instead, it wants to test these established relationships against a genuinely disruptive new element in Kat’s permanent presence.

Season 5 Sets Up a New Chapter for Nikki And Jason

Season 5 is expected to pick up right after the events of season 4, which had jumped forward six years to show Jason and Nikki as the adoptive parents of two young kids, Tyler and Princess. This new season follows the couple as they try to protect the home they have built while also figuring out what role Kat should now play in the children’s lives.

It is a storyline that leans into questions of what family actually means once biology re-enters the picture.

Kat’s arrival is expected to add new layers of tension to the family dynamic the show has spent four seasons building, and that shift alone gives this season a very different emotional texture than what came before.

Beyond the Kat storyline, the season also teases Nikki and Jason navigating career changes as they search for a new sense of normal with their kids. Between the professional shakeups and Harriet, Chrissy, and Kerry all entering their lives through work and social circles, it looks like season 5 is determined to test this couple from every angle at once.

‘Trying’ Has Built a Loyal Following and Season 5 Aims to Keep It Growing

Part of what makes this cast expansion so notable is just how consistently ‘Trying’ has performed with critics. The series currently holds a 96 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the previous season actually managed to score a perfect 100 percent from critics.

Despite that pedigree, the show remains something of a hidden gem within Apple TV’s lineup. Even so, its fanbase has stayed devoted, with viewers describing ‘Trying’ as a feel good, poignant and addictive comedy filled with standout performers and brilliant details.

‘Trying’ first premiered in May 2020 as a co-production between Apple TV and the BBC, and it has quietly become one of the platform’s longest running original series. With this much new talent joining the cast and a premise built to shake up the status quo, season 5 has a real chance to pull in viewers who have never given the show a chance before.

With Kat back in the picture and Harriet, Chrissy, and Kerry all stirring things up around them, how do you think Nikki and Jason’s family will hold together this season?