It’s funny and fabulous, and you won’t want it to end. Motherland is a superbly sharp comedy from the pens of Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) and Graham Linehan (Father Ted), as well as Helen Linehan and Holly Walsh.
This British sitcom about the ups and downs of parenthood among a bunch of competitive mums in middle-class London ran for three glorious series of half hour episodes and is still available to watch.
Motherhood stars Anna Maxwell Martin who was nominated for a Bafta for the part of Julia, a self-absorbed slummy mummy who gets the shock of her life when her own mother decides to stop providing a free childminding service for her grandchildren. Julia is now forced to pay attention to her children’s schooling, and the concept of middle- class motherhood.
A self-centred, egotistical worrier, Julia wants to do as little parenting as possible and lean on her new friends at the school gate. Anna Maxwell Martin feels the comedy was important in these uncertain times when the world is going through a pandemic. She reckons we are all struggling, and we need something to make us laugh, even just for a few hours.
Julia struggles with juggling work and home life, an absent husband, nanny problems, a nit outbreak and a crush on her builder, among other trials. The actress relishes being an angry, over-the-top person. She was a hit as the grim-faced passive-aggressive DCS Patricia Carmichael in the immensely popular police drama, Line of Duty, which was filmed in Northern Ireland.
Another of the major characters in Motherland is Amanda (Lucy Punch), a vain yet insecure yummy mummy and social mountaineer who wants everyone to envy her. She is the superficially polite but acerbic leader of the Alpha Mums who are the mean girls at the cafe near the school.
Down-to-earth Liz (Diane Morgan) lives in a council flat and is a chaotic and blunt-talking single parent, who is unpopular with Amanda’s clique, and becomes buddies with Julia, helping her navigate the stormy waters of actually taking care of your own kids.
The third member of their unlikely trio is Kevin, (Paul Ready) an earnest stay-at-home dad who unsuccessfully tries to ingratiate himself with Amanda’s circle but finds true friendship and lots of laughs with Julia and Liz.
Motherland is excellently crafted and funny as well as poignant, as the characters deal with the ups and downs of life. Motherland is still available on the BBC iPlayer, and it’s addictive!
