Social media was ablaze with everything Line Of Duty recently and Anna Maxwell Martin’s return as supremely passive-aggressive DCS Carmichael only added fuel to the fire.
Her sublimely sinister performance was praised so much, fans then dipped into her back catalogue.
Some tuned into Motherland only to be shaken by how Maxwell Martin could go from a borderline satanic copper to a frazzled mum.
As Sir Laurence Olivier explained to Dustin Hoffman: “It’s called acting, dear boy.”
The third series of Catastrophe writer and star Sharon Horgan’s parenting sitcom has returned and things aren’t getting easier for the put-upon mums.
A plague of head lice has descended on the school resulting in a “nitshow”; the frantic paranoia not just of being afflicted but also ensuring you’re following the correct decontamination procedure lest ye be judged.
It’s like mums and dads have grappled with their own mini pandemics for years. And why millions of us feel blessed to remain childless.
Maxwell Martin is a master at appearing calm, subtly and hilariously conveying boiling frustration and disappointment that goes with trying to be a modern mum.
There have been suggestions she might earn a Line Of Duty spin-off of her own. From nitshow to hit show? Please make it happen, BBC.
Motherland, BBC2
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