Mum

I watched all 6 episodes of Mum, I was hooked after the first and I'm praying there will be at least a season 2! A perfect cast for this sad comedy - All through the episodes you are left without doubt that the death of 'Dad' has an impact on each character with the exception of new girlfriend 'Kelly' (Lisa McGrillis)who is only meeting 'Mum' at the funeral - Lisa makes Kelly the most endearing girl in the world, I howled with laughter at her social skills, yet I had tears in my eyes listening to her Chav mothers references to her and Kelly's brave attempts to pretend she couldn't care less when really every word was a dagger in her heart - Cathy (mum) played by the brilliant Lesley Manville, has the temperament I pray for and her kindness to Kelly has the warmth of a log fire in winter - The scene when Cathy finds Kelly so broken at her mothers character assassination of her was beautiful! You will need tissues for this one, one for wiping the tears of laughter away and one for the tears of sadness watching Kelly, such a lovely caring soul, being demolished by her own mother, when she wishes Cathy was her Mum and Kelly wanting so badly to get it right, not for selfish reasons but for everyone else. When a character makes me want to hold them lovingly I know the actress/actor has played the part perfectly - Wow! Brilliant from the top down!

I somehow managed to miss this during its original transmission, so have just watched every episode and I have to say I'm hooked.

Cathy is recently widowed and just trying to get on with life, but it's the others around that keep throwing her curve balls, whether it's her well meaning son Jason, who perpetually walks around the house in his pants, his well meaning if absent minded girlfriend Kelly, or considerate brother Derek and his social climbing girlfriend Pauline. Cathy is the one who's world should have fallen apart, but instead is a level headed, strong woman, who is basically just a delightful woman.

Lesley Manville, an actress I've always loved shows that comedy is as easy for her as drama, she is superb. I'm hooked on Kelly's character, Lisa McGrillis is a delight with great comedy timing. The whole cast are great, the parents in law always cause a few laughs, so realistic.

I'm reminded of Grandma's House from a few years back, it's a suburban comedy, nothing slapstick or outrageous, just great character play, coupled with top notch scripts.

A joy. 9/10 Roll on Series 2 and 3.

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.

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.

In this world, we desperately need more beautifully written and expertly performed comedy dramas that focus on some of the better aspects of human life with relatable relationships, characters, and situations. A real gem.