What was undeniable was that the programme helped move the argument far from the stereotypes of pineapple-nosed meths men, and into the milieu of chintzy (or cosy, or minimalist) middle-class living rooms everywhere, and highlight a hidden nation coping against hope with both the bottle and full-time jobs – solicitors, managers, anaesthetists.
In the Parkers' case, Malcolm has been put in the "work-related" category and the new regulations mean Ruth's full-time work – as an accounts manager in a solicitors' firm earning £33,000 a year – rules out any benefits.
Miss Preisner, who was a solicitor in Bristol before becoming a full-time diving instructor, has completed more than 3,000 descents.
But with Sarra working as a solicitor in Edinburgh, and Hoy training full-time at the velodrome in Manchester, they had become used to a weekly routine of emotional ups and downs: the anticipation of a Friday-night meeting, and the misery of the drive back to the airport on Sunday.
Having been a family solicitor for 20 years, I am now a full-time mediator.
Following this stage is another 1-year full-time course--the Legal Practice Course (LPC) taken by all trainee solicitors or the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) for barristers once they've joined the Inns of Court.
I was lucky in that I only had to work at four different insecure jobs at the same time for six months – including doing data entry at a solicitor's firm – before I landed the holy grail of a permanent full-time contract.
After studying law at Glasgow University and working as a solicitor at the city's Drumchapel Law Centre, Ms Sturgeon's entry into full-time politics came at the age of 29, when she was elected to the new Holyrood parliament in 1999, as a Glasgow regional MSP.
Aspiring solicitors must then complete a Legal Practice Course (LPC) – which takes a year if studied full-time – and then secure a two-year trainee contract, which provides a mix of on-thejob training and academic study.
He left full-time education at Cambridge central school at the age of 14 and started work as an office boy with a firm of solicitors.
