British Comedy Guide
Motherland. Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin)
Anna Maxwell Martin

Anna Maxwell Martin

  • English
  • Actor

Press clippings Page 10

Motherland'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 2017

Motherland: 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 2017

Motherland (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 2017

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 2017

Following 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 2017

Motherland 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 2017

Sharon 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 2017

TV 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 2017

Preview - 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

Anna Maxwell-Martin interview

Anna Maxwell-Martin on showing off her comedy credentials by playing a harassed school run mum.

TV Times, 31st October 2017

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