![Motherland. Image shows from L to R: Liz (Diane Morgan), Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin), Kevin (Paul Ready) Motherland. Image shows from L to R: Liz (Diane Morgan), Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin), Kevin (Paul Ready)](https://cdn.comedy.co.uk/images/library/comedies/300x200/m/motherland_series.jpg)
Motherland
- TV sitcom
- BBC Two / BBC One
- 2016 - 2022
- 20 episodes (3 series)
Comedy about middle-class parenthood and juggling kids, school, and other parents. Stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan, Paul Ready, Lucy Punch, Philippa Dunne and more.
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1 - The Birthday Party
![Motherland. Kevin (Paul Ready) Motherland. Kevin (Paul Ready)](https://cdn.comedy.co.uk/images/library/comedies/900x450_eps/m/motherland_0101.jpg)
Broadcast details
- Date
- Tuesday 7th November 2017
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- BBC Two
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
Anna Maxwell Martin | Julia |
Diane Morgan | Liz |
Paul Ready | Kevin |
Lucy Punch | Amanda |
Philippa Dunne | Anne |
Ellie Haddington | Marion |
Oliver Chris | Paul |
Ben Crompton | Animal Man |
Barnaby Ferris | Balloon Video Man |
Peter Singh | Andrew |
Connie Wilkins | Ivy |
Sharon Horgan | Writer |
Helen Serafinowicz (as Helen Linehan) | Writer |
Holly Walsh | Writer |
Graham Linehan | Writer |
Juliet May | Director |
Richard Boden | Producer |
Richard Boden | Executive Producer |
Graham Linehan | Executive Producer |
Sharon Horgan | Executive Producer |
Clelia Mountford | Executive Producer |
Holly Walsh | Associate Producer |
Samantha McCole | Line Producer |
Jake Bernard | Editor |
Dennis De Groot (as Dennis DeGroot) | Production Designer |
Sarah Crowe | Casting Director |
Caroline Pitcher | Costume Designer |
Chris Goodger | Director of Photography |
Vanessa White | Make-up Designer |
Oli Julian | Composer |
Kas Braganza | 1st Assistant Director |
Alex Moody | Commissioning Editor |
Video
Impressing the alpha mums
Julia finds herself trying to impress the alpha Mums.
Featuring: Anna Maxwell Martin (Julia), Diane Morgan (Liz), Lucy Punch (Amanda) & Philippa Dunne (Anne).
Press
Review: The scrambling, shambling comedy of Motherland
Playing the central mom on Motherland (a British sitcom getting its U.S. première on Thursday, on Sundance Now), Anna Maxwell Martin demonstrates a great comedic range of flustered motion.
Troy Patterson, The New Yorker, 10th May 2018After the pilot, it was obvious Motherland would return
Creators Sharon Horgan and Graham Linehan mine middle-class motherhood for comedy. These aren't your ordinary middle-class mothers though: they are Mumsnet types that live in large houses in suburban London.
Jonathan Kumar, Telly Binge, 14th November 2017Motherland's achievement: its near universal appeal
Both parents and the happily child-free will enjoy this borderline revolutionary BBC Two comedy.
Rachel Cooke, The New Statesman, 9th November 2017Motherland: a brutally honest depiction of parenthood
Expect terrifying alpha-mums, chaotic childcare and party politics, says Johanna Thomas-Corr.
Johanna Thomas-Corr, Evening Standard, 9th November 2017Motherland (BBC2) returns, after a pilot, for a series. Good news for middle-class metropolitan breeders for whom it is a funhouse mirror they can point into and chuckle. When I say "they", I mean we. And actually everything is terrifyingly recognisable, testament to the writers' (loads of well-known people) powers of observation, but also why I find it a teeny bit ghastly. Golly, doesn't Anna Maxwell Martin's overwrought Julia annoy well? Thank heavens for Lucy Punch's fabulously Stepfordy queen bee Amanda, and for Diane Morgan's super-droll Liz. And for Ben Crompton, Animal Man, rubbish children's entertainer. Rubbish AND racist. "If your act was amazing I'd put up with a tiny bit of racism," says Liz. Ha!
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 8th November 2017Motherland review: being a parent is a laughing matter
Motherland (BBC2) is a comedy that captures those moments of parental misery and magnifies them.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 8th November 2017Following last year's pilot from Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh and Graham and Helen Linehan, here's a whole series, centring on struggling mums, competitive mums - and mums whose idea of party food is to mash "four caterpillar cakes into a human centipede". In the hysterical opener, Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin, amazing) still can't cope, having organised a "massive fuck-off" children's birthday do. Meanwhile, Lucy Punch's smiling shark Amanda is circling.
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 7th November 2017Motherland reaches similar heights to Fawlty Towers
Within the first minute of Motherland (BBC Two), a new sitcom from Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh about being a mum and how bloody awful it is, Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) is beating her mobile phone against a banister in frustration. It was hard not to be reminded of Basil Fawlty beating his car with a tree branch in vein-swelling exasperation.
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph, 7th November 2017TV preview: Motherland, BBC2
The pilot of Motherland went out last year and was one of the best pilots I've seen in recent memory. But then that's no surprise.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 6th November 2017Preview - Motherland
The first series of Motherland begins Tuesday 7th November on BBC Two. Here are Sophie's thoughts on the opening episode...
Sophie Davies, The Velvet Onion, 4th November 2017