''Mum'' is a British sitcom written by Stefan Golaszewski centred on recently widowed, suburban 59-year-old Cathy (played by

Lesley Manville Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress known for her frequent collaborations with Mike Leigh, appearing in the films '' Grown-Ups'' (1980), '' High Hopes'' (1988), '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''Topsy-Turvy'' (1999), ''A ...

) and her family, following her husband's death. Each episode is named after a calendar month in the year, except series three which is set over just one week. The series features Cathy's supportive lifelong friend Michael (played by

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all th ...

), and her family: son Jason and his girlfriend Kelly, Cathy's brother Derek and his new partner Pauline, and Cathy's in-laws. In June 2016, the BBC announced that a second series had been commissioned. In October 2017, it was recommissioned for a third series. The second series premiered on 20 February 2018.

Lisa McGrillis Lisa McGrillis (born 3 September 1982, Cheltenham, England) is a British actress. Early life and education McGrillis grew up in Scotby, near Carlisle in Cumbria with her mother, a special needs teacher, and her father, an accountant. She studie ...

revealed that the third series would be the last; it premiered on 15 May 2019.

Cast

Main *

as Cathy Walker *

as Michael, Cathy and her late husband's friend *

Sam Swainsbury Sam Swainsbury is an English actor, known for his roles as Jason in the BBC sitcom '' Mum'' and the Stonehenge TV reporter in '' Thor: The Dark World''. Career In 2013, Swainsbury featured on the film '' Thor: The Dark World'', he played a Stoneh ...

as Jason, Cathy's son *

as Kelly, Jason's girlfriend * Ross Boatman as Derek, Cathy's brother *

Dorothy Atkinson Dorothy Caroline Atkinson (born 1966) is an English actress and singer. She has appeared in several plays by playwright Alan Ayckbourn and in films by Mike Leigh, including ''Topsy-Turvy'', ''All or Nothing'', and ''Mr. Turner'', which premiere ...

as Pauline, Derek's partner * Karl Johnson as Reg, Cathy's father-in-law * Marlene Sidaway as Maureen, Cathy's mother-in-law Recurring *

Tanya Franks Tanya Christine Franks (born 16 August 1967) is an English actress, producer and writer. She has had starring roles on the television shows ''Family Affairs'', ''The Bill'', '' Pulling'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Broadchurch''. Franks is also the f ...

as Carol, Kelly's mum * Seline Hizli as Debbie, Kelly's friend * Aaron Heffernan as Ryan, Debbie's boyfriend

Episodes

Production

The interior shots of Cathy's house for both Series 1 and 2 were filmed at West London Film Studios. The show's exteriors were filmed in Croxley Green in Hertfordshire. Series 3 was filmed on location in a country house in Dorking, Surrey.

Broadcast

Series 3 was shown on BBC2 on Wednesday nights starting 15 May 2019, although all six episodes of the series were released at once on BBC iPlayer on the same night as the first episode. Internationally, the series premiered on

BBC First BBC First is an entertainment subscription television channel featuring comedy, crime, drama and film programming, originating from UK and mostly from the BBC. The channel is wholly owned and operated by BBC Studios. The channel began rolling ou ...

on 11 October 2016. The series premiered in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tahi) is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as indep ...

on 20 July 2016. The U.S. premiere was 1 July 2018 on PBS.

Reception

Critical reception

''Mum'' has received critical acclaim. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first series holds an approval rating of 100% based upon reviews from seven critics. Reviewers were somewhat critical towards the first episode; in a review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Sam Wollaston gave the series a positive review following its first episode. However, he compared it to

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

sitcom ''

Him & Her ''Him & Her'' is a British television sitcom about a lazy twenty-something couple: Steve and Becky, who live in Walthamstow, London. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 6 September 2010. It is written by Stefan Golasz ...

'' in terms of its writing, that "it shares the same subtlety and warmth" and slightly criticized the show, mentioning "this is a bit more grownup, (more BBC2 than 3), but Him & Her was ruder, more visceral, sexier and – vital for a comedy – funnier." On his most positive note, he praised the cast performances, "the characters are believable, three-dimensional ones", and in particular, he gave recognition to both Lesley Manville and Lisa McGrillis. Ceri Radford of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' rated the series 3 out of 5 and commented that episode one was "soothing and enjoyable, but lacks real bite". Series two received a greater reception and holds a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews. The website's Critical Consensus reads that "Mum's patient pacing and unflinching embrace of agonizingly awkward family dynamics can make it a difficult watch, but Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan's heartfelt and keenly observed performances make it a highly rewarding experience, too." In a review for the website There Ought to Be Clowns, Ian Foster expressed delight in the series' return, stating: "A hugely successful return for Stefan Golaszewski’s BBC sitcom Mum, with world-beater Lesley Manville in brilliant form once again". Following the series finale, Sarah Highes of ''The Guardian'' praised the series and mentioned that "few programmes celebrate humanity, in all its complexity, so clearly" and that "this is a comedy that understands that every aspect of life is worth cherishing." The third and final series holds a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews. ''The Guardian''s Jack Seale rated the series 5 out of 5 and commented on the show's acclaimed final episode, calling it: "magnificent TV that will put sunshine in your heart" and stating that it is "guaranteed to make you cry four times every episode, the final series of the Lesley Manville sitcom miraculously turns tiny gestures into epic romance. Gabriel Tate of ''The Daily Telegraph'' gave the show a 5 out of 5 rating and stated "a perfect end to a perfect show - bring on the Baftas".

Awards and nominations

Home media

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mum (Tv Series) 2016 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 2010s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Television series about families Television series about siblings Television series about widowhood Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Big Talk Productions