Here’s everything that happened in One Day Season 1

One Day centers on Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, who first meet the night they graduate from Edinburgh University on the 15th of July, 1988. Each episode catches up with the pair on the same date for each subsequent year. Spanning 20 years, the series follows the two as they become adults, make questionable choices, remain close friends, and continuously pine for one another. Let’s recap what happens during the two decades for Emma and Dexter throughout Episodes 1-14 of Season 1. 

Episode 1, 15th July 1988

Dexter and Emma’s story starts on the night they both graduate from Edinburgh University. At the party, Dexter approaches Emma after she catches his eye. The two hit it off and she invites him back to the flat she shares with her best friend, Tilly. 

During the night, the pair get to know each other. Emma is from Leeds and just earned her honors degree in English, while Dexter completed his Anthropology course and plans to return to London before spending a few months traveling. Despite a mutual attraction, it soon becomes clear the two are opposites regarding plans, values, and visions for the future. Emma chooses not to have sex with Dexter, and the pair fall asleep next to each other. 

In the morning, Dexter and Emma spend most of the day together on a hike. Emma heads home after the pair runs into Dexter’s posh parents, Stephen and Alison. But Dexter follows her, and the two exchange numbers and make plans to spend more time together after he returns from his holiday in France. 

Episode 2, 15th July 1989

The following year finds Dex and Em in different countries. She’s with an amateur theatre group touring the West Midlands while he is galavanting in Rome. The pair remained good friends, and Emma even spent a weekend with his family over the holidays when she had too much to drink and charmed (read: insulted) Dexter’s upper-class father. 

Emma is sort of dating the theatre group’s director, Garry, and spends her days going to primary schools and putting on performances about social issues for bored school children. The gig isn’t exactly fulfilling as Emma dreams of becoming a real writer. After Garry generously offers Emma a job on the new play he’s directing (a play Emma wrote), she realizes she wants more from life. The day ends with Emma calling Tilly and telling her she’s moving to London (well… Clapham, which is close enough) with her in September. 

In Rome, Dexter’s been teaching English and romancing his students. They’re all over 18, so it’s ok. He spends the day walking around the eternal city with his mom who seems to be getting increasingly more drunk as the hours go by. She wants to know what Dexter plans on doing with the rest of his life. Like many young men his age, he’s not sure but is thinking of trying his hand at photojournalism. It’s clear his mother has something serious she wants to tell him, but decides to leave it until the morning. Dexter ends his day writing to Emma and states he’s also moving to London in September. 

Episode 3, 15th July 1990

Life in London is far from Emma’s expectations. She only wrote one unsuccessful play and is now working a soul-destroying job at a gimmicky Mexican restaurant. Her annoyingly upbeat supervisor puts her in charge of training new hire and aspiring comedian Ian. 

Dexter is an up-and-coming TV presenter. While he has plans to meet Emma after his shift, he decides to visit her at work accompanied by his latest girlfriend, Naomi. Making matters worse, he even tips Emma before leaving the restaurant. 

When the two catch up in the park, she’s initially angry about his unwelcome appearance at work. Emma talks about how unhappy she is with her life in London and is considering moving back to Leeds. 

Dexter invites Emma to spend the night at his apartment (platonically, of course!), but she opts to go home instead. 

Episode 4, 15th July 1991

The year is 1991, it’s the middle of summer, and our two protagonists are on a platonic holiday in Greece. Dex’s career in television seems to be taking off, he’s even recognized by a couple of fellow holidaymakers on the beach. As for Emma, she’s still working at the restaurant but is also training to become a teacher.

Emma and Dex spend some time at the beach before heading to a restaurant for a non-romantic dinner. As they’re about to spend the next eight nights together, Emma suggests they tell each other a secret every night to avoid boredom. Dexter confesses that he once drunkenly kissed another man. 

When it’s Emma’s turn, she admits to having had a “massive crush on him after’’ their first encounter. She even wrote poems about him. To her surprise, Dex already knew about the crush. 

Later that night, while skinny dipping, Dex tells Emma he also “fancies” her. However, he’s nowhere near ready for a committed relationship, so instead proposes a friends-with-benefits type arrangement. Unsurprisingly, Emma is against the idea. She thinks Dexter likes having her on the side waiting for him, and she’s not happy about it.

The episode ends with the pair saying an awkward goodnight to each other in their hotel bed. 

Episode 5, 15th July 1992

The episode starts with Dexter having the time of his life partying in a hip London nightclub. When he wakes up severely hungover he speeds off to his parent’s house.

Alison is in the end stages of her battle with cancer, and she makes it clear how disappointed she is in her son and his life’s trajectory. The TV show he works on is offensive, and his drug and alcohol usage is worrisome. After helping his sick mother to bed, Dexter promises to attend supper with the family, only to hide in his room and sleep the day away. 

When it’s time to leave, his furious father hides his car keys because he doesn’t want him driving drunk. An upset Dex calls Emma, desperate to talk to her. 

Emma, however, is out on a date with Ian, the wannabe comic she met a couple of years back at the Mexican restaurant. The date starts awkwardly with Ian’s failed attempts at adding comedy. But the two start warming out to one another and end the night at Ian’s flat while a drunk Dex is still trying to get a hold of Emma. 

Episode 6, 15th July 1993

This is the day both Dexter and Emma have a world premiere. She’s premiering her first school play as a teacher while he is about to present a live variety show on television. We also learn that Alison passed away. 

Emma’s relationship with Ian has grown, and the two are living together. The opening night of her play goes well thanks to Emma’s natural ability to boost her students’ confidence. 

Sadly, Dex’s night doesn’t go as well as he’d hoped. After reading a few unfavorable newspaper write-ups, he drinks too much and thinks replacing his water with vodka is a good idea to settle his nerves. His co-host, Suki, accidentally swaps water bottles, and she has a coughing fit live on the telly after accidentally gulping Dexter’s vodka. Even worse, Dex can’t pull himself together to deliver a decent performance during the show. 

Ian is less than pleased to arrive home with Emma and find a flower bouquet sent by Dexter. Emma calls Dexter after watching the disastrous night he had on television, but he’s getting drunk in a nightclub. 

Episode 7, 15th July 1994

Dexter and Emma don’t see much of each other anymore. He’s been dating Suki, whose television career is significantly more successful than his, while Em and Ian just bought their first flat in London. 

When Dexter invites Emma to a posh cocktail bar, complete with cigarette girls, she immediately feels out of place. It doesn’t help that Dexter is constantly putting her down. He’s also downing his drinks while the frequent bathroom breaks suggest he’s also taking drugs. 

After Dex berates Emma for being “just” a teacher and not the writer she dreamed about becoming, she angrily walks out of the restaurant. He follows her out, and the two have a much-needed blowout. Emma is frustrated about how Dex has been treating her and she noticed he hasn’t been sober in more than three years. Dexter doesn’t hold back the insults and accuses Emma of settling for Ian despite not being in love with him. The two parted ways after deciding to end their friendship. 

Episode 8, 15th July 1995 

In this Emma-centric episode, we catch up with her a year after falling out with Dexter. She’s broken up with Ian, who is not taking it well and is having an affair with Phil, her married headmaster. Before school breaks for the summer, Phil gives Emma a mobile phone as a present. 

When Emma gets home, she finds Ian has let himself him and read her journals. The two have a massive argument, but in the end, Ian seems to accept it’s the end of their relationship. Before leaving, he praises Emma’s writing.

On her way back from the shops, Emma runs into one of her students, who is hoping to get accepted into Edinburgh University’s English program. 

Emma was planning on spending that night downing a few vodkas. Instead, she uses her notebooks as inspiration, turns on her old PC, and starts typing. 

Episode 9, 15th July 1996

Dex is meeting his new girlfriend, Sylvie’s parents. He’s nervous about making a good impression on her father. While Dexter’s career isn’t doing too well, he is sober, to the dismay of Sylvie’s pompous family member. 

The day doesn’t go well as Sylvie’s twin brothers can’t stop themselves from insulting Dexter and the TV shows he presented. It all culminates with a strange family game where the players keep hitting each other, and Dexter accidentally breaks Sylvie’s nose. 

At night, Dex is thinking about Emma and even mentions her to his new girlfriend. He then tells Sylvie he loves her. 

Episode 10, 15th July 1997

After three years of no contact, Dexter and Emma are finally reunited at Tilly’s wedding. Dexter is attending with his now-fiance Sylvie, and the two are only seven weeks away from their own nuptials. 

Emma’s writing career is going well as she landed a book deal. 

When Dexter gets Emma alone, the two catch up inside a maze, and she barely hides her feelings about his upcoming marriage. It seems Sylvie helped Dexter quit the drugs and alcohol, but he’s still sneaking the occasional drink when she’s not looking. 

As they’re heading out of the maze, Dex and Em have a heart-to-heart before sharing a kiss. Immediately, they go back to pretending their feelings for one another are purely platonic.

Episode 11, 15th July 1998

The 1998 episode finds Dexter as far away from the glitz and glamour of the media as possible. He’s working at his old uni mate, Callum’s sandwich shop. Emma is still working on the marketing for her book and is spending the day hanging out with Tilly, her husband, and their brand-new baby. 

At home, Dex is dealing with a very unhappy Sylvie, who is frustrated about everything from their crying baby to her spouse’s lack of high income. As Sylvie leaves for the night to go on a hen night, Dexter is in charge of the baby. He loves looking after his daughter, almost as much as he loves the wine glasses he keeps downing before hiding the bottles at the bottom of his wheelie bin. 

The end of the episode reveals that Sylvie was not at a hen do. Instead, she’s in a hotel room with Callum. 

Episode 12, 15th July 1999

After a grueling divorce from Sylvie, who has since moved in with Callum, Dexter boards the train to Paris to visit Emma. She’s been living there for a couple of months, working on her second book following the raging success of her first. 

It seems Dex and Em did spend one night together several months prior, but she isn’t interested in pursuing the relationship any further. To Dexter’s disappointment, Emma is dating a new guy in Paris, and the three of them have dinner reservations. 

At the last moment, Dexter pretends to be ill so he doesn’t have to go out with Emma and her new beau. Instead of going out, Emma also feigns sickness and returns to her apartment. The two of them make love, and the episode ends with the pair finally ready to give their relationship a proper chance.  

Episode 13, 15th July 2000 & 2001 & 2002

As a couple, Dexter and Emma are living the dream. In 2000, the two agreed to move in together, and he opened a French cafe with his father’s support. The following year, they’re planning their wedding while looking after Dexter’s daughter, Jasmine. 

In 2002, Emma is starting to get frustrated as they’ve been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant. The couple argue in the morning before Dex goes to the cafe for the day. That evening, they’re supposed to meet at a home they’re thinking of buying. Tragically, Emma’s bike gets hit by a car on the way. She’s killed almost instantly. 

Episode 14, 15th July 2003 & 2004 & 2007

The series finale follows Dexter in the years after losing Emma. On the first anniversary, he gets drunk and ends up seeking comfort at his ex-wife’s house after getting severely beaten while out. 

During the second anniversary, his father, Sylvie, Tilly, and even Ian arrive to keep him company. Ian reminds Dex how happy he made Emma, but he doesn’t know how to move on without her. 

Dexter spends the 2007 day in Edinburgh with his young daughter. He climbs the same hill he did with Emma during their first day together. The series ends with Dexter remembering highlights from his time with Em, including the kiss they shared at the end of their first meeting. 

That was my recap of One Day Season 1. What did you think of the love story? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

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