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: 82
Press clippings Page 12
Motherland, episode 5 review
Kevin's useless, lovable goof shtick has worn thin.
Alexandra Pollard, The Telegraph, 5th December 2017Motherland, 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.
Becca Moody, Moody Comedy, 3rd December 2017Vicious 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.
The Guardian, 30th November 2017Motherland, episode 4 review
It's become increasingly clear that Julia is not a heroine but an irritant.
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 29th November 2017Episode 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.
Hannah J Davies, The Guardian, 28th November 2017Are these the most dislikeable women on TV?
In a British comedy landscape where truly immoral protagonists are overwhelmingly men, Motherland stands out.
Anna Leszkiewicz, The New Statesman, 28th November 2017This 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.
Jack Seale, The Guardian, 21st November 2017Motherland, episode 3 review
'So acute that you could feel the verrucas bedding in'.
Laura Snapes, The Telegraph, 21st November 2017Motherland / Detectorists, review
From fundraising cash to buried treasure, these sitcoms are comedy gold.
Barney Harsent, The Arts Desk, 15th November 2017Frenemy 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.
Graeme Virtue, The Guardian, 14th November 2017