Anna Maxwell Martin

Anna Maxwell Martin interview

The Motherland actress on smut, sourdough, co-parenting during lockdown and where she hopes to go next with her career.

Say Your Prayers review

Smart pacing, sharp editing and classy cameos elevate this Yorkshire-set tale above many recent crime capers.

Are Spandau Ballet's Gary and Martin Kemp the anti-Bros? Their mockumentary The Kemps: All True, written and directed by Rhys Thomas, was a knowing nod to the lovably unforgettable, occasionally rather dark, Matt and Luke Goss documentary, Bros: After the Screaming Stops, which taught the world a hard showbiz lesson: never underestimate the stupidity of Bros.

Could the Kemps' attempt at a two-man Spinal Tap be as funny with the protagonists in on the joke? The answer was yes, sprinkled with a few nos. Occasionally the jokes stuttered, and co-stars like Anna Maxwell Martin were wasted. As a vegetarian, I didn't feel offended enough by Gary's Wonge vegetarian food range that was 65% meat. However, the Kemps emerged as great sports, their acting background paid off with solid comic timing, and there was a firm grasp of rock cliches and the mockumentary style: "This is the very first time they've been back to their childhood home since their last documentary three years ago." As a side-note, Martin's film franchise idea "the hardest British bastards in the galaxy" (Daniel Mays as Dick Turpin: "Stand and deliver, you twats!") would probably work as a real pitch, and I deserve a cut for suggesting this.

The Kemps: All True review

Gary and Martin Kemp gleefully send themselves up in this one-off mockumentary - though it's never as funny when celebrities are in on the joke.

The Kemps: All True review

Spandau Ballet mockumentary may not be indestructible, but some of it is gold.

TV review: Code 404 series 1 episode 6

I still hope that the show comes back for a second series, the cast are all fantastic, the concept's a fun one and there's surely a lot of ideas and concepts they can play with, but if it does I hope they shake things up a little, come up with a plot which is far more complicated, and that they ditch the love triangle element completely as that particular story strand has been done to death, both here and in way too many other series as well.

Line of Duty alumni, Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays, star in the comedy-drama Code 404, written by Daniel Peak, directed by Al Campbell. They play detective partners, one of whom, John Major (Mays) was killed in action, but then resurrected by artificial intelligence. It emerges that not only has DI Roy Carver (Graham) been involved with Major's wife (Anna Maxwell Martin), but now, if his revitalised partner makes too many mistakes, he can be "switched off".

As these are the kinds of roles that Mays and Graham excel in playing straight, it took a while to adjust my perceptions. It was delivered as a classic funny/straight double act, with May hurling himself into the comedy and Graham anxiously trying to contain the fallout. While Code 404 didn't always hit the mark in this opener, the energy and enthusiasm were infectious, and with this level of talent on board I will be sticking with it.

TV review: Code 404 series 1 episode 1

Perhaps it's due to my love for this kind of near future shenanigans but as well as making me laugh I was gripped by the storyline and really can't wait to see how it plays out.