Channel 5 airs the final episode of Little Disasters tonight at 9pm, closing out the six-part psychological thriller that has run on the channel since June 14. The series, adapted from Sarah Vaughan’s novel and led by Diane Kruger and EastEnders veteran Jo Joyner, turns on a single A&E visit that fractures a decade of friendship. The less-told part of the story is how the production reached the screen: a year of filming that crossed three countries, prosthetics that fooled the cast themselves, and 38-degree heat that Joyner said did nothing for her ego.
The show first streamed on Paramount+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 22, 2025, and premiered in the United States and other markets on December 11, 2025. The Channel 5 run has drawn viewers who called the series “addictive” and “brilliant” in the days after its terrestrial debut, and the finale lands tonight on the same 9pm slot it has held all week.
A Six-Part Pressure Cooker Reaches Its Final Hour
Little Disasters is built around a moral dilemma, not a whodunit. When stay-at-home mother Jess brings her baby daughter to hospital with a head injury she cannot explain, her close friend and on-duty A&E doctor Liz must decide whether to alert social services. With one phone call, Liz sets in motion a chain of events that the show’s synopsis says “ripples, fractures and nearly destroys not only their families but their entire friendship group.”
The four women at the centre of the show have known each other for a decade, having first met as expectant mothers and supported one another through parenthood since. The crisis of Betsey’s head injury pulls each of their judgments about the others into the open, and each of those judgments becomes a judgment about herself.
Channel 5’s episode list runs the show from “The Perfect Mother” through “Unravelling” to tonight’s finale, which resolves the question of what happened to Betsey and who was responsible. The wider question of who is judged, and by whom, sits underneath the resolution.
What Little Disasters Is About
Little Disasters follows Jess, Liz, Mel, and Charlotte, four friends who first bonded as expectant mothers a decade ago and have leaned on each other through the years since. Their bond is tested when Jess, a stay-at-home mother played by Kruger, brings her baby daughter to A&E with an unexplained head injury. Liz, the on-duty doctor played by Joyner, faces the call that begins the unraveling: whether to alert social services about her own friend’s child.
As the threat of police and social services hangs over the family, Jess’s “perfect life” falls apart, and her three friends are drawn into the investigation. Each episode runs 45 to 47 minutes, building toward the finale that airs tonight on Channel 5 and is available as part of the full boxset on the channel’s streaming service.
From Bestseller to Channel 5
Little Disasters began as a Sarah Vaughan novel published in 2020, the same British author behind Anatomy of a Scandal. The Paramount+ series guide to Little Disasters confirms the show is a “six-part psychological thriller adapted from the best-selling novel by Sarah Vaughan.”
Paramount+ commissioned the adaptation in May 2023, attaching Roughcut Television, the indie behind Stath Lets Flats and Big Boys, with Fremantle taking international distribution. Ruth Fowler and Amanda Duke wrote the series, and Eva Sigurðardóttir directed all six episodes. The series is produced by Roughcut Television in association with Fremantle.
Casting landed in June 2024, per the original casting announcement and Kruger’s statement. Kruger, named Best Actress at Cannes in 2017 for In the Fade, signed on to play Jess, with Joyner attached as Liz. The source material sits on the shelf as Sarah Vaughan’s novel of the same name from Simon & Schuster.
The series was commissioned by Sebastian Cardwell and Paul Testar for Paramount+ UK and Ireland. It was released on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland on May 22, 2025, and premiered in the United States and all other markets on December 11, 2025.
- Episodes: 6
- Runtime per episode: 45 to 47 minutes
- Paramount+ UK release: May 22, 2025
- US premiere: December 11, 2025
- Channel 5 debut: June 14, 2026
A Production That Spanned Three Countries
Filming did not stay in one place. Joyner’s own posts about the production trace a route across three countries and three seasons, with prosthetics and a heatwave layered on top.
| Location | Block | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | Earlier in 2024 | Three months on location |
| Budapest | June and July 2024 | 38 degrees heat, first filming block |
| Richmond, London | Last half of 2024 | Second filming block, closer to home |
Joyner described the Budapest block in a social media post shared last year and republished by the Mirror: “Filming in 38 degrees in the bustling city surrounded by a wealth of talent. Sitting next to a beautiful and talented Chanel model every morning in makeup, whilst having broken veins and dark circles painted on me, did nothing for my ego. But getting to play the down-to-earth, capable and witty Liz more than made up for it.”
The production used prosthetic pregnancy bumps for flashback sequences, and the cast tried on a pink wig worn by co-star Emily Taaffe in one episode. Joyner wrote that choosing the right baby bumps was harder than viewers might expect.
Jo Joyner on Set in Her Own Words
Joyner has been a familiar face on British television since she took the role of Tanya Branning on EastEnders in 2006, a part she played across multiple stints through 2018. She is also known for Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge and BBC One’s Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators. Little Disasters is her first role since the Channel 5 thriller The Wives in 2024.
Choosing baby bumps is harder than you’d think.
In a social media post shared last year, Jo Joyner, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Burgess in the series, described the production in detail. She wrote: “What I did last summer…! After three months in Malta, I had two weeks at home before heading off to Budapest to film the first half of #littledisasters an adaptation of the gripping novel by @svaughanauthor. It was just long enough for me to change my hair from blonde to dark brown with the help of Tracy @westgate_salon & @racoonintl.”
She also described a lighter side of the shoot. “Yes, we did all try the pink wig on!” she wrote. The cast, she added, spent their time off set on “great meals, hikes and conversation, and not to forget, crosswords” with visits from friends and family punctuating the months away.
Joyner called her role “down-to-earth, capable and witty Liz” and said the experience was “blessed.” The heat, she wrote, “did nothing for my ego.” She thanked her stylist Tracy and the cast she shared the production with.
The Four Women and the Men Around Them
Little Disasters is built as an ensemble, with four couples at the centre of the friendship group and the crisis.
| Actor | Character | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Diane Kruger | Jess | Stay-at-home mother |
| Jo Joyner | Liz | A&E doctor |
| Shelley Conn | Charlotte | Friend, married to Andrew |
| Emily Taaffe | Mel | Friend, partner of Rob |
| JJ Feild | Ed | Jess’ husband |
| Ben Bailey Smith | Nick | Liz’s husband |
| Stephen Campbell Moore | Rob | Mel’s partner |
| Patrick Baladi | Andrew | Charlotte’s lawyer husband |
Kruger, who has acted in Hollywood and European film since the early 2000s, said the series “will offer a relatable story which examines the crippling judgement levied upon mothers by society.” Joyner, asked what drew her to the project, said: “We meet Liz at a moment when she has to make an impossible choice between her duty as a doctor and loyalty to her friend.”
How to Watch the Finale
Channel 5 began airing Little Disasters on June 14, 2026, and has been running the show at 9pm since. The finale airs tonight, June 23, at 9pm.
- Episode 1 (The Perfect Mother) – Sunday, June 14, 9pm
- Episode 2 (You Think You Know Someone) – Monday, June 15, 9pm
- Episode 3 (One of Them Is Lying) – Tuesday, June 16, 9pm
- Episode 4 (Nowhere Safe) – Sunday, June 21, 9pm
- Episode 5 (Unravelling) – Sunday, June 22, 9pm
- Episode 6 – Sunday, June 23, 9pm
The full series is also available to stream on Channel 5’s streaming service. For viewers who want to start from the beginning, all six episodes of Little Disasters are streaming on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Little Disasters finale air on Channel 5?
The finale of Little Disasters airs on Channel 5 on Sunday, June 23, 2026, at 9pm. It is the sixth and final instalment of the six-part series.
How many episodes are in Little Disasters?
Little Disasters is a six-episode limited series. Each episode runs 45 to 47 minutes, and the full boxset is available on Channel 5’s streaming service and on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland.
What is Little Disasters about?
Little Disasters follows four friends, Jess, Liz, Mel, and Charlotte, who have been close for a decade. When Jess brings her baby daughter to A&E with an unexplained head injury, her friend and on-duty doctor Liz must decide whether to alert social services, setting off a chain of events that fractures the friendship group.
Who stars in Little Disasters?
The series is led by Diane Kruger as Jess and Jo Joyner as Liz, with Shelley Conn as Charlotte, Emily Taaffe as Mel, Patrick Baladi as Andrew, Stephen Campbell Moore as Rob, JJ Feild as Ed, and Ben Bailey Smith as Nick.
Where was Little Disasters filmed?
Filming took place in Budapest in June and July 2024, and in London. Jo Joyner has also described an earlier three-month stint in Malta before the Budapest block, with the second half of the production filming in Richmond.
