Mum

I see that this show has divided opinions. Personally, I love it.

Season one starts with the funeral of Cathy's husband and each of the first six episodes are scattered through the next year at Cathy's house and follow her and her family. The relationships are beautifully observed with delicate writing and fine acting.

At the centre is Cathy (Lesley Manville) and Michael (Peter Mullan) whose will it/won't it relationship is developed with aching slowness and the depth of emotion is so contained that it's almost all in the smallest detail of the performance - glances and smiles, hope and frustration. There's a temptation to seek Cathy as passive and put-upon, but she has the measure of all the people around her and she deals with them on her own terms. She's no one's fool. Michael, meanwhile, is totally lovelorn but incapable of action.

Then there's Kelly. Kelly is brilliant. She's totally, hopelessly daft but as the show unrolls she's the one who deepens most - her relationship with her mother (in episode 3) and her conversation with foxes (episode 5) are some of the show's highlights. There's a bit in episode five where she asks Cathy if she's laughing at her or with her and, while we might have laughed at Kelly earlier in the series, there's no doubt we're laughing with her now - it's a very nice piece of writing and performance. Lisa McGrillis manages to be both maddeningly irritating and sweetly innocent in the same moment.

The supporting characters are also excellent - Pauline is tooth- achingly annoying and yet believably damaged, Derek is hopeless, Jason is useless and Maureen and Reg - Cathy's parents-in-law - are fantastically dysfunctional and grumpy.

Normally I like my comedy a bit more in your face than Mum but the quality of the performance and writing really raises this to another level. It's a show I find myself grinning broadly at from the opening scenes to the closing credits. I hope there'll be more.

I watched this, after finding it on the recommendations list on this site (i.e. "other people that liked this, also liked THIS").

Not knowing what to expect (but encouraged by the rating), I binged- watched all 6 episodes and found myself genuinely dismayed that it was over!

As for some of the characters--well...the actors play their parts so well and it is written SO WELL that I cry every time someone is mean to Kelly (She's just dumb, and doesn't know any better. Last I checked that wasn't a crime, or a reason to be mean to someone), and frankly, the character of her mother, and the way she treated Kelly (who isn't SO dumb that she doesn't realize her mom is a mean snake), just makes me want to four-five her. I guess that's because I've known real people like that. Mean people suck. The fact that Cathy (the Mum) puts up with Kelly's numerous verbal faux pas is really endearing. She seems to understand, and empathizes with her. Just what a Mum ought to do! I know a lot of people that lack the internal "filter," so I guess I'm used to this, too!

Anytime something makes the viewer "feel" something (besides disgust!), it's a GOOD thing. Some of the characters are awkward with each other, but I think this would happen in real life, too.

I sincerely hope they do a second season. I know that BBC sometimes does these little half-shows like this (Fleabag was another), but I hope there is a chance to develop this into something long term.

In some ways, Stefan Golaszewski's comedy 'Mum' is a very conventional sitcom: a regular cast of characters, two sympathetic central protagonists supported by a variety of comic monsters, and a setting in a three-bed-roomed suburban semi. In other respects, it's less conventional: no laughter track, and a subdued comic feel that is awfully close to the bone - human beings really do behave this way, even if not quite so relentlessly. It's unusual, however, in that its six episodes are set over a year, and tell a very slowly unfolding story, while desire for a second series has seemingly precluded the natural happy ending where you might have expected it to conclude. But it's nicely drawn, and its unfashionable basic message is that small flashes of human decency can compensate for the disappointments of life. I liked it.

I loved Him & Her, and going into Mum I had no clue it was the same writer/creator, but you can feel it when you watch, almost as if the two are related in some way.

The pacing is excellent and the characters are so wonderfully realised. Casting is top notch and Kelly is equally one of the most endearing and irritating characters I've ever watched.

So surprised by how much I enjoyed this show, everything about it was enjoyable, including the soundtrack. S2E6 just made me cry and cheer, out loud, like a freakin' crazy person. you have to give props to a show that balances bitter/sweet so well.

Watch this. You won't regret it.

Divided opinions, I see. Today, I watched episode 1., just to see what it was like. Two hours later, I'd exhausted catch-up, and am bereft. There has never been a TV character, (same name!) who is ME, before. She is me, and she is all my middle-aged, single, female friends with grown-up children. She's much nicer, and more patient than me, but that is my life, I swear. Apart from the patient, strong, devoted admirer, alas. There are criticisms above of the characters of Kelly and Pauline. I couldn't disagree more. Those women aren't just flawed and a bit annoying, like most of us in real life, they have a back-story that is rather tragic, and beautifully played. Beautifully. My middle son has an ex who is Kelly. The ex is a Ph.D student, but the life and chat and mannerisms are the same as Kelly's. Even the face, figure and hair are almost identical, but I can't credit casting with that!

OH, how I enjoyed it. Along with the laughs, I suddenly burst into tears at Kelly's mum's behaviour, and Kelly's reaction. That struck a chord. Have bossed my Facebook friends into watching MUM at the soonest opportunity. I congratulate everyone involved. Thank You.