Diane Morgan
- English
- Actor, writer, director and comedian
Press clippings Page 16
In praise of Motherland
Sharon Horgan and co's clever, funny, oestrogen-fuelled comedy is an antidote to the patronising delusions of smug parents..
Rachel Cooke, The New Statesman, 9th October 2019The fake news in Motherland (BBC2) was that the new mum at the school gates, Meg (Tanya Moodie), was a superwoman.
Apparently an international business consultant, she struck deals in multiple languages on her mobile while raising five well-adjusted children and enjoying a blissful marriage.
Naturally, Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) loathed her. 'Where's your secret sadness?' she fumed. But this is Motherland, where parenthood is the seventh circle of hell and every day when you haven't strangled one of your little darlings can be counted as a success.
No surprises, then, when Meg turned out to be a raging alcoholic who regarded hijacking a bus and confrontations with the police as ordinary hazards of a good binge.
Even if this comedy is a trifle cynical and earthy for some tastes, it's always worth it for the deadpan world-weariness of Liz (Diane Morgan) -- who reckons the chief compensation for being a single mother is getting ten per cent off at Dorothy Perkins.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 8th October 2019TV review: Motherland, BBC2
It was announced just before this second series started that there would be a third series of Motherland. It's be interesting to see how it evolves as there are a few changes in the opening episode of the second run.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 8th October 2019Motherland series 2 preview
It's a welcome return for Motherland, the comedy that does for parenthood what The Thick Of It did for politics - revealing in ugly detail the stresses and panic behind every hastily improvised decision made by the tired and harassed.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 7th October 2019Motherland review
Parenting comedy returns with sad and angry hidden depths.
Ed Cumming, The Independent, 7th October 2019Motherland, series 2, review
This astute, spiky sitcom conjures stress so vivid that it's difficult to watch.
Sarah Carson, i Newspaper, 7th October 2019Does Motherland need to pit women against each other?
The BBC2 sitcom expertly deconstructs traditional representations of motherhood, only to lazily cast its characters as school-run Mean Girls.
Fiona Sturges, i Newspaper, 5th October 2019BBC confirms third series for Motherland
BBC Two has ordered a further series of comedy Motherland. The ensemble sitcom's second series begins next week.
British Comedy Guide, 1st October 2019Frayed, Sky One, review
Despite a wobbly start, Frayed shows huge potential and while the jokes are few, they are funny.
Emily Baker, i Newspaper, 26th September 2019Frayed, episode one, review
A pungent Eighties-set comedy that doesn't know how far to take the joke.
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph, 26th September 2019