Motherland

Motherland, series 1

Watching Motherland feels somewhat like how I imagine it feels to watch a car crash unfold. But this is disaster comedy that never takes the easy route.

Vicious middle-class competitive parenting became a painfully sharp sitcom in the hands of Linehan, Horgan et al, with national treasure Diane Morgan its careless hero.

Motherland, episode 4 review

It's become increasingly clear that Julia is not a heroine but an irritant.

Episode four of Linehan, Linehan, Horgan and Walsh's excellent comedy about the Ocado-flavoured trials of suburban motherhood, and Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) is struggling to cope. In what is now a running gag, she calls husband Paul, who is super busy (read: enjoying punting and Pimms). He offers to send his parents to help, but Elizabeth and Geoff only aggravate Julia further, despite Kevin stepping in to offer his "expertise" with the elderly.

Are these the most dislikeable women on TV?

In a British comedy landscape where truly immoral protagonists are overwhelmingly men, Motherland stands out.

This sitcom's comprehensive catalogue of parenting embarrassment moves on to the pool party, a parade of grubby, fleshy indignity given the unlikely twist of Julia (the terrifically taut Anna Maxwell Martin) being forced to attend minutes before a work event at which she had hoped to look pristine. Meanwhile, Liz (Diane Morgan) is waiting for a potential date to ring her back, and pathetic Kevin (Paul Ready) meets his non-pathetic doppelganger nemesis.

Motherland, episode 3 review

'So acute that you could feel the verrucas bedding in'.

Motherland / Detectorists, review

From fundraising cash to buried treasure, these sitcoms are comedy gold.

Frenemy at the gates. The scabrous sitcom about school-mum rivalry continues, with the usually heroically apathetic Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) abruptly inserting herself into the organisation and execution of a fundraising night in an attempt to ingratiate herself with an old friend. Will the Auction of Promises go off without a hitch? With Liz (Diane Morgan) manning the bar while nursing a grudge against alpha mum Amanda, probably not.

Holly Walsh on writing Motherland

Motherland is a new comedy from the minds of Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Graham Linehan and Helen Linehan. After a successful pilot episode which went out on BBC Two last year a full 6-episode series has just launched on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. We spoke to Holly Walsh...