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.
Streaming rank this week: 507
Press clippings Page 14
Motherland 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 2017Sharon Horgan and Anna Maxwell Martin interview
Sharon Horgan and actor Anna Maxwell Martin talk about their new BBC comedy and realistic portrayals of motherhood.
Alexia Skinitis, Radio Times, 7th November 2017Motherland shows parents as winging it - I love it
Two mum stereotypes are constantly repeated on UK TV - the nagging ball-breaker or the demure doormat. As I'm learning, the complexities and nuances of being a mother in real life veer so far from anything that's ever appeared on screen.
Laura Martin, i Newspaper, 6th 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 2017A vision of child rearing that is panic-inducing scary
There's something exhilarating about how Sharon Horgan, Graham Linehan and co don't even try to make these people likable.
The Guardian, 4th 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 2017Last year's pilot clearly wasn't a fluke: this sitcom, created by Sharon Horgan and Graham Linehan, is an uproarious treat. Anna Maxwell Martin is Julia, a middle-class mother floundering through a suburban hell of caterpillar cakes, oversized kids' parties and judgmental supermums. Diane "Philomena Cunk" Morgan offers support.
The Guardian, 3rd November 2017Interview: Sharon Horgan
Motherland writer dreads the school run after basing characters on real mums.
Nicola Methven, The Mirror, 2nd November 2017