MOTHERLAND RETURNS TO BBC TWO FOR CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Motherland is written by Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, Divorce, Pulling), Holly Walsh (Dead Boss, The Other One), Helen Serafinowicz (Motherland), and Barunka O'Shaughnessy (Timewasters).

If it’s Christmas, it’s time for Amanda’s (Lucy Punch) Annual Seasonal Soiree (dress code; Tinsel and Tiaras!). Nothing says festive like Evil Santa, a thirty-foot Christmas Tree and very strict rules about where you can and can’t drink mulled wine. Only Meg (Tanya Moodie) has an official party invite but Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin), Kevin (Paul Ready) and Liz (Diane Morgan) tag along as her plus threes.

Apart from Anne (Phillipa Dunne), the gang find the other guests a little frosty, but for Julia it’s still a welcome distraction from playing festive butler to a houseful of in-laws. Liz is trying to ignore Christmas altogether whilst Kevin is single-handedly stuffing, wrapping, roasting, parboiling, laying up, washing up and decorating everything he can lay his hands on.